Port Wakefield Road

Port Wakefield Road and Port Wakefield Highway are an important South Australian highway. They connect Adelaide to the Yorke Peninsula, Port Augusta, northern and western South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. They are designated National Highway A1 and a part of the National Highway. They are named after Port Wakefield, the first government town north of Adelaide. Historically, the whole route was named Port Wakefield Road, however following the opening of the Northern Expressway, the route north of that junction was named Port Wakefield Highway.

Port Wakefield Road South Australia
Coordinates	34.184°S 138.154°E (North end) 34.848°S 138.600°E (South end)
General information
Type	Highway
Length	92 km (57 mi)
Route number(s)	National Highway 1 (Port Wakefield - Dry Creek) A1 (Dry Creek - Gepps Cross)
Former route number	National Highway 1
Major junctions
North end	Augusta Highway (Snowtown Road), Port Wakefield, South Australia
	North–South Motorway/Northern Expressway Salisbury Highway Grand Junction Road
South end	Main North Road, Gepps Cross, Adelaide
Location(s)
Major settlements	Two Wells, Virginia, Cavan, Gepps Cross
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in South Australia

Location

Port Wakefield Road branches off of Main North Road at Gepps Cross in the northern suburbs of Adelaide. The route is dual-carriageway for its entire length to Port Wakefield and bypasses all of the small towns along its former route. The original bypass of Port Wakefield is now built up with roadhouses and other businesses, leading to calls to build a new bypass further east.[1]

History

The four-span bridge opened in 1926 over the Gawler railway line at Cavan was replaced with two dual carriageway bridges in 1980.[2] At the same time Virginia and Two Wells were bypassed.[3]

In 2011 an upgrade including road widening of nine kilometres of Port Wakefield Road between Salisbury Highway and Waterloo Corner Road was completed as part of the Northern Expressway project.[4]

In February 2020, the northbound ramp from Port Wakefield Road to the Northern Expressway was closed permanently as part of the final stages of opening the Northern Connector, the project name for the northernmost part of the North–South Motorway, a new freeway west of Port Wakefield Road, connecting the southern end of the Northern Expressway to the northern end of the South Road Superway. Northbound traffic to the Northern Expressway needs to use an earlier entrance to the North–South Motorway or join the Northern Expressway later via Waterloo Corner Road and Heaslip Road.[5]

The contract for detailed design and construction of duplication of the highway through Port Wakefield and grade-separated intersection with the Copper Coast Highway was let in March 2020 to the Port Wakefield to Port Augusta Alliance, a consortium of CPB Contractors, Aurecon and GHD Group. This consortium is also responsible for the duplication of Joy Baluch AM Bridge in Port Augusta.[6][7]

Major intersections

LGA	Location[8]	km[9]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Port Adelaide Enfield	Blair Athol–Enfield–Gepps Cross tripoint	0	0.0	Grand Junction Road (National Highway A16) / Main North Road (A1 south / A20 north-east) – Port Adelaide, Adelaide, Elizabeth, Gawler	Southern terminus; five-way traffic light intersection
	Gepps Cross–Dry Creek boundary	1.2	0.75	Cavan Road (A22) – Port Adelaide
Salisbury	Cavan	2.3	1.4	Montague Road east / Churchill Road North westbound – Elizabeth
	Dry Creek–Mawson Lakes boundary	4.0	2.5	Salisbury Highway (A9) – Port Adelaide, Salisbury	Diamond interchange
	Bolivar–Paralowie	9.4	5.8	Bolivar Road to Kings Road (A18) – Modbury
	Waterloo Corner	13.0	8.1	Waterloo Corner Road – Angle Vale, St Kilda
Playford		15.7– 17.0	9.8– 10.6	Northern Expressway (M2) north-east – Gawler, Renmark, North–South Motorway south	Partial interchange: Northbound Port Wakefield Road has no choice but to continue to Port Wakefield Highway
	Virginia, Waterloo Corner	17.6	10.9	Old Port Wakefield Road – Virginia
	Virginia, Buckland Park	23	14	Angle Vale Road – Virginia, Angle Vale, Gawler
Adelaide Plains	Two Wells	30	19	Mallala Road – Two Wells, Gawler, Mallala, Balaklava
Wakefield	Port Wakefield	87.3	54.2	Augusta Highway (National Highway A1) north / Port Wakefield–Auburn Road (B84) north-east / North Street west – Port Augusta, Balaklava	Northern highway terminus; continues as Augusta Highway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access       Route transition

Towns

Approximate road distances (in kilometres) of towns along the Port Wakefield Road from Main North Road, Adelaide

Port Wakefield Road passes through the northern Adelaide Plains. To the west of the road is the coastal fringe of upper Gulf St Vincent, including a number of fishing and holiday villages. To the east is rich cropping and farming land.

The list of towns on or near the road include:

• Virginia
• Two Wells
• Lower Light
• Dublin
• Windsor
• Wild Horse Plains
• Inkerman
• Port Wakefield

See also

 Australian Roads portal

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in South Australia
• Highway 1 (Australia)
• Highway 1 (South Australia)
• Lower Light protest statues

References

1. "Mid North and Yorke Peninsula" (PDF). Strategic Infrastructure Plan. Government of South Australia. April 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2006. Retrieved 3 August 2006.
2. Port Wakefield Road Closed The News 4 September 1926 page 8
3. Upgrading for Adelaide's northern outlets Australian Transport March 1980 page 19
4. "AusLink Projects: Northern Expressway". AusLink. Government of Australia. 14 July 2006. Archived from the original on 7 November 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2006.
5. "Northern Expressway on-ramp – closure and detour" (PDF). North-South Corridor Northern Connector Project notification. Department of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure. February 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
6. "Port Wakefield Overpass and Highway Duplication". Department of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
7. McCormack, Michael (1 March 2020). "PORT WAKEFIELD AND JOY BALUCH UPGRADES ARE SIGNED, SEALED AND SOON TO BE DELIVERED" (PDF) (Press release). Retrieved 9 May 2020 – via Department of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure.
8. A.J.Miazzo (16 December 2013). "Naming of State Rural Roads - Mid North" (PDF). Government of South Australia. Rack Plan 869. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
9. Google (12 June 2014). "Port Wakefield Road" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 12 June 2014.