Port Wakefield Highway

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Port Wakefield Highway

Port Wakefield Road

South Australia
Map
Port Wakefield Highway is located in South Australia
North end
North end
South end
South end
Coordinates
General information
TypeHighway
Length89.7 km (56 mi)[1]
Route number(s) A1 (2017–present)
Former
route number
  • National Highway A1 (1998–2017)
  • National Highway 1 (1974–1998)
  • National Route 1 (1955–1974)
Major junctions
North end Augusta Highway
Port Wakefield, South Australia
 
South end Main North Road
Gepps Cross, Adelaide
Location(s)
RegionYorke and Mid North, Barossa Light and Lower North, Northern Adelaide[2]
Major settlementsTwo Wells, Virginia, Cavan, Gepps Cross
Highway system

Port Wakefield Highway (and its southern section as Port Wakefield Road) is an important South Australian highway, connecting Adelaide to the Yorke Peninsula, Port Augusta, northern and western South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. It is designated National Highway A1 and a part of the National Highway. It is named after Port Wakefield, the first government town north of Adelaide.

Route[edit]

Port Wakefield Highway begins at the intersection of Augusta and Copper Coast Highways just north of Port Wakefield, and runs as a four-lane, dual-lane carriageway south to the interchange with the North–South Motorway and Northern Expressway; it changes name to Port Wakefield Road and continues south into Adelaide as a four-lane, dual-carriage road, widening to six lanes at Ryans Road in Parafield Gardens, narrowing back to four lanes at Cavan Road in Gepps Cross, and then ends at Main North Road a short distance later. The route is dual-carriageway for its entire length to Port Wakefield and bypasses all of the small towns along its former route.

History[edit]

The four-span bridge opened in 1926 over the Gawler railway line at Cavan was replaced with two dual carriageway bridges in 1980.[3] At the same time Virginia and Two Wells were bypassed.[4]

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.[5] Historically, the whole route was named Port Wakefield Road, however following the opening of the Northern Expressway, the route from Port Wakefield south to that junction in Waterloo Corner was renamed Port Wakefield Highway.[6]

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 at the time for the northernmost part of the North–South Motorway. 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.[7]

The original bypass of Port Wakefield has become built up with roadhouses and other businesses, leading to calls to build a new bypass further east;[8] this has evolved into a duplication of the road through Port Wakefield, resulting in wider carriageways and a safer separation of traffic. The contract for detailed design and construction of duplication of the highway through Port Wakefield and a 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, also responsible for the duplication of Joy Baluch AM Bridge in Port Augusta),[9][10] with the government announcing an overpass for the intersection with Copper Coast Highway in 2021.[11] Project construction commenced in late 2020, with completion expected in 2022;[9] the overpass to Copper Coast Highway opened in December 2021, four months ahead of schedule.[12]

Major intersections[edit]

LGA[13]Location[1][14]km[1]miDestinationsNotes
WakefieldPort Wakefield0.00.0 Augusta Highway (A1 north) – Snowtown, Port AugustaNorthern terminus of Port Wakefield Highway, route A1 continues north along Augusta Highway
Copper Coast Highway (B85 west) – Kadina, Wallaroo
2.21.4 Balaklava Road (B84 northeast) – Balaklava, Auburn
North Street (west) – Port Wakefield
Adelaide PlainsTwo Wells59.637.0 Mallala Road (B77) – Two Wells, Mallala, to Gawler Road (B77) – Gawler
PlayfordRiverlea Park–Virginia boundary66.741.4Angle Vale Road – Virginia, Angle Vale, Gawler
Virginia–Waterloo Corner boundary72.044.7Old Port Wakefield Road – Virginia
Waterloo Corner73.545.7 Northern Expressway (M2 northeast) – Gawler
North–South Motorway (M2 southwest) – Wingfield, Hindmarsh		Partial interchange: no northbound entrances to Northern Expressway and North–South Motorway
Southern terminus of Port Wakefield Highway, northern terminus of Port Wakefield Road
Salisbury76.747.7Waterloo Corner Road – Salisbury, St Kilda
Bolivar–Paralowie boundary80.349.9 Bolivar Road (A18) – Modbury
North–South Motorway (M2 west) – Waterloo Corner, Wingfield
Dry Creek–Mawson Lakes boundary85.753.3 Salisbury Highway (A9) – Port Adelaide, SalisburyDiamond interchange
Dry Creek–Mawson Lakes–Cavan tripoint86.653.8Gawler and Adelaide-Port Augusta SG railway lines
Cavan87.454.3Churchill Road North (west) – Dry Creek
Montague Road (east) – Pooraka, Para Vista
Port Adelaide EnfieldGepps Cross–Dry Creek boundary88.555.0 Cavan Road (A22) – Dry Creek, Kilburn
Blair Athol–Enfield–Gepps Cross tripoint89.755.7 Grand Junction Road (A16 west, east) – Port Adelaide, Northfield, Hope Valley
Main North Road (A20 north-east) – Elizabeth, Gawler, Nurioopta
Main North Road (A1 south) – North AdelaideSouthern terminus of Port Wakefield Road, route A1 continues south along Main North Road
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Towns[edit]

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:

See also[edit]

icon Australian Roads portal

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Google (26 May 2022). "Port Wakefield Highway" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Location SA Map viewer with regional layers". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  3. ^ Port Wakefield Road Closed The News 4 September 1926 page 8
  4. ^ Upgrading for Adelaide's northern outlets Australian Transport March 1980 page 19
  5. ^ "AusLink Projects: Northern Expressway". AusLink. Government of Australia. 14 July 2006. Archived from the original on 7 November 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2006.
  6. ^ "Proposed naming of rural roads" (PDF). Department for Infrastructure and Transport. March 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ a b "Port Wakefield Overpass and Highway Duplication". Department of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "New overpass to open at notorious Port Wakefield traffic nightmare spot | 7NEWS - YouTube". YouTube.
  12. ^ "CPB Contractors delivers Port Wakefield Overpass four months ahead of schedule". CPB Contractors. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  13. ^ "Location SA Map viewer with LGA layers". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Location SA Map viewer with suburb layers". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2022.


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Port_Wakefield_Highway&oldid=1194511211"