Smart Freeways

What's happening

The Smart Freeway Mitchell Southbound project between Hester Avenue and Vincent Street, is now operational, providing more reliable, safer journeys.

Traffic is being managed during morning peaks and other busy periods on the 16 southbound on-ramps. These ramp signals allow two or three vehicles at a time onto the on-ramps to get up to speed and merge with traffic in the freeway lanes.

Traffic flows on the southbound freeway are being monitored by sensors and CCTV and speeds adjusted as required using 23 above-lane gantries with electronic signs. Motorists are now able to understand road conditions ahead with the large electronic signs providing vital information for their journeys.

Traffic is back to 100 km/h from Hester Avenue to Vincent Street, although on-going construction works at the Stephenson Avenue Extension project will at times, require lower speed limits between Karrinyup Road and Hutton Street.

Path upgrades

Four Principal Shared Paths (PSP) have now opened, between Ocean Reef Road and Whitfords Avenue, Hodges Drive and Ocean Reef Road, Hepburn Avenue and Kilrenny Crescent and Warwick Road and Hawker Avenue. Work to construct remaining PSPs south to the Warwick Train Station, including widening and upgrading the Whitfords’ underpass will continue through until mid-June 2025..

Path detours are in place to ensure the safety of path users, road users and our workforce. Signage displaying detour route maps is located at shared path entry points and work locations. Directional signage will guide cyclists through the detour routes.

Stephenson Avenue Extension Project

This project is providing a new connection from Cedric Street to Scarborough Beach Road, including an interchange at Mitchell Freeway with a southbound Smart Freeway on-ramp, as well as new local road links to Ellen Stirling Boulevard

View the Stephenson Avenue Extension project page here.

Scope

FAQ

WA Smart Freeways vs UK Smart Motorways

Overview

In 2020, Main Roads delivered one of the world’s most technologically advanced Smart Freeway projects which included an All-Lane Running (ALR) section from Canning Highway to Narrows Bridge on Kwinana Freeway northbound. Ever since, we have become the benchmark for other smart freeways, highways, or motorways to match.

In April 2023, the UK Government announced it will cancel all new All-Lane Running (ALR) Smart Motorway construction projects as they could not meet similar benchmarks as those adopted in Western Australia within the project constraints.

UK Smart Motorways have received a lot of publicity given this ban, but it is important for the public to understand the significant differences between UK Smart Motorways and Smart Freeways in WA, and the safety measures taken by Main Roads in implementation of different types of Smart Freeways in our state.

Whilst some of the technologies and techniques are similar, there are significant differences between Smart Freeway operations in the UK and WA.
Planning for WA’s Smart Freeways is about ensuring safety is at the forefront of the design of the freeway, that technology and operations are based on learnings from the UK and other Australian jurisdictions.
In the UK, the primary concern with Smart Motorways is where the emergency stopping lane (also known as hard shoulder) is replaced to become a running lane as part of the Smart Motorway. These are known as All-Lane Running (ALR) and Dynamic Hard Shoulder (DHS) sections which make up the majority of the UK’s Smart Motorways network.
In WA, the majority of the Smart Freeway network has, and will continue to have, an emergency stopping lane, in addition to emergency stopping bays. Dynamic Hard Shoulder (DHS) is not adopted in WA and All-Lane Running (ALR) is only used where there is no physical space available for the provision of an emergency stopping lane. This is currently limited to Kwinana Freeway northbound between Canning to Narrows Bridge. There are no ALR sections included within the scope of Smart Freeway Mitchell Southbound project currently in construction.
Where ALR is implemented in WA, our Smart Freeways include extensive safety measures specifically developed to mitigate concerns raised in the UK, including:
- Frequent Emergency Stopping Bays (approx. every 600m), this equates to one bay every 21.6 seconds at a speed of 100km/hr, with clear visible advance signage
- Stopped Vehicle Detection within Emergency Stopping Bays
- Electronic message boards to advise motorists of vehicles exiting Emergency Stopping Bays in the ALR section, and hence manage safe merging when required, in conjunction with overhead electronic signs,
- Automatic Incident Detection on the freeway mainline,
- Overlapping CCTV coverage,
- Dedicated Incident Response Service 24/7,
- Operational procedures to deal with emergencies and degraded operations,
- Queue Detection / Queue Protection to control traffic speed.

Path closures

Community

Environment

We make every effort to minimise the impact of our project works on the surrounding environment.

Flora and fauna surveys were completed between 2019 and 2024 to inform project planning and the design has maximised the retention of existing vegetation wherever possible, considering the constrained areas available for construction.

The majority of the vegetation cleared for this project was planted by Main Roads when the freeway was constructed, with the intention of removing it when freeway expansion was required.

Environmental approvals

An environmental proposal was submitted for a section of the works adjacent to the freeway between Ocean Reef Road and Hepburn Avenue in November 2020 to the then Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) for approval. The proposal was considered a controlled action under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) in December 2020 was assessed under preliminary documentation by DAWE. EPBC 202/8833 approval was granted for the project in October 2021. For further information, visit the EPBC Act Public Portal.

On 5 October 2021, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) approved our application for a Native Vegetation Clearing Permit CPS 9225/1, under Section 51C of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act), to clear native vegetation for a section of works adjacent to the freeway between Ocean Reef Road and Hepburn Avenue.

To offset these impacts, in consultation with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) we are revegetating 7.1 hectares of Yellagonga Regional Park, in Woodvale. This work will start in May 2023 and be staged over several years to ensure the new plants can thrive. It will include areas of full revegetation, as well as a parkland buffer adjacent to local residential areas (as shown below).

Smart Freeway offset — Click image to enlarge

Main Roads have also acquired almost 32 hectares of native vegetation at Lake Clifton, which includes Tuart Woodlands and Black Cockatoo habitat, to be managed and preserved by DBCA.

To facilitate construction of the shared path and noise walls works on the Hodges Drive and Hepburn Avenue entry ramps, and the installation of Smart Freeway infrastructure, areas of native vegetation have been cleared under the Main Roads state-wide clearing permit CPS818/15 issued by DWER.

Project Publications

Alleviate

pressure on local roads

Manage

traffic in real-time

Reliable

journey times

Smart Freeway - Mitchell Southbound

What's happening

Path upgrades

Stephenson Avenue Extension Project

We have also upgraded and widened sections on the freeway including:

WA Smart Freeways vs UK Smart Motorways

Overview

Noise walls

Principal Shared Path (PSP)

Landscaping

Project updates

Project information

Media Statements

Funding

How to use a Smart Freeway?

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