Road Photos & Information: Western Australia

Marmion Avenue, West Coast Highway, Curtin Avenue & Eric Street (State Route 71)

Statistics:

• Length: 55 km
• Northern Terminus: Yanchep Beach Road, Yanchep
• Southern Terminus: Corner of the Eric Street (SR71) and Stirling Highway (SR5) at Cottesloe
• Suburbs, Towns & Localities along route: Yanchep, Eglington, Alkimos, Butler, Quinns Rocks, Merriwa, Clarkson, Mindarie, Tamala Park, Burns Beach, Kinross, Iluka, Currambine, Ocean Reed, Connoly, Heathridge, Mullaloo, Beldon, Kallaroo, Craigie, Hillarys, Padbury, Sorrento, Duncraig, Marmion, Watermans Bay, Carine, North Beach, Karrinyup, Scarborough, City Beach, Swanbourne and Cottesloe.

Route Numbering:

• Current:
• Duplexed With:
• MRWA Internal Classification: (Marmion Av from West Coast Hwy to Ocean Reef Rd) H29 and (West Coast Hwy) H36 *

General Information:

SR71 is a significant north-south route that runs more or less parallel with the coastline and connects some of Perth's oldest suburbs with its newest.

Marmion Avenue:

The route is a mix of 2 and 4 lane configuration, with the Marmion Av section dual carriageway. Marmion Avenue was first created as an arterial road that traversed the then-new outer northern suburbs of Perth, following the outer northern limit as it expanded. Marmion Avenue was named after the suburb of Marmion (see notes about suburb below), which was the start of the road in the late 1960s, when it was an arterial road from Warwick to then-remote Mullaloo Beach. Until the early 1980s, the road was a single carriageway.

Marmion Avenue is named after Patrick Marmion who first settled in the Marmion area in 1849. He established a whaling station and was granted land in the area to run sheep. **

West Coast Highway:

West Coast Highway is a major arterial coastal road located in the western and inner northern suburbs of Perth, linking the northern coastal suburbs of Perth with the city of Fremantle. It consists of both single and dual carriageway with 2 or 4 lanes. The highway began life as a minor coastal road (called Coast Road) between Swanbourne and North Beach in the 1940s.

History:

marmion Avenue:

• 1985: Marmion Avenue - now the most important road in the coastal suburbs - was dualled to Whitfords Avenue.
• 1986: Marmion Av was assigned State Route 71
• 1986-1990s: Marmion Av was gradually extended as a single carriageway road further north - extending first to Ocean Reef Road, then Shenton Avenue, Burns Beach Road
• 1995: SR71 extended to Quinns Rocks
• 2001: Marmion Avenue was upgraded to full dual carriageway along its entire length
• 1 November 2008: Marmion Avenue extension from Butler to Yanchep opens to traffic

West Coast Highway:

• 1940: The opening of West Coast Highway ***
• 1960s: West Coast Hwy upgraded and extended to Mullaloo Beach
• 1970s: The section through City Beach was redesigned, seeing the former Challenger Drive (inland) and West Coast Highway (coastal) trading names and the new highway constrcuted as dual carriagway to Scarborough. The southern section running through Swanbourne renamed Rochdale Road.
• 1984: The highway was extended north to Ocean Reef Road
• 1985: West Coast Highway, the main road from Scarborough and Fremantle, was brought inland from Pearl Parade and joined to the end of Marmion Avenue at Karrinyup Road
• 2000: Construction of a new extension of the West Coast Highway, cut into the ground next to Servetus Street, Curtin Avenue also upgraded

To view the photos of each section mapped out below, click inside one of the boxes on the map below.

* Information courtesy of Main Roads Western Australia
** Information courtesy of Western Australian Land Information Authority
*** Information courtesy of MG Graphics

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