The City of Cockburn has welcomed completion of the $28.7m Karel Avenue upgrade after several years lobbying for the project to ease traffic congestion in Cockburn Central.
The City contributed $2.8m towards the project, with $2.5m provided by Jandakot Airport and the remainder from State and Commonwealth Government coffers.
Deputy Mayor Lara Kirkwood, who represented the City at a gathering with Premier Mark McGowan and Transport Minister Rita Saffioti onsite today, said the City began lobbying for the project around seven years ago and had worked hard with the State Government to address the community’s concern about serious congestion issues in the area.
“This project was vital to free local commuters of a road network that was struggling to keep up with the area’s rapid population expansion,” Deputy Mayor Kirkwood said.
“Its completion continues to elevate Cockburn Central as the southern metropolitan area’s major regional centre, especially as Cockburn train station expands to accommodate the Thornlie-Cockburn Link and as Cockburn’s population increases to more than 148,000 by 2025.”
The project widened Karel Avenue to four lanes, creating a dual carriageway from Farrington Road to Berrigan Drive, and adding a dual carriageway bridge over Roe Highway.
Works also removed a bottleneck at Farrington Road where two lanes previously merged into one, causing significant congestion for the nearly 20,000 cars that use it daily.
The bridge over the freight railway lines was widened and lengthened to accommodate track duplication for the Thornlie-Cockburn Link, and new shared paths were added between Berrigan Drive and Farrington Road.
Caption: Premier Mark McGowan, Transport Minister Rita Saffioti and City of Cockburn Deputy Mayor Lara Kirkwood onsite at Karel Avenue to celebrate completion of the $28.7m upgrade project.