Community Connect South Campaign Stage 2

This election, tell Canberra to help fund Armadale Road Bridge.

In the battle for the hotly contested new Federal seat of Burt, more than half of residents surveyed in Armadale said they would vote for a party that is committed to building the $160 million Armadale Road Bridge and connection to the Kwinana Freeway.*

83.5 per cent of those surveyed said that traffic congestion along Armadale Road, and access to Cockburn and the Kwinana Freeway was an issue.

In the lead up to the Federal election, the Cities of Armadale and Cockburn are launching a new phase in the Community Connect South campaign to secure funding for this project.

Congestion on Armadale Road and Cockburn Central costs millions in lost productivity as residents east of the Kwinana Freeway try to access jobs, goods and services on the west side and along the coast.

In September 2015 the Australian Government committed $116 million, along with $29 million from the State, for the full duplication of Armadale Road (Anstey Road to Tapper Drive).

This followed an August 2015 undertaking by Federal Labor to commit $145 million to duplicate Armadale Road and construct the Armadale Road bridge and freeway interchange (linking North Lake Road and Armadale Road).

“Securing funding to widen Armadale Road was a major victory for the Community Connect South campaign last year. However there will be little benefit from the widening of Armadale Road if it is not connected to the Freeway and on to North Lake Road,” Armadale Mayor Henry Zelones OAM, JP said.

“If we don’t enable traffic to bypass the already congested Cockburn Central precinct, it will remain gridlocked with 51,500 vehicles expected per day by 2020.”

Forecasts show that without a new Armadale Bridge there will be 17,500 more vehicles per day on Beeliar Drive by 2020. 

Cockburn Mayor Logan Howlett said the road network was already at breaking point, leaving users in the area frustrated, angry and adding delays to their already busy lifestyles.

“We are facing unprecedented population growth with 10,000 new homes and more than 20,000 people expected to move to the region in the next five years,” Mayor Howlett said.

“We know from last year’s campaign that this is a major issue for residents, commuters and businesses and we call on all candidates in this election to finish the job and commit to funding of the Armadale Road Bridge.”

Community Connect South is a recognised project in the National Growth Areas Alliance’s Fund our Future campaign, which is calling for a national dedicated fund to address the backlog in roads, rail and healthcare infrastructure in fast-growing outer suburbs around the country.   

*53.9% of respondents in a telephone survey of 1,019 voters conducted 18 April 2016