City of Rockingham looks set to make significant push for Garden Island highway after 50 years

More than 50 years after it was first proposed, the City of Rockingham looks set to make a significant push for the Garden Island highway to become a reality.

The future of the highway is scheduled to be debated at Tuesday’s City of Rockingham council meeting.

The council will be asked to consider a revision to the city’s advocacy position on the highway based on recommendations made by the Cape Peron Transport Study, which was finalised in June this year.

The study recommended upgrades to pedestrian paths, extra parking at Point Peron and road improvements to reduce traffic impacts on Parkin Street and Safety Bay Road.

If approved by the council, the city will ask the Federal Government to help fund an upgrade of the intersection of Safety Bay Road/Hymus Street, Point Peron Road and Parkin Street and the westward extension of Point Peron Road to the entry of HMAS Stirling.

The city will also push for a Government feasibility study into the Garden Island highway to ease traffic congestion.

It will seek commitments from the Department of Defence, Main Roads WA, and the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage for feasibility studies to determine the viability of the Highway.

The Garden Island highway was first floated more than 50 years ago and land was set aside for the upgrade.

However, little was done to progress the project while traffic to HMAS Stirling on Garden Island steadily increased.

In 2015, an independent report outlined the traffic impacts associated with HMAS Stirling at Garden Island.

The assessment showed that failing to build the Garden Island highway would result in the road network operating at the limit of its capacity and “peak traffic movements to Cape Peron had the potential to adversely impact the function of the surrounding local road network”.

In May this year, Parkin Street residents shared their concerns that traffic problems would only get worse after upgrades to HMAS Stirling as part of the AUKUS pact.

The significant traffic load has caused gas lines on Parkin Street to catch fire, structural damage, destroyed kerbs and burst water mains.

Pedestrians have also become “trapped” due to the lack of safe crossings on Parkin Street.

The most recent study affirmed residents’ views, stating Parkin Street and Safety Bay Road were at capacity and gave the roads a rating of E.

An E rating means the road is “operating at capacity with an unstable flow of traffic”.

“Flow becomes irregular and speed varies rapidly because there are virtually no usable gaps to maneuver in the traffic stream and speeds rarely reach the posted limit,” the report said.

It said with no intervention and accounting for AUKUS, by 2030 there would be a “significant increase in traffic”.

“Safety Bay Road/Parkin Street and Memorial Drive/Point Peron Road intersections are projected to have an unacceptable level of service in AM and PM peaks,” it said.

“The Study indicates a queue length from the intersection of Safety Bay Road and Parkin Street of 2.3km moving towards HMAS Stirling.”