Type Highway Length 112 km | Route number(s) State Route 40 | |
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West end Albany Highway (State Route 30), Kelmscott, Perth East end Great Southern Highway (State Route 120), Brookton Major cities Perth, Brookton, Corrigin, Hyden, Kondinin, Lake King, Western Australia Major settlements Roleystone, Karragullen, West Dale, Western Australia, Brookton | ||
Brookton Highway is a 112 kilometre long undivided single carriageway highway in Western Australia, running from the southern Perth suburb of Kelmscott, through Westdale, to the southern Wheatbelt town of Brookton. It is signposted as State Route 40, however the route and highway continues on far past Brookton, passing through Corrigin, Kondinin, Hyden, Lake King, and finishing at South Coast Highway, just west of Ravensthorpe.
Contents
Map of Brookton Hwy, Western Australia, Australia
Route description
Near its western terminus, the road passes through thick jarrah forest in the Darling Scarp; however further east, the landscape soon becomes flat, passing through wheat farming regions and wandoo woodlands until reaching Brookton.
The highway is a part of the route linking Perth to Esperance and is identified as a strategic freight and tourist route. For most of the road it is able to cater for heavy vehicle combinations up to 36.5m in length which generally carry grain and livestock. Tourism traffic, particularly to Wave Rock, is also prevalent along the western stretch of the road.
History
The bushfire in Kelmscott and Roleystone on 6 February 2011 destroyed the Buckingham Bridge. The bridge had originally been built from timber in 1935. A temporary bridge over the Canning River was opened on 4 March 2011 and was constructed using 400 tonnes of rock, 250 tonnes of crushed limestone and 4500 tonnes of fill material. Heavy vehilcles were unable to use the structure and had to detour at Welshpool Road. This part of the highway is used by up to 4,000 vehicles per day.
The Buckingham Bridge was replaced with a permanent concrete and steel bridge. The bridge is to be constructed to south of the temporary crossing, so that traffic will not be disturbed. It is expected to be finished in the middle of 2013.