First section of the new Lord Street opens

THE first section of the new Lord Street between Marshall Road to Park Street has opened to traffic.

Commuters in the north-east corridor will see a reduction in congestion.

New Lord Street will run parallel to the existing Lord Street, which will continue to service the rapidly growing suburbs of Dayton, Henley Brook and Brabham.

The project is delivering a dual carriageway between Reid Highway and Gnangara Road, creating more than double the capacity of the existing road.

Other aspects of the project include roundabouts at the intersections of Park Street and Youle-Dean Road, a shared path to improve access to Whiteman Park for cyclists and pedestrians, a new bus station at Henley Street and bus priority measures.

These works are expected to be completed between May and June.

Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the existing Lord Street was a single carriageway road used by about 14,000 cars a day.

“The project is an important election commitment by WA Labor and will bring much-needed congestion relief for residents of Ellenbrook, Brabham, Dayton and other parts of the West Swan and Swan Hills electorates,” she said.

“New Lord Street will help cut journey times, and remove one the major bottlenecks on our local road network – the southbound approach to Marshall Road roundabout, where queues during the morning peak have extended to 2.5 kilometres.

Swan Hills MLA Jessica Shaw said the completion of the project would be worth the wait.

“I know what a significant impact it’s going to have to everyone in Ellenbrook,” she said.

“I know so many people will be looking forward to cutting their travel times down and driving in improved traffic conditions.”