Main Roads will upgrade intersection, Port Kennedy Drive and Ennis Avenue, Port Kennedy

Now Main Roads plans to upgrade the notorious intersection of Port Kennedy Drive and Ennis Avenue in Port Kennedy, with work to begin in January.

The Courier can reveal Main Roads will install traffic signals for northbound traffic on Ennis Avenue and traffic entering from Port Kennedy Drive. The southbound lane will remain free-flowing.

Other works include extending the de-acceleration lane on Ennis Avenue southbound to 400m for traffic turning into Port Kennedy Drive and installing advanced warning flashing signs on Ennis Avenue’s northbound lane approaching the junction.

Street lighting will also be upgraded.

Main Roads spokesman Dean Roberts said overall the number of separate smaller intersections at the junction would reduce from three to one.

‘It is a funded project and currently in the final stage of the detailed design,’ he said.

The intersection has been the site of the most fatal crashes in the region, with the most recent a fatality in 2013.

City of Rockingham Mayor Barry Sammels said his most serious concern was the high number of drivers who ignored the stop signs on Port Kennedy Drive.

‘Many drivers using the intersection simply ignore the stop signs and do not make sure it is safe to proceed before entering,’ he said.

Warnbro MLA Paul Papalia said the current design of the intersection was confusing.

‘The design seems to almost entice drivers into dangerous behaviour as they try and pick big enough gaps in oncoming traffic to allow a dash across,’ Mr Papalia said.

According to Main Roads, 177 people have died on roads in the cities of Rockingham and Kwinana since 1994.

FATALITIES AT ENNIS AVENUE/PORT KENNEDY DRIVE2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 deaths