# Marmion Avenue

Marmion Avenue is a 40-kilometre (25 mi) arterial road in the northern coastal suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking Trigg in the south with Yanchep in the north. It forms part of State Route 71 along with West Coast Highway, which it joins onto at its southern terminus.

## Route Description

Marmion Avenue is part of State Route 71, from the southern terminus to Yanchep Beach Road, continuing on from West Coast Highway. It commences in Trigg, traveling generally parallel with the Indian Ocean coastline, and the other north-south arterials Mitchell Freeway and Wanneroo Road, through mostly residential areas and some undeveloped land north of Currambine, and terminates in Yanchep. Marmion Avenue is managed by Main Roads Western Australia after previously being managed by the City of Joondalup from Ocean Reef Road to the City of Joondalup-Wanneroo boundary, and the City of Wanneroo for the rest of the road.
Marmion Avenue is a four-lane dual carriageway for its entire length. The speed limit is mostly 70 km/h (43 mph), with brief 80 km/h (50 mph) sections in the Tamala Park section plus the Alkimos to Yanchep section, and a 60 km/h (37 mph) section near the northern terminus in Yanchep.
The speed limit for most of Marmion Avenue was previously 80km/h but was updated in February 2023 with new policies stating the maximum speed through traffic signals is 70km/h

### Trigg to Currambine

Marmion Avenue starts as a four-lane dual carriageway as a continuation of West Coast Highway, at the traffic light controlled intersection with Karrinyup Road in the City of Stirling. From there, Marmion Avenue travels north for 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi), past the Hamersley Public Golf Course and the residential areas of Trigg, North Beach and Karrinyup, before intersecting with the western terminus of Reid Highway and the western section of North Beach Road. Then, Marmion Avenue travels for 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) past the Star Swamp Reserve to the west and the residential area of Carine to the west, before intersecting with Beach Road, and crossing over into the City of Joondalup.
Marmion Avenue then travels north through residential suburbs for 6.6 kilometres (4.1 mi), having traffic light controlled intersections with Warwick Road and Hepburn Avenue, before passing Westfield Whitford City shopping centre, near Whitfords Avenue. Marmion Avenue continues north through residential areas, intersecting with Ocean Reef Road, Hodges Drive, Shenton Avenue and Moore Drive, and passing by Currambine Central Shopping Centre, before intersecting with Burns Beach Road.

### North of Currambine

North of Burns Beach Road, Marmion Avenue passes through 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) of residential areas, before crossing into the City of Wanneroo and travelling through 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) of undeveloped land in Tamala Park. Marmion Avenue provides access to the Tamala Park Rubbish Disposal Site. Marmion Avenue then travels through the Clarkson – Butler region for 9.6 kilometres (6.0 mi), intersecting with Neerabup Road, Hester Avenue and Lukin Drive; the former two intersections also connect with discontinuous sections of Anchorage Drive — “south” and “north”, respectively.
Marmion Avenue then travels northwards through the recently developed suburbs of Alkimos and Eglinton, providing access to current and future developments. After 8 kilometres (5 mi), Marmion Avenue reaches the outer suburb of Yanchep at a large roundabout with Yanchep Beach Road. North of the roundabout, Splendid Avenue branches off eastward to a local sporting ground while Marmion Avenue, now a two-lane road, provides both access to newer residential development in the suburb and to Yanchep railway station via a roundabout with Botanic Boulevard. As of 2024, the road currently terminates at a T-junction with Toreopango Avenue.

## History

Marmion Avenue was first built as an arterial road that tracked the then-new outer northern suburbs of Perth, following the limit of the Perth metropolitan area as it expanded northwards. In the late 1960s, the road originally began at Beach Road in Marmion, giving the road its namesake.
Until the early 1980s, the road was a two-lane single carriageway connecting the coastal suburbs of Marmion and Mullaloo Beach. In 1984–85, the road was extended southwards to Karrinyup Road where it joined seamlessly onto West Coast Highway, which had been realigned further inland around the same time. Now the most important road in Perth's coastal suburbs, Marmion Avenue was duplicated up to Whitfords Avenue. In early 1986, it was assigned State Route 71, and from then on was gradually extended as a single carriageway road further north – extending first to Prendiville Avenue (just north of Ocean Reef Road), to Burns Beach Road in 1991 and to Quinns Road in the mid-1990s. Marmion Avenue was finally duplicated to its terminus in 2001, with the last portion being the empty stretch between Burns Beach Road & Quinns Rocks.
In 2000 and 2001, Reid Highway was extended as a two lane road from its terminus at Mitchell Freeway to Marmion Avenue, providing another link to the east. This section was later upgraded to a four-lane dual carriageway in 2015–2016.
After delays due to disagreements at State Government level about what route the road should follow, Marmion Avenue was extended further north to Yanchep and opened to traffic in November 2008. The extension opened as a single carriageway, but earthworks have already been undertaken to enable conversion to dual carriageway at a later date, which eventuated starting from 2018. The extension also features roundabouts at future major junctions. The completion of this extension allowed the future satellite city of Alkimos/Eglinton to begin construction.
On 1 July 2010, fixed red light and speed cameras were installed at the Marmion Avenue / Hepburn Avenue intersection to fine people who run red lights and speed, so the number of road deaths in Western Australia can be reduced.
In 2016, the existing Marmion Avenue / Mullaloo Drive intersection was upgraded from a non-signalised t-junction to a roundabout in response to a ranking as the 39th Worst Intersection. Pedestrian paths were re-aligned, off-road cycling paths were added, Western Power light poles were upgraded and crash barriers were installed to protect residents and pedestrians.
As part of Main Roads Western Australia's Traffic Congestion Management Program, Marmion Avenue's intersections with Hepburn Avenue and Whitfords Avenue were upgraded during 2016 and 2017 to improve traffic flow and safety. Between 2010 and 2015, there were 249 crashes at both of these intersections combined, and 72,000 vehicle use both these intersections per day. This project was funded by the state government, and cost $12 million. Longer and additional turning lanes were added, pedestrian and cycling facilities were upgraded, traffic signals were upgraded and power lines were put underground. CCTV was also installed so that Main Roads can monitor traffic flow. Construction started in November 2016 and finished ahead of schedule in May 2017.
During 2017, works were undertaken to widen Marmion Avenue to a four-lane dual carriageway between Lukin Drive and Butler Boulevard. The project cost $2.21 million and was funded by the City of Wanneroo. Construction started in February 2017 and was complete by August.
Construction started in 2018 on upgrading Marmion Avenue north of Camborne Parkway, from the current 2-lane single carriageway to a 4-lane dual carriageway. The state government has allocated the City of Wanneroo $23 million to upgrade the road. It is being done in three stages, with the first stage up to Alkimos already completed. The whole project is scheduled to be complete by 2020.

## Future

Extensions of Marmion Avenue are possible to Two Rocks. Currently, works are being conducted to extend Marmion Avenue to Toreopango Avenue in Yanchep with new local road connections "Marmion Ave Extension, Yanchep". Perth's Transport at 3.5 million plan does not say that Marmion Avenue when the remaining extension to Two Rocks will occur, One possible complication would be Two Rocks's past use as a munitions dump, meaning that most non-suburban sections of the suburb are fenced off.
The ultimate plan is for Marmion Avenue to become a six-lane dual carriageway between Alkimos and Yanchep, and a four-lane dual carriageway for the rest of the road. Also, the intersection with Yanchep Beach Road may be grade separated by 2050. However, these plans have since been placed on perminate hold, with changes to Perth's future transport plan ongoing. Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million plan has since altered these plans, favouring an extension of Mitchell Freeway to Two Rocks and a new Whiteman Yanchep Highway to be built from Tonkin Highway via East Wanneroo to join with the Mitchell Freeway.

## Junction List

| LGA | Location | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
| Stirling | Trigg–Karrinyup boundary | 0.0 | 0.0 | West Coast Highway (State Route 71) – Cottesloe south / Karrinyup Road (State Route 76) – Karrinyup, Morley east and west | Marmion Avenue terminus; Road continues south as West Coast Highway; Traffic light controlled intersection |
| Stirling | North Beach–Watermans Bay–Carine–Karrinyup quadripoint | 1.8 | 1.1 | Reid Highway (State Route 3) – Balcatta, Morley, Perth Airport East / North Beach Road – North Beach west | Traffic light controlled intersection |
| Stirling–Joondalup boundary | Marmion–Duncraig–Carine tripoint | 3.4 | 2.1 | Beach Road | Traffic light controlled t-junction |
| Joondalup | Marmion–Sorrento–Duncraig tripoint | 4.6 | 2.9 | Warwick Road (State Route 81) – Warwick | Traffic light controlled t-junction |
| Joondalup | Sorrento–Hillarys–Padbury–Duncraig quadripoint | 6.7 | 4.2 | Hepburn Avenue (State Route 82) – Hillarys, Padbury, Ballajura | Traffic light controlled intersection; fixed red light and speed cameras installed |
| Joondalup | Hillarys–Kallaroo–Craigie–Padbury quadripoint | 9.2 | 5.7 | Whitfords Avenue (State Route 83) – Hillarys, Padbury, Wangara | Traffic light controlled intersection |
| Joondalup | Mullaloo–Beldon boundary | 11.0 | 6.8 | Mullaloo Drive – Mullaloo | Roundabout |
| Joondalup | Mullaloo–Ocean Reef–Heathridge–Beldon quadripoint | 12.1 | 7.5 | Ocean Reef Road (State Route 84) – Edgewater, Ocean Reef, Wangara | Traffic light controlled intersection |
| Joondalup | Ocean Reef–Connolly–Heathridge | 14.1 | 8.8 | Hodges Drive – Heathridge, Joondalup | Traffic light controlled intersection |
| Joondalup | Ocean Reef–Iluka–Currambine–Connolly quadripoint | 15.5 | 9.6 | Shenton Avenue – Connolly, Joondalup | Roundabout |
| Joondalup | Iluka–Currambine boundary | 16.6 | 10.3 | Moore Drive – Currambine, Joondalup | T-junction |
| Joondalup | Iluka–Burns Beach–Kinross–Currambine quadripoint | 17.4 | 10.8 | Burns Beach Road (State Route 87) – Burns Beach, Kinross, Joondalup | Traffic light controlled intersection |
| Wanneroo | Mindarie–Clarkson tripoint | 21.5 | 13.4 | Anchorage Drive west / Neerabup Road east – Mindarie, Clarkson | Roundabout |
| Wanneroo | Mindarie–Merriwa–Clarkson tripoint | 23.6 | 14.7 | Anchorage Drive North west / Hester Avenue east – Mindarie, Merriwa, Ridgewood, Clarkson | Roundabout |
| Wanneroo | Quinns Rocks–Butler–Merriwa tripoint | 25.9 | 16.1 | Lukin Drive – Butler, Ridgewood, Merriwa | Roundabout |
| Wanneroo | Jindalee–Butler boundary | 27.0 | 16.8 | Jindalee Boulevard west / Kingsbridge Boulevard east – Jindalee, Butler | Traffic light controlled intersection |
| Wanneroo | Jindalee–Butler boundary | 28.2 | 17.5 | Oceania Avenue west / Butler Boulevard east – Jindalee, Butler | Traffic light controlled intersection. Access to Butler railway station |
| Wanneroo | Jindalee–Butler boundary | 28.8 | 17.9 | Reflection Boulevard west / Camborne Parkway east – Jindalee, Butler | Traffic light controlled intersection |
| Wanneroo | Alkimos | 29.4 | 18.3 | Santorini Promenade – Alkimos | Roundabout |
| Wanneroo | Alkimos | 30.5 | 19.0 | Graceful Boulevard west / Romeo Road east – Alkimos | Traffic light controlled intersection. Romeo Road connects to northern terminus of the Mitchell Freeway. |
| Wanneroo | Alkimos | 31.1 | 19.3 | Brindabella Parkway west / Waadiny Parkway east – Alkimos | Traffic light controlled intersection. Access to Alkimos railway station |
| Wanneroo | Alkimos | 32.0 | 19.9 | Picasso Promenade – Alkimos | Roundabout |
| Wanneroo | Alkimos | 32.6 | 20.3 | Shorehaven Boulevard – Alkimos | T-junction |
| Wanneroo | Eglinton | 34.0 | 21.1 | Cinnabar Drive – Eglinton | Roundabout |
| Wanneroo | Eglinton | 34.7 | 21.6 | Eglinton Drive – Eglinton | Roundabout |
| Wanneroo | Eglinton | 35.2 | 21.9 | Carphin Drive – Eglinton | Roundabout, Carphin Drive currently unbuilt |
| Wanneroo | Eglinton | 35.5 | 22.1 | Pipidinny Road – Eglinton, Carabooda | Roundabout. Access to Eglinton railway station. |
| Wanneroo | Eglinton | 36.6 | 22.7 | Impressions Drive – Eglinton | Roundabout |
| Wanneroo | Yanchep | 40.0 | 24.9 | Lagoon Drive west / Peony Boulevard east – Yanchep | Traffic light controlled intersection |
| Wanneroo | Yanchep | 40.4 | 25.1 | Yanchep Beach Road – Yanchep, Two Rocks | State Route 71 northern terminus; Roundabout |
| Wanneroo | Yanchep | 42.3 | 26.3 | Botanic Boulevard – Yanchep | Roundabout;Access to Yanchep railway station |
| Wanneroo | Yanchep | 42.9 | 26.7 | Toreopango Avenue – Yanchep | Northern Terminus at uncontrolled T-intersection |
| Concurrency terminus Unopened ||||||

## Gallery

* An underpass below Marmion Avenue, near Whitfords Avenue
* Single-laned extension of Marmion Avenue when opened in 2008, heading north in the then-undeveloped suburb of Alkimos
* Single-laned extension of Marmion Avenue when opened in 2008, heading north in the then-undeveloped suburb of Eglinton