Premier in Print

Tuesday, 18 April, 2000 - 22:00
WITH the opening of the Graham Farmer Freeway at Easter, I urge anyone who ever travels east-west through Perth to take the time to check out the new route.

Together, the tunnel, the new Windan Bridge over the Swan River and the interlinking road system make up the most significant road project in the metropolitan area since the opening of the Narrows Bridge forty-one years ago.

Businesses will be among the big winners from the new 6.5 kilometre freeway that links Great Eastern Highway and Orrong Road in the east to the Mitchell Freeway and Loftus Street in the west, bypassing the northern edge of the city.

Travelling at the speed limit of eighty kilometres per hour, it will take less than five minutes to go the entire length of the freeway from one side of the city to the other.

This includes through the 1.6km tunnel, which takes just under ninety seconds at that speed.

Overall, the east-west route means huge savings in time.

One example is the trip from Kewdale to Osborne Park in the morning peak hour conditions.

The old route along Orrong Road, Great Eastern Highway and Riverside Drive usually took about thirty-two minutes driving.

On the Graham Farmer Freeway, the trip should take less than twenty minutes.

Travelling to and from Perth’s airports will also be easier from suburbs such as West Perth and Leederville.

Instead of taking about half an hour to get through the city traffic, the new freeway route from Loftus Street, into the tunnel and across to Great Eastern Highway should save about thirteen minutes.

Added benefits come from less stop-start driving on the freeway, making the trip such a much less frustrating drive as well as benefiting the environment.



THE Government’s latest regional Cabinet meeting on Monday 17 April was held in Perth’s outer northern suburbs in the Joondalup and Wanneroo areas.

New developments, buildings in progress and projects proposed for the area make it very easy to see why it continues to rank as one of the fastest growing regions in Australia.

Reflecting the strong growth in population, major industries have also expanded rapidly in the area including construction, finance, property and business services and retail trade.



OUR latest delegation to visit China to promote the bid to supply China with Australian liquefied natural gas again highlighted the intense international competition vying for the contracts.

The Chinese Government expects to go out to tender for its LNG receival terminal next month and make a decision on the successful parties by the end of this year.

The first supplier is expected to be chosen after that with the aim to have the first deliveries of LNG by 2005.