Skip to main content

Smart motorway planned for Western Australia

In a bid to reduce high levels of congestion on the Kwinana Freeway near Perth in Western Australia, the government is planning to introduce a smart motorway by converting the emergency stopping lane to a full-time running lane. The concept is similar to the smart motorways in use in the UK which use variable speed limits during busy times to manage congestion. The US$25 million (AU$47 million) project is expected to start in 2018-2019 and will also include: in-road detectors and full CCTV coverage to provi
May 16, 2017 Read time: 1 min
In a bid to reduce high levels of congestion on the Kwinana Freeway near Perth in Western Australia, the government is planning to introduce a smart motorway by converting the emergency stopping lane to a full-time running lane.


The concept is similar to the smart motorways in use in the UK which use variable speed limits during busy times to manage congestion.

The US$25 million (AU$47 million) project is expected to start in 2018-2019 and will also include: in-road detectors and full CCTV coverage to provide information on traffic flow to the control centre; variable message signs to display open and closed lanes; and coordinated ramp signalling to balance traffic flows  on to the freeway.

Related Content

  • ‘Free’ power for signs, shelters and so much more
    March 17, 2016
    David Crawford looks at the sunny side of the street. Solar power has been relatively slow in entering the transport sector, but a current blossoming of activity bodes well for the large-scale harnessing of an alternative energy that is zero-emission at source and, in practical terms, infinitely renewable. Traffic management and traveller information systems, and actual vehicles, are all emerging as areas for deployment. Meanwhile roads themselves are being viewed as new-style, fossil fuel-free ‘power stati
  • Keeping traffic moving on Melbourne’s M80
    July 21, 2016
    As a result of collaboration between VicRoads and the Technical University of Crete in Victoria, Australia, to find new ways to reduce congestion, drivers on the M80 are to benefit from new technology. Following a manual trial in 2014, the Adaptive Variable Speed Limit has now been implemented on the M80 ring road in Melbourne. The system recognises when traffic is starting to build up and adjusts traffic speed, regulating traffic flow and providing a safer and more reliable journey for the 160,000 drive
  • Utah Department of Transportation: How we’re using traffic analytics software
    February 4, 2025
    Our use of Iteris ClearGuide lets our traffic operations engineers interpret critical probe traffic data without the need for statisticians and software developers
  • Mobility as a Service gaining traction in US and Europe
    December 15, 2015
    As Mobility as a Service starts to move into the mainstream of transport planning, David Crawford compares European and North American initiatives. Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a concept fast gaining traction on both sides of the Atlantic as a way of giving travellers digital multimodal one-stop shops and journey planning tools as an alternative to private car use. Planned delivery methods include subscription-based travel packages in Europe, and 'mobility aggregator' apps, including employee commute ben