National Highway A17 Portrush Road / Lower Portrush Road / Ascot Avenue / Taunton Road / Hampstead Road | |
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Coordinates |
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General information | |
Type | Highway |
Length | 15 km (9.3 mi) |
Route number(s) | A17 (2017-present) |
Former route number | National Highway A17 (1998-2017) |
Major junctions | |
North end | Grand Junction Road Northfield, Adelaide |
South end | South Eastern Freeway Glen Osmond, Adelaide |
Location(s) | |
Major settlements | Hampstead RoadTaunton RoadAscot AvenueLower Portrush RoadPortrush Road |
Highway system | |
Portrush Road is a major bypass route in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, and is allocated route A17. [1]
It runs north–south through the south-eastern and eastern suburbs of Adelaide, at the foot of the Adelaide Hills. The southern end is at the beginning of National Route M1 , the South Eastern Freeway (the major route from Melbourne and the south-east of South Australia), which is also the intersection with the south-eastern ends of Cross Road (State Route A3 ) and Glen Osmond Road (State Route A1 ).
Portrush Road extends north from there to Payneham Road (State Route A11 ), crossing the four major arterial routes from the south-eastern and eastern suburbs into the city: Greenhill Road, Kensington Road, The Parade and Magill Road. Portrush road carries approximately 36,000 vehicles per day, including heavy freight trucks. [2] It is an authorised route for trucks up to 26 metres (85 ft) B-double and 25 metres (82 ft) vehicle carrier size. [3]
Had the Metropolitan Adelaide Transport Study of the 1960s progressed, a Hills Freeway would have been constructed to link the South Eastern Freeway to the Port of Adelaide. This would have subsequently removed the freight that utilises Portrush Road (and the A17 Route altogether) today.
At Payneham Road, the A17 turns north-west and changes name to Lower Portrush Road. As it crosses the River Torrens, it changes name to Ascot Avenue. At the intersection with North East Road (State Route A10 ), it changes name to Taunton Road. At the end of Taunton Road, it turns north again joining Hampstead Road, continuing north and terminating at the intersection with Grand Junction Road, (National Route A16 ).
The A17 (Portrush Road - Hampstead Road) and the A16 (Grand Junction Road) constitute the major heavy road transport route through suburban Adelaide from Port Adelaide and anywhere north of Adelaide to the South East of South Australia and the adjacent state of Victoria.
Portrush Road was named by Nathaniel A. Knox after Portrush in Northern Ireland. Knox owned land near the intersection with Greenhill Road, in the area now occupied by the suburbs of Glenunga and Glenside. [4]
In a 1949 street directory, the southern end of Portrush Road had its current route to Kensington Road. North of Kensington Road, it took the name Kensington Terrace, then Wellington Road north of the Magill Road intersection to Payneham Road. What is now Lower Portrush Road (including the bridge over the River Torrens) did not exist at all. Ascot Avenue was a minor street running off of North East Road which did not exactly line up with Taunton Road on the other side of North East Road. The nearest bridge over the River Torrens was the Felixstow Bridge on Felixstow Road, which is now O.G. Road. [5] Lower Portrush Road and the bridge across the Torrens was opened in November 1970. [6]
The South Eastern Freeway is a 76 kilometre controlled-access highway in South Australia. It carries traffic over the Adelaide Hills between Adelaide and the River Murray, near Murray Bridge, connecting via the Swanport Bridge to the Dukes Highway which is the main road route to Victoria. It is often referred to by South Australians simply as the Freeway, as it was the first freeway in South Australia, and is still the longest, and the only one with "Freeway" in its name rather than "Expressway" or "Highway". It is a part of the National Highway network linking the state capital cities Adelaide to Melbourne and signed as National Highway M1. The South Eastern Freeway includes 500-metre-long twin-tube tunnels in the descent towards Adelaide, the first of their kind on the National Highway. It is designated as the M1.
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Portrush Road is a busy freight route carrying an average of 36,000 motor vehicles per day.