Beaufort Street

Beaufort Street Western Australia
270px
View south-west, in Mount Lawley
General information
Type	Road
Length	6 km (4 mi)
Opened	1900s
Route number(s)	State Route 53
Major junctions
Southwest end	Wellington Street (State Route 65), Perth
	Walcott Street (State Route 75) Grand Promenade (State Route 55) Broun Avenue (State Route 53)
Northeast end	Cul-de-sac near Coode Street, Bedford
Location(s)
Major suburbs	Highgate, Mount Lawley, Inglewood

Beaufort Street is a major road in the inner north-eastern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, connecting the Morley area to the Perth CBD. For most of its length, it is a single-carriageway, two-way road with two lanes in each direction.

Since 2011, the street has played host to the community focused Beaufort Street Festival. In 2013, over 120,000 people attended the festival, making it one of Perth's largest street festivals.

Route description

Beaufort Street begins at Wellingtion Street in the Perth CBD, continuing north from Barrack Street. It heads northeast towards the Morley area, terminatiting at Broun Avenue, just south of Coode Street in Bedford. It is part of State Route 53, which connects Riverside Drive in Perth, near The Bell Tower, to Gnangara Road in Lexia, at the northern edge of Whiteman Park.

Beaufort Street is a popular shopping and eating strip, especially in Mount Lawley and Inglewood. The Astor Cinema is also on Beaufort Street.

It is one of the most heavily patronised bus corridors in Perth, served by Transperth's most frequent suburban bus route 950 and limited stops route 66 for its entire length, and by routes 67 and 68 between Perth and Grand Promenade, Bedford.

History

Beaufort Street has existed since at least 1848. The road was macadamised in 1870. The road was initially built to service the Mount Lawley area in the early 19th century.

In 1907, work began on reconstructing the Beaufort Street Bridge, which connected the road to Wellington Street over the railway line.

In 1929, the Town Planning Commission viewed Beaufort Street to be an important arterial road in the future, and agreed with the Bayswater Road Board's plans to extend the road through to Collier Road by resuming land.

Between Wellington Street and Brisbane Street, it was a one-way road, as the continuation of Barrack Street, with southbound traffic directed along Brisbane Street onto William Street. From 7 April 2013, two-way traffic was reintroduced along Beaufort Street. The project also introduced part-time bus lanes, operational (in one direction) during peak times, and available for parking at other times.

Future works

Beaufort Street will be widened between Central Avenue, Ingelwood and Queens Crescent, Mount Lawley. The project is expected to take ten months to complete, from July 2013 to April 2014. Beaufort Street's intersection with Central Avenue will also be upgraded, with additional turning lanes and modified traffic light signals. The works will enable the road lanes to be reconfigures as one bus priority lane plus one traffic lane in each direction. A new central median island will prevent right turns at most locations along the road.

Major intersections

• Wellington Street (State Route 65) – Perth
• Newcastle Street – Perth
• Bulwer Street (State Route 72) – Perth
• Vincent Street – Mount Lawley
• Walcott Street (State Route 75) – Mount Lawley
• Central Avenue – Mount Lawley and Inglewood
• Grand Promenade (State Route 55) – Bedford
• The Strand – Bedford
• Broun Avenue (State Route 53) – Bedford

See also

Australian Roads portal