New Perth Bunbury Highway

For reason unknown to me, I'm excited about the upcoming Bunbury freeway extension.

Personally it wont benefit me a great deal but the fact that work is being done to extend and develop Perth is terrific in my book. Sure, for the few times I shoot down south further than Mandurah per year it will make a substantial difference to the journey time but the real winners are the people of Mandurah.

The Old Coast Road (OCR) that divides Mandurah is like a poison vein running straight through it. Even on a normal weekend the traffic is unbelievable so if you were a resident who wanted to pop to the shops, you'd be thinking again. Coaches, South West Tours, Heavy Trucks, OAP's towing caravans, Rockingham bogans and all the regular cars/bikes had no choice whatsoever if they we're southbound.

The extension to the freeway will open on the 20th of this month and will be called the Kwinana till Mandurah then the Forrest Highway to its end. If you don't know, Sir John Forrest (pictured) was a famous West Australian explorer/treasurer/premier who was born in Bum-Furry, I mean Bunbury. They have estimated that it will cut driving time to Bunbury and beyond by 30 mins each way which brings alot more places within reach for a weekender. Bunbury seemed far at 2 hours but 90 mins will bring it back into the game for some people. Even Donnybrook will be under 2 hours now :P

If you want to have a read of the finer details, check out the MainRoads website here or alternatively if you just want to see a new map click here.

For all those environmentalists out there you'll be happy to know that there's 14 fauna underpasses too, that's 4 more than there are intersections! There is a certain golf course (which will remain nameless) that will definitely get a few more players I'm sure. Even I might come out of retirement for a trek down there!