Length:

11 km

Roads that form the route:

Northbourne Avenue, London Circuit, Commonwealth Avenue, King Edward Terrace, Parkes Place, King George Terrace, Langton Crescent, Edinburgh Avenue, Lawson Crescent, Liversidge Street, Ellery Crescent, Marcus Clarke Street, Allsop Stret, Childers Street, Hutton Street, Kingsley Street & Barry Drive

Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route:

Civic, Parkes, Yarralumla, Acton and Turner

Former: 7

Multiplexed with: 23 1 2

General Information:

Tourist Drive 7 spanned both sides of Lake Burley Griffin, and took in the Parliamentary Triangle, as well as educational, museum and CBD regions of Canberra. The route passed by some of the city's most important buildings including the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, the Supreme Court, the ACT Magistrates Court, the historic Sydney and Melbourne Buildings, the Canberra Theatre Centre, The Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, Questacon, The National Library, Australian National University and the Academy of Science Shine Dome.

The route is a mix of arterial multi-laned divided roads and suburban streets and features the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge over Lake Burley Griffin.

Multiplexes along the route include:

National Route 23, for 4.5 km between Civic and Parkes

Tourist Drive 1, for 6 km between Civic and Parkes

Tourist Drive 2, for 200 m at Turner

1911: Planning of Commonwealth Avenue, Vernon Circle and Northbourne Avenue by Walter Burley Griffin. ¹

1916: The first Commonwealth Avenue Bridge, completed 1916. ²

1922: The first Commonwealth Avenue Bridge was damaged by flood. ²

1923-1924: The second Commonwealth Avenue Bridge built, using three NSW 'Leychester' type trusses. The second bridge was built using materials that had been intended for a bridge near Kings Avenue but not on the current Kings Avenue alignment. ³

1925: The second Commonwealth Avenue Bridge damaged by flood. ²

1927: The completion of the third Commonwealth Avenue Bridge was a modification of the previous bridge. It was by a metre and had an added fourth truss. ¹

May 1927: The third Commonwealth Avenue Bridge opened to traffic. ³

20 September 1928: Northbourne Avenue name gazetted. ⁴

1963: The fourth and current high-level concrete Commonwealth Avenue Bridge completed. ²

November 1963: The fourth Commonwealth Avenue Bridge opened to traffic. ⁵

13 April 1972: Barry Drive name gazetted. ⁶

4 June 1982: Commonwealth Avenue name gazetted. ⁷

Civic looped via Parkes then Acton

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign on London Cct, Civic approaching the Commonwealth Av interchange (Commonwealth Place), September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Commonwealth Avenue Interchange:

Intersection directional signs on London Cct at the Commonwealth Av interchange, Civic, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign on Lawson Cr approaching Bachelor Ln at Acton, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Trailblazer:

Tourist Drive 7 trailblazer on Lawson Cr, Acton, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign on Lawson Cr approaching Parkes Way & Edinburgh St interchange, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Parkes Way Interchange:

Intersection directional sign at the Parkes Way westbound ramp, Acton, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Civic looped via Acton then Parkes

Intersection Directional Sign:

ID sign on the corner of Ellery Cr (TD7 / unnumbered) and Liversidge St (TD7), Acton, December 2014.

Image © Paul Rands

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign on Liversidge St (TD7), Action, approaching Garran Rd and McCoy Cct, December 2014.

Image © Paul Rands

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign on Edinburgh St in Acton approaching Phillip Law St, Parkes Way and Lawson Cr, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Hand Painted Sign:

Hand painted Right Lane Must Turn Right sign at the Parkes Way interchange in Acton, September 2013.

Image © Paul Rands