Length:

6 km

Termini:

Northern: Melrose Drive and Yarra Glen roundabout at Phillip

Southern: Erindale Drive and Long Gully Road at Isaacs

Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route:

Phillip, Hughes, Garran, Mawson, O'Malley, Farrer and Isaacs

Current: None

General Information:

Yamba Drive is an arterial road in the Woden Valley, designed to bypass the Woden Town Centre of Phillip.

Full dual carriageway with 2 lanes in each direction, the route does not feature any grade separated junctions, with the major junctions controlled by traffic lights, south of the Melrose Drive / Yarra Glen roundabout. A small section of the route around Isaacs replaced Long Gully Road, one of the oldest roads in the Canberra region. ¹

1968: Street lighting installed at the corner of Hindmarsh Dr and Yamba Dr. ²

February 1969: Tenders called to extend Yamba Dr from Hindmarsh Dr in Phillip through to Beasley St in Farrer. ³

March 1969: Contract let to construct the Yamba Dr extension from Hindmarsh Dr to Beasley St. At the time, construction was expected to start shortly afterwards. ⁴

June 1971: The contract to build the Woden traffic interchange, a "roundabout" 700ft in diameter to replace a T-intersection at Yarra Glen and Melrose and Yamba Drives, let to Leighton Contractors Ltd. Scope of works also included the construction of two high-level bridges and the lining of Yarralumla Creek straightened and finished. ⁵

April 1972: One bridge of the Yamba Drive / Melrose Drive roundabout opened to traffic. ⁶

May 1972: Contracts for upgrade works associated with the extension of Hindmarsh Drive through Garran let. The scope of works included reconstruction of about 300ft of Yamba Drive south of Hindmarsh Drive and the installation of traffic signals will be installed at the Hindmarsh Drive / Yamba Drive intersection. ⁷

1972: Installation of permanent traffic counters on Yamba Drive. ⁸

February 1988: Work started on a pedestrian underpass linking Farrer and Isaacs. ⁹

Hughes to Isaacs

Kitchener Street:

Southbound on Yamba Dr at the Kitchener St intersection at Garran, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign approaching Hindmarsh Dr at Garran, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Intersection Directional Sign:

ID sign at the corner of Yamba Dr and Hindmarsh Dr at Garran, November 2013.

Image © Paul Rands

Colbeck Street:

Corner of Yamba Dr and Colbeck St, O'Malley, April 2015.

Image © Paul Rands

Numeralla Street:

Corner of Yamba Dr and Numeralla St, O'Malley, April 2015.

Image © Paul Rands

Mawson Drive:

Corner of Yamba Dr and Mawson Dr at O'Malley, April 2015.

Image © Paul Rands

Julia Flynn Avenue:

Corner of Yamba Dr and Julia Flynn Av, Isaacs, April 2015.

Image © Paul Rands

Beasley Street:

Corner of Yamba Dr and Beasley St, Isaacs, April 2015.

Image © Paul Rands

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign at Isaacs approaching Long Gully Rd and Erindale Dr, April 2015.

Image © Paul Rands

Click or tap here for the continuation of the route as Erindale Dr

¹ Archives ACT, c. 1940 Map of ACT Rural Blocks
² Canberra Times, Page 10, 28 March 1968
³ Canberra Times, Page 7, 22 February 1969
⁴ Canberra Times, Page 11, 26 March 1969
⁵ Canberra Times, Page 12, 10 June 1971
⁶ Canberra Times, Page 3, 19 April 1972
⁷ Canberra Times, Page 7, 20 May 1972
⁸ Canberra Times, Page 8, 15 September 1972
⁹ Canberra Times, Page 9, 6 February 1988