Yorke Highway is the main road from Adelaide to the southern parts of the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. It runs from the northeast to the southwest of the peninsula. It branches off Copper Coast Highway after rounding the top of Gulf St Vincent, runs down the coast to Ardrossan then inland through Maitland to the Spencer Gulf coast at Hardwicke Bay then through Warooka to the south coast at Marion Bay and Stenhouse Bay on Investigator Strait.[3]

Yorke Highway

Yorke Highway is located in South Australia
Northeast end
Northeast end
Southwest end
Southwest end
Yorke Highway is located in Yorke Peninsula Council
Northeast end
Northeast end
Southwest end
Southwest end
Coordinates
General information
TypeHighway
Length180 km (112 mi)[1]
Route number(s) B86 (1998–present)
Major junctions
Northeast end Copper Coast Highway
Port Arthur, South Australia
 
Southwest endPondalowie Bay Road
Stenhouse Bay, South Australia
Location(s)
RegionYorke and Mid North[2]
Major settlementsArdrossan, Minlaton, Warooka, Marion Bay
Highway system

The state government proposes to restructure the intersection at the north end of the Yorke Highway to provide a large roundabout instead of it being the terminating road at a tee-junction.[4] The roundabout will permit road trains to operate between Port Wakefield and Ardrossan which had previously not been permitted due to limitations of that intersection. Subsidiary works will improve the Yorke Highway north of Ardrossan with a widened bridge, sealed shoulders and overtaking lanes.[5] Road trains up to 36.5 metres (120 ft) were previously permitted to operate on the Augusta Highway through Port Wakefield north towards Port Pirie and beyond, and from Ardrossan south to Port Giles, but were not permitted to operate north of Ardrossan to the Augusta Highway,[6] limiting the capacity to transport grain or minerals.

Rex Minerals propose to realign the Yorke Highway and move the intersection with the St Vincent Highway closer to Pine Point as part of the construction of the Hillside mine. What is now the northern end of the St Vincent Highway would move to a new alignment closer to the coast, with the Yorke Highway turning inland at the southern (Pine Point Road) end of this diversion instead of near the northern end.[7]

Major junctions

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LGA[8]Location[1][3]km[1]miDestinationsNotes
WakefieldYorke Peninsula boundaryPort Arthur00.0  Copper Coast Highway (B85) – Port WakefieldNortheastern terminus of highway and route B86
Yorke PeninsulaArdrossan4226Maitland Road – Maitland
Pine Point5534  St Vincent Highway (B88) – Port Vincent, Edithburgh
Minlaton9358  Spencer Highway (B89) – Maitland
Warooka12578  St Vincent Highway (B88) – Yorketown, Edithburgh
Stenhouse Bay180110Innes National ParkSouthwestern terminus of highway and route B86
  •       Route transition

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Yorke Highway" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Location SA Map viewer with regional layers". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Location SA Map viewer with suburb layers". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  4. ^ Copper Coast Highway Intersection with Yorke Highway - for illustrative purposes only (PDF) (Map). Government of South Australia. August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  5. ^ Peter Malinauskas (10 August 2016). "New roundabout to help ease holiday traffic on Yorke Peninsula". News release - Peter Malinauskas (Press release). Government of South Australia.
  6. ^ RAVNet (Map). Government of South Australia. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  7. ^ Rex Minerals Ltd (August 2013). "Hillside Copper Mine - Mining Lease Proposal & Management Plan" (PDF). Government of South Australia. pp. 341–343. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Location SA Map viewer with LGA layers". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2022.