Charles Street (Perth)

Charles Street is a major road in the inner northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It runs from Newcastle Street and extends up to London Street, providing a connection between Mitchell Freeway and Wanneroo Road. It is the southern section of part of State Route 60, which continues north along Wanneroo Road.

History
The street was named after Captain Charles Fitzgerald, Governor of WA, 1848–55. The section of Charles Street from Carr Street to Walcott Street was originally an extension of Wanneroo Road. Its name appears for the first time on maps of the Land Department in 1853.

"Access to Perth and its markets was a very important factor in the early years of the settlement (Swan River Colony), and Charles Street (leading onto the northern track) became an important road during the 1870s...The Methodist Church established a Chapel in Charles Street in 1895 and a more substantial building was added in 1897. St Paul’s Anglican Church was also erected in Charles Street in 1897, and in the 1920s a new church building was constructed on the corner of Charles and Carr streets."

In October 2022, Main Roads began a planning study to upgrade Charles Street with grade-separated "duck and dive" interchanges (effectively single-point diamond or roundabout interchanges in which the intersection is at-grade and the free-flowing road is below ground) at its busy Vincent Street, Scarborough Beach Road, and Walcott Street intersections. However, after community opposition to the required demolition of about 100 properties, the study was abandoned in November 2022.