Special Use Road Classification for Western Australia

Special Use roads are public roads administered by Local Governments in Western Australia, serving a distinct function beyond their standard road hierarchy. The dataset categorizes these roads into types like Aboriginal Access Roads, Industrial Roads, and Laneways, and includes attributes such as ROAD_NAME, COMMON_USAGE_NAME, and spatial measures START_SLK and END_SLK. It is provided by Main Roads Western Australia and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze the spatial distribution of Aboriginal Access Roads using the ROAD_NAME and LG_NO (Local Government number) fields to assess community access infrastructure.
• Segment road network analysis by NETWORK_TYPE and CWY (Carriageway) to compare traffic patterns on Special Use roads versus standard Local Roads.
• Calculate the geometric length of Industrial Roads using the START_TRUE_DIST and END_TRUE_DIST attributes for infrastructure planning.
• Map Laneway locations and their associated COMMON_USAGE_NAME to support urban planning and service vehicle access studies.

Strengths

• Data is provided by Main Roads Western Australia, the authoritative state road authority.
• Includes multiple spatial data formats (GEOJSON, KML, CSV) for flexible analysis.
• Dataset is actively maintained, with a recent update in March 2026.
• Covers three distinct, defined categories of Special Use roads: Aboriginal Access, Industrial, and Laneways.

Limitations

• The total number of records (rows) and specific column count are not provided, limiting assessment of dataset scale.
• Data coverage is restricted to Western Australia, limiting applicability for national or comparative studies.
• Relies on administrative classifications which may not reflect current on-ground usage or conditions.

Provenance

Source

Main Roads Western Australia

Collection Method

Administrative data collection by the state road authority.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-09.

Geography

Western Australia, Australia