The road provides an important transport corridor to access the port facilities at East Arm as well as the northernmost passenger and freight terminals on the Adelaide-Darwin railway.

Berrimah Road is used by approximately 4000 vehicles per day, including a large proportion of heavy trucks and this number is expected to increase significantly with the growth of the port activities[1] There are major junctions controlled by traffic lights at Tiger Brennan Drive and Wishart Road, as well as a public weighbridge used by trucks entering and exiting the industrial precinct at the southern end.

[2] The hospital site was bombed during Japanese air raids on 19 February 1942, and was subsequently relocated inland to Adelaide River, however by this time the name Berrimah Road was in common use for the quarantine station track.

[4] The final stage of the East Arm Port Access Route project involved the construction of an overpass to replace a level crossing as the road enters a business park precinct surrounding the railway yard and terminals.

Due to the length of trains using the transcontinental railway line, shunting movements had previously caused the road to be blocked for long periods, restricting traffic access to the businesses and port.