Located within the City of Tea Tree Gully, the suburb of Modbury lies to the north-east of the Adelaide CBD. It radiates from the junction between McIntyre Road and North East Road, one of the main arteries leading out of the city, and lies at the end of the Adelaide O-Bahn.
The largest landmark in Modbury is Tea Tree Plaza, a large shopping mall with department stores and big-name chain brands owned and operated by Westfield. There is a Hoyts cinema complex and gaming arcade on-site, and it’s here that the O-Bahn terminates at the Tea Tree Plaza Interchange. The O-Bahn was designed in 1986 to serve Adelaide’s rapidly developing northeastern suburbs, with its 12-kilometres long guided busway built on specially designed tracks that enable fast transits. Opposite Tea Tree Plaza lies Civic Park, a leafy expanse of greenery with barbeques and picnic facilities, as well as a children’s playground. The City of Tea Tree Gully Library and council offices are situated along its northern edge, while hardware stores, fast food restaurants and large-scale fitness centres line North East Road to the south. Modbury is home to a high school and a primary school, as well as the Tea Tree Gully TAFE Campus.
The Adelaide O-Bahn is the easiest way to get from the city centre to Modbury, with the interchanges at Klemzig, Paradise and Tea Tree Plaza allowing buses to leave the tracks and utilise regular suburban roads. Alternatively, there is plenty of parking available onsite at Tea Tree Plaza, from where it’s just a short walk to the rest of Modbury’s shops and services.
The suburb was named in 1840 by influential landowner R.S. Kelly after his hometown in Devonshire, England. He also donated the land where the suburb’s school was built in 1881, and still stands today.