Road Photos & Information: Western Australia

Norseman to Port Hedland via Albany & Perth (National Route 1)

Statistics:

• Length: 2895 km
• Northern Terminus: Corner of North Western Coastal Hwy (NH1) and Great Northern Hwy (NH95), 30 km southwest of Port Hedland.
• Southern Terminus: Corner of Coolgardie-Esperance Hwy (NH94) and Eyre Hwy (NH1) at Norseman.
• Suburbs, Towns & Localities along route: Norseman, Esperance, Albany, Bunbury, Mandurah, Rockingham, Perth, Geraldton, Carnarvon, Karratha & Port Hedland.
• Roads that form the route: Coolgardie-Esperance Highway, South Coast Highway, South Western Highway, Old Coast Road, Mandurah Road and Mandurah Bypass, Ennis Avenue, Patterson Road, Rockingham Road, Stock Road, Leach Highway, Kwinana Freeway, Canning Highway, Great Eastern Highway, Great Northern Highway, Brand Highway, North West Coastal Highway, Victoria Highway and Savannah Way.

Route Numbering:

• Current:
• Multiplexed with:
• Road Authority Internal Classification: H2 (Stock Road, Rockingham Road, Patterson Road, Ennis Avenue, Mandurah Road and Perth-Bunbury Highway), H4 (Brand Hwy), H5 (Great Eastern Hwy), H6 (Great Northern Hwy), H8 (South Coast Highway), H9 (South Western Highway), H10 (Coolgardie-Esperance Highway), H12 (Leach Highway), H13 (Canning Highway) and H15 (Kwinana Freeway) 1

General Information:

National Route 1 is a mostly somewhat coastal route in Western Australia. In some cases it travels quite close to the coast and the Indian and Southern Oceans and at other times it is further inland, but still generally hugging the coastline.

The quality of the route varies from rural 2 lane highway to multi-lane suburban arterial road and also freeway standard.

Multiplexes along the route include:

• SR2 (Kwinana Fwy) for 4 km, from the Leach Hwy (SR7) interchange at Brentwood, through to the Canning Hwy (SR6) interchange at Como.
• SR6 (Canning Hwy) for 6 km, from Victoria Park to Como.
• SR7 (Leach Hwy) for 6 km, between Kwinana Fwy at Brentwood to Stock Rd at Willagee
• SR51 for 3 km, from Guildford to Midland
• National Highway 95 (Great Northern Highway) for 38 km, from Midland to Muchea
• TD203 for 17 km, from Guildford to Belhus
• TD255 for 2 km at Williams Bay

History:

• 1953: Construction of bridge on Brand Hwy over Greenough River at Greenough, bypassing the convict built Maley bridge. 2
• 1969: Old Coast Road seal completed. 3
• 1975: The Brand Highway was completed. 4 Eelup Rotary constructed at Bunbury. 3
• 1976: Brand Highway opened by Premier Charles Court. 4
• 19 July 1979: Kwinana Freeway / Canning interchange including Manning Road Bridge fully operational. 1
• 1984: Gingin bypassed on western side of town by the current alignment of the Brand Highway. 4
• 1986: Mandurah Bypass completed. 3
• 1988: Australind Bypass completed. 3
• February 1997: Great Eastern Hwy / Orrong Rd new intersection opened. 1
• February 2000: Widening works on the 40 km stretch of Coolgardie-Esperance Highway between Scaddan and Gibson begin. 4
• 2002: Realignment of South Western Highway between Denmark and Walpole, which included replacement of two bridges and construction of an overtaking bulge at the intersection with Parry Beach Road. 5
• April 2003: Construction of an overtaking lane on South Western Highway between Balingup and Mullalyup. 6
• 22 December 2004: Brand Highway and North West Coastal Highway interchange opened to all traffic. This work replaced the roundabout at the intersection of Brand Highway, North West Coastal Highway, Cathedral Avenue and Portway on the south entrance to the City of Geraldton. 1
• 2005: Widening of the seal on various narrow sections of South Western Highway between Donnybrook and Bridgetown, from the width of about 6.8m to a minimum of 8.0m. 7
• 2007: Passing lanes constructed 12 km south of Cataby, 40 km north of Gingin and 30km south of Dongara, near the junction of Indian Ocean Drive. 8
• February 2007: Construction of two 2km long overtaking lanes on the South Coast Highway west of Munglinup. 9
• April 2007: Intersection of South Coast Highway (Chester Pass Road) and Menang Drive near Albany is opened fully to traffic. 11
• July 2008: Completion of a major reconstruction of a 1.7 km section of Great Northern Highway between Apple Street and Shell roadhouse north of West Swan Road in Upper Swan. The 5 month project, included widening of the Highway from 7 metres to 11 metres with the addition of 2 metre sealed shoulders. The works also included a 3 metre wide asphalt surfaced truck bay opposite Ginger's (Gull) Roadhouse, capable of accommodating up to three B-Double road trains. 1
• October 2008: Reconstruction of a 1.9 km section of the Great Northern Highway from West Swan Road South to Haddrill Road at Upper Swan. 1
• February 2009: A 1.4km section of South Western Highway, south of Balingup, was widened at Padbury Hill. 12
• September 2009: Completion of construction works for intersection with Forrest Hwy (SR2) and Peppermint Grove Rd at Lake Clifton.
• November 2009: Widening of a 1.6km section of South Western Highway, between Balingup and Greenbushes. 13
• March 2010: A new passing lane constructed on the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway, approximately 10km north of Esperance at Six Mile Hill. 14

The photos on this site of National Route 1 have been divided into sections, click inside a green box below to take a look:

1 Main Roads Western Australia
2 Heritage Council of Western Australia
3 South West Focus Conference, Main Roads WA Linking the South West, May 2007
4 State Records Office of Western Australia
5 Government of Western Australia, Ministerial Media Statements, Works Infrastructure Pty Ltd win contract for Coolgardie-Esperance Highway roadwork, 31 January 2000
6 Government of Western Australia, Ministerial Media Statements, $5million upgrade for South Western Highway, 8 November 2001
7 Government of Western Australia, Ministerial Media Statements, New overtaking lane for South Western Highway, 4 April 2003.
8 Government of Western Australia, Ministerial Media Statements, Works progressing on upgrading South Western Highway, 23 November 2005
9 WA Government Media Office
10 Government of Western Australia, Ministerial Media Statements, South Coast Highway improvements a boost to local community, 7 February 2007
11 Goverment of Western Australia, Ministerial Media Statements, Stage one of Albany Ring Road opens to traffic - with a new name, 27 April 2007
12 Government of Western Australia, Ministerial Media Statements, Upgrade to make South Western Highway safer, 9 February 2009
13 Government of Western Australia, Ministerial Media Statements, More upgrades planned for South Western Highway, 24 November 2009
14 Government of Western Australia, Ministerial Media Statements, $1.6million Coolgardie-Esperance Highway intersection upgrade, 24 March 2010

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