Main Roads Western Australia Main Roads Western Australia (formerly the Main Roads Department) is a statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia that is responsible for implementing the state's policies on road access and main roads. It operates under the ''M ...

controls the major roads in the state's

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

region. There are two main highways in the region:

Great Northern Highway Great Northern Highway is an Australian highway that links Western Australia's capital city Perth with its northernmost port, Wyndham. With a length of almost , it is the longest highway in Australia, with the majority included as part of the ...

, which travels north through the region to

Port Hedland A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

and then north-west along the coast, as well as

North West Coastal Highway North West Coastal Highway is a generally north-south Western Australian highway which links the coastal city of Geraldton with the town of Port Hedland. The road, constructed as a sealed two-lane single carriageway, travels through remote and ...

, which heads south-west from Port Hedland. A series of main roads connects towns to the highways, and local roads provide additional links. The majority of these roads service the western half of the region, with few located in the various deserts east of the

Oakover River The Oakover River is a river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The headwaters of the river rise north of the Wadara Range and west of the Saltbush range near Junction Well then flows in a northerly direction. The river continues nort ...

. Roads are often named after the towns or areas they connect. The region's main roads are important for multiple aspects of the Pilbara's economy. These activities include mining (despite most products being transported by rail), agriculture and pastoral leases, and tourism, especially to the national parks at Karijini, Millstream-Chichester, and Rudall River.

Bingarn Road

Bingarn Road is the main access road connecting Tom Price to the wider Pilbara region since 2020. It commences at the intersection of Manuwarra Red Dog Highway and Paraburdoo–Tom Price Road and terminates at the intersection of Willow and Central Roads in central Tom Price. It was originally known as Mine Road prior to the naming of the Manuwarra Red Dog Highway replacing the original Bingarn Road alignment. The original Bingarn Road was a major north–south road in the Pilbara connecting Tom Price north to

Nanutarra Munjina Road Main Roads Western Australia controls the major roads in the state's Pilbara region. There are two main highways in the region: Great Northern Highway, which travels north through the region to Port Hedland and then north-west along the coast, as ...

at Mount Sheila..

Burrup Road

Burrup Road, also known as Burrup Peninsula Road, is a main road on the

Burrup Peninsula Murujuga, formerly known as Dampier Island and today usually known as the Burrup Peninsula, is in the Dampier Archipelago, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, containing the town of Dampier. The Dampier Rock Art Precinct, which covers ...

. From Dampier Road near Dampier, it heads north-east up the peninsula to Woodside's onshore

LNG Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...

processing plant.

Dampier Road

Dampier Road, also known as Dampier Highway, is a major road in the Pilbara. From De Witt Road in Karratha, it travels west along the southern edge of town, and continues west to Gap Ridge. It then turns north-westerly, running to Dampier on the

. The road was completed in the late 1960s as a major link between Karratha and Dampier. Duplication between Balmoral Road West and Burrup Peninsula Road, turning the road into a

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

, was completed on 28 February 2013.

Great Northern Highway

Great Northern Highway is a main highway through the Pilbara region, and part of the Perth to Darwin national highway. From the southern edge of the region at

Newman Newman is a surname of English origin and may refer to many people: The surname Newman is widespread in the core Anglosphere. A *Abram Newman (1736–1799), British grocer *Adrian Newman (disambiguation), multiple people *Al Newman (born 1960) ...

, the highway travels north-west towards

Karijini National Park Karijini National Park is an List of national parks of Australia, Australian national park centred in the Hamersley Ranges of the Pilbara region in the northwestern section of Western Australia. The park is located north of the Tropic of Caprico ...

, and then north to

, where it meets the northern end of

. Great Northern Highway continues north-eastwards near the coast, passing into the

Kimberley region The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy Desert, Great Sandy and Tanami Desert, Tanami deserts ...

at Pardoo.

De Witt Road

De Witt Road (formerly Karratha Rd) is a main north–south road in the Pilbara region, linking Karratha to the

. It travels from the highway to the town centre along the eastern edge of Stove Hill, terminating at Dampier Road.

Karijini Road

Karijini Road, also known as Karijini Drive, is a major east–west road through the

. It connects Great Northern Highway, on the eastern side of the park, to Mount Sheila, near Tom Price, west of the park.

Madigan Road

Madigan Road is a major north–south road in the Pilbara region. It runs north from the Karratha Roadhouse on North West Coastal Highway, linking traffic to Dampier and Karratha via Dampier Road.

Manuwarra Red Dog Highway

Manuwarra Red Dog Highway is a major north-west to south-east road in the Pilbara region currently being constructed between Karratha and Tom Price. Originally known as Karratha-Tom Price Road, it acquired its new name in September 2020 after community consultation. Manuwarra means "heaps" in the

Yindjibarndi language Yinjibarndi is a Pama–Nyungan language spoken by the Yindjibarndi people of the Pilbara region in north-western Australia. Yinjibarndi is mutually intelligible with Kurrama, but the two are considered distinct languages by their speakers. ...

and is the indigenous name for the Red Dog Gorge in the

Millstream Chichester National Park Millstream Chichester National Park is a national park in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, located north of the state capital, Perth. The park is made up of the old Millstream Station, which is on the Millstream Creek, just befo ...

. Both the gorge and the highway acquired its English name from the

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

Red Dog, a famous

Kelpie A kelpie, or water kelpie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Each-Uisge''), is a shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lochs in Scottish folklore. It is usually described as a black horse-like creature, able to adopt human form. Some accounts state that the kelpie ...

Cattle Dog The Australian Cattle Dog (ACD), or simply Cattle Dog, is a breed of herding dog originally developed in Australia for droving cattle over long distances across rough terrain. This breed is a medium-sized, short-coated dog that occurs in two m ...

and Pilbara mascot from the 1970s. The road is constructed from renamed sections of Warlu Road, Roebourne-Wittenoom Road and Bingarn Road along with a portion of the service road originally constructed to service the

Hamersley & Robe River railway The Hamersley & Robe River railway, majority-owned by Rio Tinto, and operated by its subsidiary Pilbara Iron, is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for the purpose of carrying iron ore. The network is larger than ...

Marble Bar Road

Marble Bar Road is a main north–south road in the Pilbara region. From

, it heads north via Nullagine and

Marble Bar Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphosed ...

to rejoin Great Northern Highway at

Strelley Strelley is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Broxtowe and City of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It is to the west of Nottingham. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 653. It is also the name of t ...

, east of

. Although it provides an alternative route to Great Northern Highway, most of the Newman to Marble Bar section is unsealed. The

Northern Australia Roads Program Northern Australia Roads Program is a suite of projects designed to deliver upgrades to high priority roads in northern Australia. In 2016 the Australian Government announced 19 projects to be funded under this program, and in 2020 another was add ...

announced in 2016 included the following project for the Marble Bar Road.

Coongan Gorge

The project for realignment and reconstruction works was completed in mid 2019 at a total cost of $34.5 million.

Nanutarra Munjina Road

Nanutarra Munjina Road is a major east–west road in the Pilbara region. From

at the Nanutarra Roadhouse, it travels east-south-east towards Paraburdoo–Tom Price Road. The sealed road turns here towards Paraburdoo, but Nanutarra Munjina Road continues as an unsealed road for most of its remaining length. It curves to the north-east, heading around Tom Price and the

. Near the

Fortescue River The Fortescue River is an ephemeral river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the third longest river in the state. Course The river rises near Deadman Hill in the Ophthalmia Range about 30 km south of Newman. The river fl ...

, the road again travels east-south-easterly to

at the Auski Roadhouse,

Karijini Karijini National Park is an Australian national park centred in the Hamersley Ranges of the Pilbara region in the northwestern section of Western Australia. The park is located north of the Tropic of Capricorn, from the state's capital city, ...

North West Coastal Highway

North West Coastal Highway is a highway that follows the southern half of the Pilbara coastline. From the Gascyone region at Burkett Road, a turnoff for Exmouth, the highway enters the Pilbara region at Yannarie. It heads north-easterly, gradually moving closer to the coast until it reaches the access roads to Dampier and Karratha, Madigan Road and Karratha Road. From here the highway moves runs to Roebourne and then over to

Whim Creek Whim may refer to: * Whim, U.S. Virgin Islands, a settlement * Whim (mining), a capstan or drum with a vertical axle used in mining * Whim (carriage), a type of carriage * ''Whim'', a reissue of ''Adventures of Wim'', a book by George Cockroft as ...

, where it curves back to the north east to meet Great Northern Highway at

Mundabullangana Mundabullangana is a settlement in Western Australia, located approximately 100 km south-west of Port Hedland. It is the site of a 225,000 hectare cattle station. Mundabullangana is more commonly known as Munda Station. In 1872, brothers ...

, south of

Onslow Road

Onslow Road is a major road in the Pilbara region. From

Cane Cane or caning may refer to: *Walking stick or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking *Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance *White cane, a mobility or safety device used by many people who are b ...

, north of the Nanutarra Roadhouse, it heads north-west to the town of Onslow on the coast.

Paraburdoo–Tom Price Road

Paraburdoo–Tom Price Road, also known as Paraburdoo Tom Price Road or Paraburdoo Road (west of Paraburdoo) and Tom Price Road (east of Paraburdoo), is a major road in the Pilbara region. From

Rocklea Rocklea is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Rocklea had a population of 1,595 people. Geography Rocklea is located 9 kilometres south of the city. The west of the suburb is bordered by the Oxley Creek. The ...

, the road heads south-east to Paraburdoo. It then curves round to the north, meeting Karijini Road, before heading a short distance north-west to Tom Price, where Manuwarra Red Dog Highway completes the loop back to Nanutarra Munjina Road. Paraburdoo–Tom Price Road is part of the sealed road link between

and

in the southern half of the Pilbara.

Point Samson–Roebourne Road

Point Samson–Roebourne Road, also known as Point Samson Roebourne Road, is a major north–south road in the Pilbara region. It links

Point Samson Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

on the coast via Wickham to

at Roebourne.

Ripon Hills Road

Ripon Hills Road is a major east–west road in

. It travels from Marble Bar Road near the Marble Bar townsite to the Telfer Mine Road turnoff, near the

, which provides access to Telfer. After the turnoff, Ripon Hills Road continues as Woodie Woodie Road to the Nifty and Woodie Woodie mine sites. Ripon Hills Road was opened in November 1999 to replace the unsealed Woodie Woodie Road between Marble Bar townsite and the Telfer Mine Road turnoff as the main road through the region. At the time Ripon Hills Road was opened, Woodie Woodie Road carried over 500 Thousand tonnes of freight.

Wilson Street

Wilson Street is a major road in

, in the Pilbara region. It connects the coastal townsite to

References

{{Road infrastructure in Western Australia .