Highways in Western Australia include both roads that are named as a highway, and roads that have been declared as a highway under the Main Roads Act 1930. The standard of highways range from two-lane roads, common in rural areas, to

controlled access A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

grade separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tra ...

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

s in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. In legislation, a highway is a type of road controlled and maintained by the state road authority,

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 ...

. Any road or section of road may be proclaimed a highway by the

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional ...

, on the recommendation of the Commissioner of Main Roads, under Section 13 of the Main Roads Act 1930. Section 14 of the act allows for the creation of new highways. Main Roads assigns each highway a name and number, which may vary from the official road names used on road signs and by the general public. The highway number does not correspond to a road route that may be allocated to the highway, and some highways are not part of a numbered route.

Proclaimed highways

Main roads with highway names

A "main road" is another type of road controlled by Main Roads Western Australia.

Outback tracks with highway names

As the

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

covers most of Western Australia, tracks provide vital links to remote communities and settlements. These tracks are unsealed, remote, and in many cases pass through restricted areas such as Aboriginal lands and

Indigenous Protected Area An Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) is a class of protected area used in Australia; each is formed by voluntary agreement with Indigenous Australians, and declared by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander representative organisations ...

s, which require transit permits. *

Anne Beadell Highway Anne Beadell Highway is an outback unsealed track linking Coober Pedy, South Australia, and Laverton, Western Australia, a total distance of . The track was surveyed and built by Len Beadell, Australian surveyor, who named it after his wife. Th ...

Connie Sue Highway The Connie Sue Highway is an outback unsealed track that runs between the Aboriginal community of Warburton on the Great Central Road and Rawlinna on the Trans-Australian Railway. It lies entirely in the state of Western Australia, crosses th ...

* Eagle Highway *

Gary Highway The Gary Highway is a remote unsealed track in central Western Australia running through the Gibson Desert and the Great Sandy Desert. It was built by Len Beadell's Gunbarrel Road Construction Party in April and May 1963 and named after Bead ...

Gunbarrel Highway The Gunbarrel Highway is an isolated desert track in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. It consists of about of washaways, heavy corrugations, stone, sand and flood plains. The Gunbarrel Highway connects Victory D ...

* Heather Highway *

Buntine Highway The Buntine Highway is a 581-kilometre highway in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. It runs from the Victoria Highway via Top Springs and Kalkarindji and then to Nicholson, Western Australia. The section from the Victoria Highway ...

Road routes with highway names

Highway 1 is a route that circumnavigates Australia, joining all mainland state capitals, via roads numbered 1, M1, A1, or B1, as some states use an alphanumeric route numbering system. In Western Australia, most of the highway is designated as National Route 1. However, the sections in the north-east and south-east of the state that are concurrent with the National Highway routes from Perth to Adelaide and from Perth to Darwin are designated as National Highway 1.

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References