Great Northern Highway

Great Northern Highway Western Australia
Map of Western Australia with Great Northern Highway highlighted in red
General information
Type	Highway
Length	3,194.66 km (1,985 mi)[1]
Gazetted	10 March 1944[2]
Route number(s)	National Highway 95 (Middle Swan – Mundabullangana) National Highway 1 (Mundabullangana – Victoria Highway) National Route 1 (Midland – Muchea)
Tourist routes	Swan Valley Tourist Drive (Tourist Drive 203, Perth) Geikie–Windjana Tourist Way (Tourist Drive 350, Geikie Gorge National Park – Fitzroy Crossing) Chittering Valley Tourist Way (Tourist Drive 359, Bullsbrook) Midlands Tourist Way (Tourist Drive 360, Upper Swan – Walebing)
Major junctions
Southwest end	Morrison Road, (National Routes 1), Midland, Perth
	Reid Highway (State Route 3) Roe Highway (National Highway 95 / State Route 3) Tonkin Highway (State Route 4) Brand Highway (National Route 1) Geraldton-Mount Magnet Road (State Route 123) Goldfields Highway North West Coastal Highway (National Route 1) Victoria Highway (National Highway 1)
Northeast end	Harbour Road, Wyndham
Location(s)
Major settlements	Bullsbrook, New Norcia, Dalwallinu, Mount Magnet, Meekatharra, Newman, Port Hedland, Broome Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Western Australia
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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 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi), it is the longest highway in Australia, with the majority included as part of the Perth Darwin National Highway. The highway, which travels through remote areas of the state, is constructed as a sealed, predominantly two-lane single carriageway, but with some single-lane bridges in the Kimberley. Economically, it provides vital access through the Wheatbelt and Mid West to the resource-rich regions of the Pilbara and Kimberley. In these areas, the key industries of mining, agriculture and pastoral stations, and tourism are all dependent on the highway.

In Perth, the highway begins in Midland near Great Eastern Highway, and further north intersects the Reid and Roe highways, which together form Perth's ring road. There are also three rural highways that spur off Great Northern Highway. Brand Highway and North West Coastal Highway provide an alternative coastal route between Muchea and Port Hedland, while Victoria Highway carries the National Highway route and interstate traffic into the Northern Territory. Various road routes are allocated to sections of Great Northern Highway, including the Highway 1 routes National Route 1 and National Highway 1, as well as National Highway 95.

The highway was created in 1944 from existing roads in the Wheatbelt and a series of tracks through remote pastoral areas. However, it was a hazardous route that could be dusty in the dry season, and boggy or washed away in the wet season. Some sections were effectively impassable sand, while others contained limestone outcrops. Economic growth and development in northern Western Australia prompted initial improvement efforts, and the federal government's Beef Roads Scheme in the 1960s resulted in a noticeably higher-quality road in the Kimberley. Construction of a sealed road from Perth to Wyndham, including numerous bridges to reduce the impact of seasonal flooding, took many years to complete. The last section opened on 16 December 1989, and received national media coverage. However, by then many older sections were either worn out or not up to modern standards. Various upgrades have been carried out in small sections, across the length of the highway, with further works planned. The southernmost part of the highway, from Midland to Muchea, was bypassed in 2020 by the NorthLink WA project that upgraded and extended the Tonkin Highway to Muchea. This section remains in use for local traffic and tourism to the Swan Valley area.