Length:

151 km

Termini:

Northern: Romeo Rd (unnumbered), Alkimos

Southern: Forrest Highway (former Old Coast Road) (NR1), Lake Clifton

Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route:

Lake Clifton, West Coolup, West Pinjarra, South Yunderup, North Yunderup, Nambellup, Karnup, Wellard, Bertam, Casuarina, The Spectacles, Anketell, Mandogalup, Wandi, Hammond Park, Aubin Grove, Success, Atwell, Cockburn Central, Jandakot, South Lake, Bibra Lake, North Lake, North Lake, Leeming, Murdoch, Bateman, Bull Creek, Brentwood, Salter Point, Como, South Perth, Perth, West Perth, Northbridge, Leederville, West Leederville, Glendalough, Mount Hawthorn, Osborne Park, Stirling, Innaloo, Gwelup, Balcatta, Carine, Hamersley, Duncraig, Warwick, Greenwood, Padbury, Kingsley, Craigie, Woodvale, Heathridge, Edgewater, Joondalup, Connolly, Currambine, Kinross, Neerabup, Tamala Park, Clarkson, Ridgewood, Nowergup, Butler and Alkimos

Current: 2

Multiplexed with: 1

Road Authority Internal Classification: ¹

H015 (South Yunderup to Perth)

H016 (Perth to Alkimos)

H057 (Lake Clifton to South Yunderup)

General Information:

The Forrest Highway, Kwinana Freeway and Mitchell Freeway, are without a doubt one of the most important road systems in the Perth metropolitan area, and the southwestern part of the state.

Running in a north-south direction, the freeways link the north and southern suburbs of Perth together plus the southern city of Mandurah and the state's southwest, but also act as a coastal link between the northern and southern parts of the state. Built in stages from the late 1950s the route has seen enormous changes / extensions and is continuously undergoing expansion to this day.

Unique to the freeway sections is the passenger railway line down the median of the road corridor. This runs from The Spectacles to Perth, then from West Perth to Butler. The Mitchell Freeway at Nowergup features a railway stabling yard and depot in the median.

When first planned, the Mitchell Fwy was called the Yanchep Highway, as it is envisaged that eventually the route will connect to the town.

The section of State Route 2 south of Baldivis involved the design and construction of 70.5 kilometres of dual carriageway. The route was constructed as a single project and extended the dual carriageway from Safety Bay Road in Baldivis, around the eastern side of the Peel Inlet and Harvey Estuary to join the existing dual carriageway on Old Coast Road at Lake Clifton.

The route was constructed to freeway standard from Safety Bay Road to South Yunderup, a distance of 32 kilometres. The remainder of the route, 38 kilometres, was initially be built as a rural highway, with the ability to upgrade it in the future as traffic demands increase. The route links Perth and the South West, bypassing the heavily populated areas in Mandurah and the Dawesville Peninsula, and avoiding inland communities on the existing highway.

As part of the work, five interchanges were constructed at Safety Bay Road, Karnup Road, Paganoni Road, Lakes Road and Pinjarra Road. Nine intersections were constructed and have the capacity to be upgraded to interchanges in the future. They are located at Beacham Road, Greenlands Road, Paull Road, Mills Road, Herron Point Road, Old Bunbury Road, Dorsett Road, Old Coast Road and Peppermint Grove Road. In total, 19 bridges were built to grade separate the interchanges and extend the new Perth-Bunbury Highway over the Serpentine River, Nambeelup Brook, Murray River/Pinjarra Road, South Yunderup Road, Murray River floodplain, Harvey River and a number of Water Corporation drains. At the time, it was the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken by Main Roads Western Australia.

National Route 1, for 4 km, between Brentwood and Como.

Forrest Highway:

December 2006: Works commence on the Forrest Highway. ²

20 September 2009: Opening of Forrest Highway from Lake Clifton to South Yunderup. ³

Kwinana Freeway:

1899: The first serious proposal to bridge The Narrows was considered in 1899, but the estimated cost of £13 000 pounds caused public outrage and the plan was shelved. ⁴

1901: The Public Works Department prepared a sketch plan for a 900-foot timber bridge with central swing spans to cross The Narrows, but again it did not proceed. ⁴

1954: Main Roads resurrected the concept of a Narrows Bridge due to quickly increasing traffic using the Causeway bridges. ⁴

1956: Cabinet approved a design suitable for The Narrows site and tenders were called for the construction. ⁴

1957: Commencement of construction of the Narrows Bridge and first stage of the Kwinana Fwy. ⁵

1959: Narrows Bridge was officially opened by then Western Australian Governor, Sir Charles Gairdner. Initially, the original six-lane structure was intended to carry about 6000 vehicles per hour in each direction. Measuring 396.5 m with five spans, the longest span being 98 m, the original Narrows Bridge made history as the largest precast, prestressed concrete bridge in the world. The construction project included 5.4 km of the Kwinana Freeway from the Narrows to Canning Highway, bringing the total cost to £3.5 million. ⁴

1967: Construction of the Kwinana Freeway in inner southern Perth suburbs. ⁵

3 December 1976: South Perth interchange opened. ⁶

1974: More than 77 500 vehicles were using the Narrows Bridge every day. ⁴

1975: Additional land reserved for the future extension of the Kwinana Fwy. ⁷

19 July 1979: Kwinana Freeway / Canning Highway interchange including Manning Road Bridge fully operational. ⁶

October 1980: Narrows Bridge median lane opened to Northbound traffic. ⁶

29 March 1982: Narrows Bridge median lane opened to southbound peak traffic, thus becoming a reversible lane. ⁶

9 May 1982: Mt Henry Bridge and Kwinana Freeway extension (6.5 km) from Canning Bridge to South Street opened. ⁶

February 1987: Introduction of bus lanes. ⁵

1988: $70 million was allocated to duplicate the Narrows Bridge. ⁴

18 December 1989: Kwinana Fwy bus lane Canning Bridge to city opened. ⁶

14 July 1991: Kwinana Freeway from South St to Farrington Rd opened. ⁶

12 December 1991: Kwinana Freeway from Farrington Rd to Forrest Rd (now North Lake Rd) opened. ⁶

November 1991: Kwinana Freeway bus lane extended from Canning Bridge to Mt Henry Bridge. ⁶

1998: Traffic figures had doubled to more than 155 000 crossing Narrows Bridge, making it the busiest piece of freeway in the nation. ⁴

11 September 1994: Extension of Kwinana Freeway from Forrest Road (now North Lake Rd) to Thomas Road Kwinana opened by Kim Beazley. ⁵

1999-2001: Construction of the South West Metropolitan Railway down the centre of the freeway alignment - this was done by relocating 16 kilometres of existing northbound carriageway 15 metres westwards. Also part of the works was the construction of a 12 km freeway extension southwards from Thomas Road to Safety Bay Road, including interchanges at Mortimer and Mundijong Road and freeway overpasses at Millar Road. ⁸

25 February 2001: The second bridge over The Narrows opened to traffic and increased the number of traffic lanes from seven to 10 and formed part of a $230 million upgrade of the Kwinana Freeway and its extension to Safety Bay Road. ⁴

12 March 2006: The connection of the Roe Highway Stage 7, from South Street to the Kwinana Freeway, officially opened to traffic. ⁶

December 2006: Works commence on the Kwinana Freeway Extension from Safety Bay Road (SR18) Interchange at Baldivis to Pinjarra Road at North Yunderup. ²

2007: The Narrows rail bridge was also commissioned as part of the Perth to Mandurah railway service. ⁴

2009: Figures show the Narrows Bridge carries almost 180 000 vehicles every day. ⁴

20 September 2009: Completion of the 70.5 km Perth to Bunbury Highway project (Kwinana Fwy / Forrest Hwy) - bypassing the heavily populated areas in Mandurah and the Dawesville Peninsula, and avoiding the inland communities on South Western Highway. The route is freeway standard from Safety Bay Road to Pinjarra Road with the remainder of the route built as a divided rural highway. In the future as traffic demands increase, the highway will be upgraded to a freeway standard for its entire length. ⁶

10 August 2011: Major construction work began to add two new lanes to the Kwinana Freeway between the Leach and Roe highways. ⁹

Mitchell Freeway:

1967 to 1973: construction of the section between the Narrows Bridge and Sutherland Street West Perth commenced - eventually forming the Narrows Interchange.

8 March 1976: Mitchell Freeway extension (1.6 km) from Railway Parade to Vincent Street opened. (Stage 2). ⁶

2 June 1978: Mitchell Freeway extension (4.8 km) from Vincent Street to Hutton Street opened. (Stage 3). ⁶

12 December 1983: Mitchell Freeway extension (3.5 km) from Roberts Street to Karrinyup Road opened. (Stage 4). ⁶

21 September 1984: Mitchell Freeway extension (1.8 km) from Karrinyup Road to Erindale Road opened. ⁶

6 August 1986: Mitchell Freeway extension to Hepburn Avenue opened. ⁶

1987: the freeway extended to Ocean Reef Road Craigie.

2 July 1988: Mitchell Freeway to Ocean Reef Road opened. ⁶

1992: the median strip of widened for the Joondalup railway line. Also, Mitchell Fwy widening to McDonald St completed. ⁶

1993: Mitchell Fwy widening to Erindale Rd completed, providing three lanes in each direction. ⁶

2001: freeway extension to Hodges Dr at Joondalup opened.

2 November 2008: $171.5 million extension to Burns Beach Road Currambine opened to traffic by then State Premier, Colin Barnett. ⁶

2017: Mitchell Freeway extended to Hester Avenue at Clarkson.

May 2021: Construction commenced on the Mitchell Freeway extension between Clarkson and the suburbs of Neerabup and Alkimos. ¹⁰

10 July 2023: The 5.6 km extension from Clarkson and the suburbs of Neerabup and Alkimos opened to traffic. The works included new freeway access points at Hester Avenue, Lukin Drive, Butler Boulevard and Romeo Road, new east-west link with the extension of Romeo Road from Wanneroo Road to Marmion Avenue, duplication of Wanneroo Road from Romeo Road to Trian Road, new footpaths, shared paths and Principal Shared Paths, including underpasses, plus a new bridge over the Butler railway. ¹⁰