Батыс Австралияның Солтүстік-Батыс Жолдары

Highway in Western Australia

North West Coastal Highway is the coastal route through Western Australia's remote north west. From the Mid West city of Geraldton, the highway heads north to the small town of Northampton, and another to Carnarvon, the only large settlement along the route. It continues north east for to Roebourne, beyond the turnoff to Karratha, and ends further east at Great Northern Highway, out from Port Hedland. Apart from Whim Creek, between Roebourne and Port Hedland, roadhouses serving the highway are the only settlements on the long stretches of rangeland expanses between these towns. The highway provides access to tourist destinations including Shark Bay, Coral Bay, and Exmouth. transitioning to primarily mining, pastoral stations and offshore oil and gas production in the Pilbara. The entire highway is allocated National Route 1, part of Australia's Highway 1, and parts of the highway are included in the tourist routes Batavia Coast Tourist Way (Tourist Drive 354) and Cossack Tourist Way (Tourist Drive 351). The vast majority of the highway is a two lane single carriageway with a speed limit of , except in and around built up areas where it drops down to In the 2012/13 financial year, the recorded traffic volumes ranged from 13,350 vehicles per day west of Geraldton–Mount Magnet Road down to 370 north of Minilya–Exmouth Road. The highest percentage of heavy vehicles was 45.5%, west of Karratha Road.

North West Coastal Highway commences at a diamond interchange at the northern end of Brand Highway. It heads east from the interchange and curves round to the north, past a traffic light intersection with Geraldton–Mount Magnet Road. The highway continues north through Geraldton's outer suburbs for before the landscape transitions to scrubland. Between Geraldton and Carnarvon, the highway passes through remote and dry semi desert areas. Apart from Northampton, out from Geraldton, the only settlements over this stretch are four roadhouses. Binnu Roadhouse is south of Kalbarri Road, the turnoff to Kalbarri; Billabong Roadhouse is south of the Shark Bay turnoff, where the Overlander Roadhouse is located; and the Wooramel Roadhouse is near the Wooramel River crossing. while the vegetation in the surrounding region is primarily shrublands. The highway skirts east of Carnarvon, and crosses the Gascoyne River north east of Robinson Street, the main road into the town. The next roadhouse, beyond Carnarvon, is the Minilya Roadhouse adjacent to the Minilya River. further on is the turnoff to the North West Cape area, including Cape Range National Park, Coral Bay and Exmouth. Western Australia's Nomenclature Advisory Committee proposed in October 1940 that a highway name be used to describe the main route from Midland to Geraldton, and extending to areas further north. By July 1941, the committee's proposal had expanded to three highway names for the roads in the state's northern areas: Great Northern Highway for the Midland Junction to Wyndham road, Geraldton Highway for Walebing–Mingenew–Geraldton route, and North West Coastal Highway for "the road from Geraldton to De Grey, via Northampton, Galena, Carnarvon, Boolaganoo, Winning Pool, Giralia, Yanrey, Onslow, Peedamullah, Mardie, Karratha, Roebourne, Whim Creek, Mundabullangana and Port Hedland". The proposal was well received by the local municipal councils and road boards. The name North West Coastal Highway was gazetted on 21 April 1944, under section 10 of the Land Act, 1933–1939. However, the highway was mostly a series of tracks through remote pastoral areas, with the sealed road ending just past Northampton, approximately north of Geraldton. Economic growth and development in Western Australia's northern regions in the 1940s prompted the state to quadruple road funding between 1946 and 1952. Two "gangs" of workers were allocated to a 900 mile (1448 km) length of North West Coastal Highway. Given the vast distance the highway travelled, and destructive cyclones in the Pilbara and Gascoyne that could destroy multiple weeks worth of work, the overall improvement was relatively insignificant. Over time, though, the road was improved. Over a ten year period from 1996 to 2006, numerous improvements were made to the highway, with sections widened, reconstructed, and realigned. Intersections and stretches through townsites were also redesigned, existing bridges were strengthened, and new bridges replaced older bridges or floodways. Additional work was necessary to repair damage from natural events. Sections washed away by floods in January 2003 were rebuilt, and opened in October of that year, and repairs to the damage from Cyclone Monty in March 2004 were completed that November. to an interchange, and an overpass was built for Durlacher Street to cross North West Coastal Highway. The highway was also made into a dual carriageway in the vicinity of the interchange. Stage 2 of the project, constructed between December 2008 and December 2009, provided a single carriageway connection from a traffic light controlled intersection on the highway to Geraldton–Mount Magnet Road, with access to Geraldton Airport. In 2013 work began on a project to seal the highway's shoulders from Yannarie River at Barradale to the Onslow turn off; it is expected to be completed by mid 2015. Further work to widen the highway between Minilya and Barradale, including replacing two floodways with bridges, is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.