List of road routes in Western Australia explained

Road routes in Western Australia assist drivers navigating roads in urban, rural, and scenic areas of the state. The route numbering system is composed of National Highways, National Routes, State Routes, and Tourist Drives. Each route has a unique number, except for National Highway 1 and National Route 1, which mark Highway 1 in Western Australia. Routes are denoted on directional signs and roadside poles by appropriately numbered markers, the design of which varies according to route type.

National Highways and National Routes are designated by the Federal Government along roads of national importance, whilst State Routes and Tourist Drives are designated by the State Government. Highways and some arterial roads are controlled and maintained by Main Roads Western Australia.^{[1] [2]} The remaining roads are generally the responsibility of local governments, though there are also some private roads and Department of Environment and Conservation roads.

Many major roads in Perth^[3] and in rural Western Australia^[4] are not assigned a route number. Not many routes have been added in the Perth and Peel regions since the 1990s with the exceptions including the Graham Farmer Freeway in 2000 and Mandjoogoordap Drive in 2010. A subsequent review of the system was undertaken in 2024 which resulted in additional route numbers being assigned to a number of roads throughout regional Western Australia.^[5]

Western Australia is the only remaining state to use the 1950s system in full (other than there being 1 National Route), while other states have either discontinued it in favour of an alphanumeric system or switched to a cheaper hybrid system, followed by phasing out the National Highway system. There are no definite plans to stop using it.

National Highways and Routes

National Highways are designated with gold numbers on a green shield.^[6] These are the most direct routes between Perth and other Australian capital cities. Black on white shields indicate National Routes that are not part of the National Highway system. Highway 1 is a route that circumnavigates Australia, joining all mainland state capitals, via roads numbered as National Highway 1 or National Route 1 (or as M1, A1, or B1 in states with an alphanumeric route numbering system).

Route	Component roads	From	Via	To	Length	Notes
National Highway 1		WA/NT border		Port Hedland	1561abbr=onNaNabbr=on	Continues west from Port Hedland as National Route 1
Eyre Highway	WA/SA border	Balladonia	Norseman	720abbr=onNaNabbr=on	Continues south from Norseman as National Route 1
National Highway 94		Victoria Park		Norseman	715abbr=onNaNabbr=on
National Highway 95		Midvale		Port Hedland	1576abbr=onNaNabbr=on
National Route 1		Port Hedland		Norseman	2903abbr=onNaNabbr=on	Continues east from Port Hedland and Norseman as National Highway 1
Alternate National Route 94		Coolgardie		Widgiemooltha	114abbr=onNaNabbr=on

State Routes

State Routes in Western Australia are designated by a white number on a blue shield. Single digit routes travel completely or partially along urban freeways or highways. Two digit route numbers that end in zero are the major road routes out of Perth, except for Route 10, which designates rural highway connections in the South West region. Other two digit routes connect the urban centres of Perth, while three digit routes connect regional and remote areas of Western Australia.

Route	Component roads	From	Via	To	Length	Notes
State Route 2		Alkimos	PerthLake Clifton	Bunbury	151km (94miles)
State Route 3		North Beach	Middle Swan	Bibra Lake	58.6km (36.4miles)
State Route 4		Muchea	Perth Airport	Oakford	81.5km (50.6miles)
State Route 5		Fremantle	Perth	Victoria Park	20.3km (12.6miles)	[7]
State Route 6		Fremantle	Applecross	Victoria Park	16.1km (10miles)	Realigned to Birdiya Drive from Mounts Bay Road in January 2022.
State Route 7		Fremantle	Brentwood	Perth Airport	23.1km (14.4miles)
State Route 8		West Perth	Wattle Grove	Carmel	24.7km (15.3miles)
State Route 10		Bunbury	Karridale	Augusta	141km (88miles)
	Karridale	Nannup	Shannon	340km (210miles)
State Route 12		Fremantle	Henderson	Naval Base	20.7km (12.9miles)
State Route 13		Fremantle	Canning Vale	Haynes	25.2km (15.7miles)
State Route 14		South Fremantle	Bibra Lake	Armadale	27.3km (17miles)	Rerouted after road upgrades and extensions
State Route 18		East Rockingham	Safety Bay	Baldivis	20.3km (12.6miles)
State Route 19		Stake Hill	Meadow Springs	Mandurah	6.3km (03.9miles)
State Route 20		Armadale		Bunbury	153km (95miles)
State Route 21		Kwinana Beach	Oakford	Byford	22.4km (13.9miles)
State Route 22		Rockingham	Baldivis	Jarrahdale	49km (30miles)
State Route 26		Manning	Bentley	Cannington	6.8km (04.2miles)
State Route 27		Shelley	Riverton	Lynwood	5.5km (03.4miles)
State Route 30		Victoria Park	Armadale	Albany	403km (250miles)
Alternate State Route 30		Beckenham		Kenwick	3.5km (02.2miles)	Section bypassed by Kenwick LinkOnce mistakenly signed as Alternate National Route 30, Alternate National Highway 30 and briefly Alternate National Highway 94
State Route 31		Cannington	Forrestdale	Oakford	21.6km (13.4miles)
State Route 36		Langford	Thornlie	Gosnells	7.8km (04.8miles)
State Route 40		Kelmscott	Brookton	Ravensthorpe	521km (324miles)
State Route 41		High Wycombe	Kalamunda	Karragullen	23.4km (14.5miles)
State Route 50		Middle Swan	Jane Brook	Toodyay	62.5km (38.8miles)
State Route 51		Perth	Guildford	Bellevue	18.2km (11.3miles)
State Route 52		Belhus	Middle Swan	Guildford	15.3km (09.5miles)
State Route 53		Perth	Morley	Whiteman	18.5km (11.5miles)
State Route 55		Dianella	Ascot	Hazelmere	23.9km (14.9miles)
State Route 56		Landsdale	Dianella	West Perth	16.6km (10.3miles)	Previously ended at Bulwer Street (State Route 72)[8] although a 2024 update now has State Route 56 extending down to Roe Street.
State Route 60		West Perth		Arrowsmith	320km (200miles)
State Route 61		Crawley	West Perth	Joondanna	8.4km (05.2miles)
State Route 64		Stirling	Osborne Park	Shenton Park	11.9km (07.4miles)	Previous alignment via Odin Road and Scarborough Beach Road was revoked in December 2023.
State Route 65		City Beach	Floreat	Perth	12.7km (07.9miles)
State Route 66		Mount Lawley		East Perth	2.3km (01.4miles)
State Route 71		Cottesloe	Hillarys Merriwa	Yanchep	55km (34miles)
State Route 72		Perth	Leederville	City Beach	11.5km (07.1miles)
State Route 75		Mount Lawley	Osborne Park	Scarborough	13.2km (08.2miles)
State Route 76		Trigg	Morley	Caversham	22km (14miles)
State Route 81		Duncraig	Girrawheen	Ballajura	11.4km (07.1miles)
State Route 82		Hillarys	Madeley	Cullacabardee	18km (11miles)	Route number extended from Wanneroo Road to Tonkin Highway in 2019
State Route 83		Duncraig	Woodvale	Landsdale	8.4km (05.2miles)	Shortened after road upgrades and extensions
State Route 84		Ocean Reef	Mullaloo	Henley Brook	27.1km (16.8miles)	Rerouted after road upgrades and extensions
State Route 85		Edgewater	Joondalup	Bullsbrook	34.3km (21.3miles)	Previously extended to Great Northern Highway via Railway Parade and Rutland Road until 2019
State Route 87		Burns Beach	Kinross	Neerabup	4.8km (03miles)
State Route 101		Australind	Picton East	Gelorup	27km (17miles)	Added as part of the 2024 expansion.
State Route 102		Manjimup	Rocky Gully	Mount Barker	162km (101miles)
<	--Still to be added --> State Route 103		Mount Melville		King River	16.4km (10.2miles)	Added as part of the 2024 expansion.
State Route 104		Busselton	Jarrahwood	Nannup	60km (40miles)
State Route 107		East Bunbury	Wagin	Lake King	408km (254miles)
State Route 115		Northam	Wongan Hills	Pithara	152km (94miles)
State Route 116		Bindoon	Mingenew	Dongara	326km (203miles)
State Route 120		Toodyay		Cranbrook	382km (237miles)
State Route 123		Geraldton		Mount Magnet	335km (208miles)
State Route 132		Meekatharra		Kambalda	789km (490miles)	Added as part of the 2024 expansion.
State Route 136		Nanutarra	Paraburdoo	Tom Price	339km (211miles)	Shortened in 2024 as part of the regional route expansion. Previously routed via the mostly unsealed Nanutarra-Wittenoom Road.
State Route 138		Newman	Marble Bar	Port Hedland	434km (270miles)	Approx 230 km is unsealed road
State Route 139		Northampton	Port Gregory	Kalbarri	100km (100miles)	Route signposted in March 2016 and extended to include Red Bluff Road in 2023[9]
State Route 142		Karratha	Tom Price	Juna Downs	+	Not yet completed, signposted at each end.
<	--Still to be added --> State Route 150		Minyirr	Broome	Roebuck	41.7km (25.9miles)	Added as part of the 2024 expansion.
State Route 151		Broome	Cape Leveque	Ardyaloon	207km (129miles)	Added as part of the 2024 expansion.
<	--Still to be added --> State Route 152		Derby		Wyndham	660km (410miles)	Added as part of the 2024 expansion.
State Route 154		Willare		Derby	43km (27miles)	Added as part of the 2024 expansion.
State Route 155		Kununurra		Wyndham	62km (39miles)	Added as part of the 2024 expansion.

Tourist Drives

See main article: Tourist Drives in Western Australia. Tourist Drives, designated by white numbers on a brown shield, are routes through areas of scenic or historic significance. Tourist Drives were introduced into Western Australia while Eric Charlton was the state government Minister for Transport in the 1990s. The 28 numbered routes collectively traverse more than across the state.^[10] In addition to the Tourist Drives, there are also unnumbered routes such as the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail, and local governments may designate and maintain local scenic drives, generally unnamed and unnumbered.^[11]

Route	Component roads	From	Via	To	Length	Notes
Kings Park Tourist Drive 200		Kings Park Road / Malcolm Street		State War Memorial	7km (04miles)	Kings Park circular routeDecommissioned
John Forrest Tourist Drive 201		Great Eastern Highway, Darlington		Great Eastern Highway, Glen Forrest	10km (10miles)	Route through John Forrest National Park
Rockingham Coastal Tourist Drive 202		Kwinana Beach		Warnbro	24km (15miles)	Rockingham coastal route
Swan Valley Tourist Drive 203		Guildford		Guildford	31km (19miles)	Swan Valley circular route
Sunset Coast Tourist Drive 204		Stirling Bridge, North Fremantle	Cottesloe	Swanbourne	38km (24miles)	Route along Perth's northern beaches
	City Beach		Ocean Reef
Heritage Country Tourist Drive 205		Armadale		Armadale	44km (27miles)	Darling Range dams circular route
Kingsbury Tourist Drive 206		Jarrahdale		Jarrahdale	45km (28miles)	Jarrah forest circular route
Darling Range Tourist Drive 207		Mundaring	Mundaring Weir	Kalamunda	25km (16miles)	Mundaring Weir route
Caves Road Tourist Drive 250		Cape Naturaliste		Cape Leeuwin	123km (76miles)	Cape Naturaliste–Cape Leeuwin coastal route
Blackwood River Tourist Drive 251		Balingup	Nannup	Bridgetown	87km (54miles)	Blackwood River route. The direct route from Balingup to Bridgetown is along South Western Highway.
Porongurup Tourist Drive 252		Mount Barker	Porongurup	Chester Pass Road east of Porongurup	30km (20miles)	Porongurup National Park route
Avon Historic Tourist Drive 254		Toodyay		Beverley	98km (61miles)	Avon River route
Scotsdale Tourist Drive 255		Denmark	Scotsdale	Greens Pool	35km (22miles)
Lake Argyle Tourist Drive 256		Victoria Highway near WA/NT border		Lake Argyle	34km (21miles)
Albany Historic Tourist Drive 257		Middleton Beach		Western Australian Museum – Albany	6km (04miles)	Albany coastal route
Frenchman Bay Tourist Drive 258		Torndirrup		Frenchman Bay	7km (04miles)	Route through Torndirrup National Park
Karri Tourist Drive 259		Manjimup		South Western Highway near Quinninup	88km (55miles)	Karri forest route
Australind Bunbury Tourist Drive 260		Leschenault		Bunbury	14km (09miles)	[12]
Geikie–Windjana Tourist Way 350		Geikie Gorge National Park		Derby Gibb River Road near Lennard River	166km (103miles)	Only accessible in the dry season, from April to November
Cossack Tourist Way 351		Burrup Peninsula		Point Samson	77km (48miles)	North West Shelf coastal route
Cape Range Tourist Way 352		Learmonth	Exmouth	Yardie Creek in Cape Range National Park	121km (75miles)	North West Cape coastal route
Shark Bay Tourist Way 353		Overlander Roadhouse		Monkey Mia	155km (96miles)	Shark Bay route
Batavia Coast Tourist Way 354		Dongara		Kalbarri National Park (south of Kalbarri)	244km (152miles)
Collie Tourist Way 355		South Western Highway near Roelands	Collie	Collie River in Muja	57km (35miles)
Great Southern Tourist Way 356		Beverley		Albany	381km (237miles)	Great Southern Railway route
Goldfields Tourist Way 357		Coolgardie Camel Farm, 4km (02miles) west of Coolgardie	Coolgardie	Kalgoorlie	45km (28miles)	Goldfields route. Superseded by the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail.[13]
Esperance Tourist Way 358		Esperance		Pink Lake	30km (20miles)	Route along the Esperance coast and Pink Lake; forms most of a loop route (Pink Lake Road joins the two ends)
Chittering Valley Tourist Way 359		Ashby (north of Wanneroo)	Bullsbrook	Chittering	70km (40miles)	Gnangara-Moore River State Forest and Chittering Valley route
Midlands Tourist Way 360		Upper Swan		Watheroo National Park	204km (127miles)

Decommissioned routes

Whilst the following routes are decommissioned, the component roads generally still exist as physical roads, but without route signposts.

Route	Component roads	From	Via	To	Length	Notes
State Route 34		Rivervale		Kewdale	8.1km (05miles)	Replaced by State Route 8[14] [15]
State Route 35		East Victoria Park	Welshpool	Carmel	16.1km (10miles)	Replaced by State Route 8 (east of Roe Highway only).
State Route 77		Gwelup	Balcatta	Warwick	8.4km (05.2miles)	Revoked in March 2024. Replaced by Reid Highway
State Route 86		Ashby	Mariginiup	Bullsbrook	28km (17miles)	Replaced by Tourist Drive 359 (entire length) and State Route 85 on all but Pinjar Road.

See also

• List of major roads in Perth, Western Australia
• List of major roads in rural Western Australia
• List of highways in Western Australia

References

1. Web site: Metropolitan Road Fact Sheet. Main Roads Western Australia. 25 October 2012. PDF. 1 February 2011.
2. Web site: Regional roads. Understanding Roads - Facts. Main Roads Western Australia. 25 October 2012.
3. Web site: Metropolitan Arterial Roads, Perth, Western Australia. Western Australian Land Information Authority. 26 November 2012. 2011.
4. Web site: State Map. Western Australian Land Information Authority. 3 November 2012. 2010.
5. Web site: WESTERN AUSTRALIAN STATE ROUTES 2024 . Main Roads WA . 4 December 2024.
6. Book: Distance book. 2012. Main Roads Western Australia. 978-0-7309-7657-8. 4–5. 12. 8 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121024075225/http://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/UsingRoads/TouringWAMaps/Pages/DistanceBook.aspx. 24 October 2012. dead.
7. (westbound)
8. END 56 . Route markers . 2006 . Roadside sign . Main Roads Western Australia . Fitzgerald Street approaching Bulwer Street . Google Maps .
9. Web site: Rands . Paul . Port Gregory Road & George Grey Drive (State Route 139) . 10 September 2019.
10. Web site: Tourist Drives of Western Australia . Main Roads Western Australia . 3 November 2013 . Main Roads Western Australia . Western Australian Tourism Commission . Royal Automobile Club . https://web.archive.org/web/20110404120927/http://www.tourism.wa.gov.au/Publications%20Library/Tourist%20Drives%20of%20WA.pdf . 4 April 2011 . dead.
11. Web site: State Tourist Drives: Policy Guidelines. Government of Western Australia. 19 November 2013. Tourism Western Australia. https://web.archive.org/web/20110404102620/http://www.tourism.wa.gov.au/Publications%20Library/State%20Tourist%20Drives%20-%20Policy%20Guidelines.pdf. 4 April 2011. dead. 2, 5.
12. Web site: Collie Visitor Centre. Discover the Collie River Valley. Shire of Collie. 3 August 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140226031402/http://collie.wa.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/discover_collie_tour1.pdf. 26 February 2014. dead. dmy-all.
13. Web site: Explore the Pipeline. Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail. The National Trust of Australia (WA). https://web.archive.org/web/20130409125638/http://www.goldenpipeline.com.au/trail/index.html. 9 April 2013. 19 November 2013. Section 7.
14. Web site: n.d. . Route Numbering System . https://web.archive.org/web/20080727055305/http://www2.mainroads.wa.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/FA8823AD-4F7D-49BE-9FED-E0E5217412CA/1003/Route_No_System91.pdf . 27 July 2008 . 26 November 2012 . Main Roads Western Australia.
15. Web site: 2006 . Route Numbering System in Western Australia . https://web.archive.org/web/20070902133739/http://www2.mainroads.wa.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/949EDA90-5549-41BB-B279-7711F36241C0/14082/Useful_Information999.pdf . 2 September 2007 . 26 November 2012 . Main Roads Western Australia . 1–2.

Route references

• Distance book (12 ed.), MRWA

• Metropolitan Arterial Roads, WA Land Information Authority

• State Map, WA Land Information Authority

Further reading

• Book: Western Australia . Main Roads Department . Route numbering in WA: Discussion paper . 1984 .
• Western Australia . Route Numbering System . PDF . . 1 November 1984 . 3451 . . Minister for Transport.
• Western Australia . . Appropriation (Consolidated Revenue Fund) Bill . PDF . 7 November 1984 . 3653–4 . Barry Blaikie . Member for Vasse.
• Book: Driving by numbers: An introduction to Western Australia's route numbering system . 1986 . Main Roads Department . Western Australia .
• Book: Driving by numbers: A guide to Western Australia's route numbering system . 1995 . Metropolitan and Traffic Operations Directorate . Western Australia .