History
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Convict-era road[edit]
A road along what is now Great Eastern Highway has existed since the convict era of Western Australia. The original road is thought to have been constructed in 1867, using convict labour, with a road base made of jarrah tree trunks cut into disc shapes. The use of wooden discs as a road base had been proposed by Western Australian Governor John Hampton, leading them to be known as "Hampton's Cheeses". The discs were approximately 30 centimetres (1 ft) thick and as large as 90 centimetres (3 ft) in diameter, and the gaps between pieces would have been filled with soil or lime. The same type of road is known to have existed along Stirling Highway, Guildford Road, Albany Highway and Wanneroo Road in the 1860s, and would have prevented horses and carts from getting bogged in wet weather. Evidence of this original road was found in Belmont in 1948 when widening works uncovered jarrah discs. During upgrade works in 2012, more discs were discovered beneath the existing asphalt, over a twenty-metre (66 ft) stretch.
Highway origins[edit]
Perth to Coolgardie, 1895–96Road through the hills, crossing the Darling ScarpRoad through the bush (location unknown, probably the Darling Scarp)Views along the main road crossing the Darling Scarp in the 1890s, leading towards Coolgardie. The entire route from Perth to Kalgoorlie would become Great Eastern Highway in the 1930s.
The name Great Eastern Highway was coined by the Perth Road Board in December 1933. It was suggested for the Perth to Guildford road on the north side of the Swan River (now known as Guildford Road), as an alternative to the Bassendean Road Board's proposal, Perth Road. In February 1934, the Bassendean Road Board agreed to the name, as Perth Road would be too general, and the road was considered the main artery serving eastern districts, all the way through to Kalgoorlie. Other local governments in the area considered the issue over the next few months. The Bayswater Road Board and Greenmount Road Board were in favour of the idea, but Guildford Road Board was opposed, as several local road names would be lost. Greenmount, and public advertising, thereafter referred to the road as Great Eastern Highway, and the council wrote to the Main Roads Department, requesting the name change be gazetted. This prompted Main Roads to write to other local governments, advising of the request and soliciting their views. The Mundaring Road Board and Kellerberrin Road Board were supportive, while the Kalgoorlie Road Board suggested Great Eastern Goldfields Highway. The Kalgoorlie Municipal Council agreed that the road should be known as a highway, but thought the name was inadequate for a road that only connected Midland Junction with Coolgardie. The Midland Junction Municipal Council opposed the renaming, citing "sentimental and practical reasons for the continuance of the use of the old name".
In August 1934, the Bassendean Road Board applied to the Lands Department to change the portion of the Perth–Guildford road within its district to Great Eastern Highway. The department refused the request, reasoning that most traffic bound for Midland used The Causeway and travelled on the south side of the Swan River, and that therefore the Perth–Guildford road should not be part of the main highway. Despite this setback, the Perth Road Board organised a local government conference to consider renaming the road from Perth to Guildford. The issue was considered important, as losing the name to the south side of the river would divert traffic away from the old established centres to the north. The straightening of dangerous bends and the replacement of an old bridge between Bassendean and Guildford were also to be considered. The conference, held on 7 September 1934, was attended by representatives of the Perth, Bayswater, Bassendean, and Guildford road boards, and the Midland Junction Council. Guildford and Midland Junction were still opposed to the renaming, but the others were supportive. Motions that passed included submitting a rename proposal to the state government, urging the government to construct a new bridge at Bassendean, and approaching the government to have the road declared a main road.
In November 1934, the state government Land Council contacted the local governments on the south side of the Swan River, asking them to rename the roads that make up the Causeway–Midland route as Great Eastern Highway. Both the Perth City Council and Belmont Park Road Board agreed to the request. This created a "peculiar situation", as described by the RAC, with roads both north and south of the Swan River proposed to be renamed as Great Eastern Highway. Despite the name change not being official, some residents along the road through Belmont started describing their properties as located on Great Eastern Highway.
Another conference of the local governments north of the river was held in December 1934. They decided to continue to pursue renaming the Perth–Guildford road to Great Eastern Highway, and having it gazetted as a main road. A letter from the Commissioner of Main Roads had stated that the road through Belmont was considered the principal highway to the eastern states. He therefore recommended that if the name Great Eastern Highway were to be applied west of Midland Junction, it should be to that road, as the road through Bassendean was not considered a main road. Traffic counts collected by the Bassendean Road Board, however, showed that the north of river route, through Bassendean, carried more traffic in both directions than the southern route, through Belmont – 54% compared to 46%. The northern route was also shorter by about two miles (3.2 km), and considered by the local governments to be the "natural entrance to the city", only crossing the Swan River once and not again at the Causeway.
On 8 January 1935, representatives from the local governments north of the river urged Minister for Lands, Michael Troy, to rename the Perth–Guildford road through those areas as Great Eastern Highway. Despite the route being shorter and carrying more traffic, he refused. He said that it was not gazetted as main road, and a previous decision to rename the road through Belmont as Great Eastern Highway was made after considering the facts, and at the request of the Main Roads Board. There was resentment and an objection over the name being "pinched" from the Perth Road Board. The minister disregarded the objection. He advised the representatives to see the Minister for Works to get the road declared a main road, and then approach him with a new name. This resolved Great Eastern Highway's route, with the local governments north of the river pursuing other names such as Main Highway.
View of Great Eastern Highway, lined by wattle, through Mahogany Creek in 1939
On 14 April 1938, the name Great Eastern Highway was gazetted, in accordance with section 10 of the Land Act, 1933–1937. It replaced the names previously used along the route: Ascot Road, Guildford Road, York Road, Guildford–Northam Road, Toodyay–Northam Road, Mitchell Avenue, Throsell Road, Sermon Road, Dreyer Road, Goldfields Road, Kalgoorlie Road, Woodward Street, and Coolgardie Road.
Upgrades and improvements[edit]
By 1950, the highway had been sealed from Perth to Southern Cross, and from a few miles west of Coolgardie to Kalgoorlie. Traffic in the Goldfields was light, with an average daily traffic of 44 vehicles between Southern Cross and Coolgardie, and 33 from Coolgardie to Kalgoorlie. The road was completely sealed by 1953.: 151–52  Between 1954 and 1956, sections of the highway between Perth and Southern Cross were improved. The works included increasing the seal width along 38 miles (61 km) of the road, reconstructing 3 miles (5 km) of road, and resealing 23.5 miles (37.8 km). Precast concrete structures were used to replace two old, narrow wooden bridges.: 149 
In the 1950s, roundabouts were constructed at each end of The Causeway, to improve the flow of traffic on the bridges and the distribution of traffic back into the road network.: 127  The roundabout at the eastern end, connecting with Great Eastern Highway, opened in 1952.: 129–30  In 1973 construction began on upgrading that intersection to a grade-separated partial cloverleaf interchange. The interchange opened on 8 March 1974, having cost AUS$1.3 million.: 258 
Greenmount Hill truck arrester bed
A major accident occurred at the intersection with Roe Highway on 30 December 1993. A truck lost control coming down Greenmount Hill and rolled over at the intersection, after crashing into six vehicles on the hill and another 14 at the intersection. One woman was killed, and another 12 people were injured, including four with serious injuries. It was Western Australia's worst accident that year, according to police, with the aftermath described by a witness as "like a battlefield". This accident led to the construction of a truck arrester bed near the bottom of the hill. It has been used in emergencies several times since.
In 1994, the federal government approved a $43.9 million project to upgrade substandard sections of Great Eastern Highway between Northam and Southern Cross. That portion of the highway was one of the oldest sections of the National Highway in Western Australia. The road was susceptible to failure due to poor drainage and frequent flooding.: 387 
Further works in the 1990s saw a second carriageway constructed from Mundaring to Sawyers Valley, and then extended to The Lakes at the edge of Perth. A dual carriageway was also constructed in Kalgoorlie, and a long overtaking lane was built near Clackline.: 28 
More recent works have improved sections of the highway in Perth. Great Eastern Highway's intersection with Roe Highway was upgraded to a grade separated interchange. The design is a diamond interchange, with free-flowing traffic on Roe Highway, and an additional looped ramp for northbound to eastbound traffic movements. Construction of the $101.5 million project began in late 2010, and the interchange was officially opened to traffic on 9 June 2012.
Another project undertaken was the widening of the highway through the suburbs of Rivervale, Belmont and Redcliffe – between Kooyong Road, just north-east of the Graham Farmer Freeway interchange, and Tonkin Highway. Work commenced in June 2011, and was completed in February 2013, nine months earlier than scheduled. Prime Minister Julia Gillard opened the upgraded highway on 28 March 2013, participating in a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The $280 million upgrade included construction of a median strip, widening the road to three lanes in each direction, bus priority lanes at several traffic light controlled intersections, and bicycle lanes. The upgrade was expected to reduce congestion along the highway, which had been one of Perth's worst accident spots in 2011/12. However, the accidents were usually not serious, and roadworks were considered a "major contributing factor". In October 2013, the project was recognised with the Civil Contractors Federation National Earth Award for Excellence.
Bypasses[edit]
View along Great Eastern Highway Bypass. The Darling Scarp is visible in the background.
Further information: Great Eastern Highway Bypass
Great Eastern Highway Bypass, together with Roe Highway, provides a limited-access bypass of Guildford and Midland town sites. The 5.6-kilometre (3.5 mi) bypass branches off the original highway alignment at South Guildford, proceeds around the northern edge of Perth Airport, and then heads east through Hazelmere. At the eastern end of Great Eastern Highway Bypass, traffic returns to the main highway by heading north on Roe Highway for three kilometres (1.9 mi).
Plans for a major highway along a similar alignment date back to Gordon Stephenson and Alistair Hepburn's 1955 "Plan for the Metropolitan Region", which was the precursor of Perth's Metropolitan Region Scheme. The road was constructed in the late 1980s, and was known as the Redcliffe–Bushmead Highway during construction. Great Eastern Highway Bypass was opened on 14 May 1988, after 21 months of construction, and at a cost of $10 million.: 358 
Planning for a bypass around Northam began in the 1960s. The original route through the town centre functioned as both a local access road and primary traffic route, including for heavy vehicles. There were particular concerns with the amount of traffic congestion, frequency of crashes, and the noise and visual pollution of the highway's traffic. Twelve different alignments were considered for the bypass, which were narrowed down to three options by the 1990s. In 1993 the Environmental Protection Authority assessed the proposal, and found that only the route that deviated furthest away from the townsite would be environmentally acceptable. The closer routes were not acceptable due to the potential impact on the Avon River. The project gained the Minister for the Environment's conditional approval on 24 June 1994. Construction of the Northam bypass began in January 2001, with the new road opened on 17 May 2002.
A bypass of Clackline was also constructed, realigning 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) of Great Eastern Highway 100 metres (330 ft) north of the town. Works began in January 2007, and were completed in February 2008. The project also involved constructing overtaking lanes between Clackline and Bakers Hill, upgrading intersections in Clackline, and constructing a pedestrian underpass for a heritage trail. Clackline Brook was realigned through a large box culvert, allowing a safer crossing than the narrow Clackline Bridge on the original alignment. The bypass was originally allocated $2.4 million of funding in 2006, but by January 2007 it was expected to cost almost $11 million. The final project value was $9.2 million. Issues and challenges in the project's design and construction included extensive rock protection requirements for the Clackline Brook culvert, drilling and blasting close to the existing highway, and protecting heritage and environmentally sensitive areas. The Clackline community welcomed the bypass, but there were concerns that the historic Clackline Bridge would be lost. The bridge has since received a permanent entry on the Heritage Council of Western Australia's Register of Heritage Places, in November 2008.
