Derby Highway

Last updated

Derby Highway
Western Australia
General information
Type Highway
Length 42 km (26 mi)
Major junctions
North end Loch Street, Derby
  Gibb River Road
South endAustralian national highway 1.svg Great Northern Highway (National Highway 1), south of Derby
Highway system

Derby Highway is a highway linking Great Northern Highway in Western Australia with the town of Derby. [1] It is a 42 km long 2-lane single carriageway. In the town of Derby, its name changes to Loch Street, where it becomes a 2-lane divided carriageway.

Great Northern Highway highway in Western Australia

Great Northern Highway 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 is constructed as a sealed, predominantly two-lane single carriageway, but with some single-lane bridges in the Kimberley. Great Northern Highway travels through remote areas of the state, and is the only sealed road link between the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia. 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.

Western Australia state in Australia

Western Australia is a state occupying the entire western third of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, and the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Australia is Australia's largest state, with a total land area of 2,529,875 square kilometres, and the second-largest country subdivision in the world, surpassed only by Russia's Sakha Republic. The state has about 2.6 million inhabitants – around 11 percent of the national total – of whom the vast majority live in the south-west corner, 79 per cent of the population living in the Perth area, leaving the remainder of the state sparsely populated.

Derby, Western Australia Town in Western Australia

Derby is a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. At the 2016 census, Derby had a population of 3,325 with 47.2% of Aboriginal descent. Along with Broome and Kununurra, it is one of only three towns in the Kimberley to have a population over 2,000. Located on King Sound, Derby has the highest tides in Australia, with the peak differential between low and high tide reaching 11.8 metres.

Contents

The RAAF Curtin inactive air force base is situated adjacent to Derby Highway near the intersection of Great Northern Highway. The base has been previously[ when? ] used as a refugee detention centre and civilian airport, but is not presently used for any functional purpose.

Tourism

Derby Highway is the western terminus of the popular Gibb River Road. It is also a useful access for many local fishing "secret spots" at the mouth of the Fitzroy River, with one of the better known ones being the Cuttings.[ citation needed ]

Gibb River Road track in Western Australia

The Gibb River Road is a road in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Fitzroy River (Western Australia) river in Western Australia, Australia

The Fitzroy River is located in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. Also known to the native Aboriginal people as Raparapa. Raparapa also translates to "alongside the river" in the local language of the Nyikina.

Reconstruction

A staged reconstruction of the highway has been taking place in recent years.[ when? ] So far, approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) of the highway has been reconstructed and widened, with plans for the remainder to be completed in the near future.

See also

Highways in Australia describes the highways of Australia

Highways in Australia are generally high capacity roads managed by state and territory government agencies, though Australia's federal government contributes funding for important links between capital cities and major regional centres. Prior to European settlement, the earliest needs for trade and travel were met by narrow bush tracks, used by tribes of Indigenous Australians. The formal construction of roads began in 1788, after the founding of the colony of New South Wales, and a network of three major roads across the colony emerged by the 1820s. Similar road networks were established in the other colonies of Australia. Road construction programs in the early 19th century were generally underfunded, as they were dependent on government budgets, loans, and tolls; while there was a huge increase in road usage, due to the Australian gold rushes. Local government authorities, often known as Road Boards, were therefore established to be primarily responsible for funding and undertaking road construction and maintenance. The early 1900s saw both the increasingly widespread use of motorised transportation, and the creation of state road authorities in each state, between 1913 and 1926. These authorities managed each state's road network, with the main arterial roads controlled and maintained by the state, and other roads remaining the responsibility of local governments. The federal government became involved in road funding in the 1920s, distributing funding to the states. The depression of the 1930s slowed the funding and development of the major road network until the onset on World War II. Supply roads leading to the north of the country were considered vital, resulting in the construction of Barkly, Stuart, and Eyre Highways.

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Main Roads Western Australia controls the major roads in the state's Pilbara region. There are two main highways in the region: Great Northern Highway, which travels north through the region to Port Hedland and then north-west along the coast, as well as North West Coastal Highway, which heads south-west from Port Hedland. A series of main roads connects towns to the highways, and local roads provide additional links. The majority of these roads service the western half of the region, with few located in the various deserts east of the Oakover River. Roads are often named after the towns or areas they connect.

Main Roads Western Australia controls the major roads in the state's Kimberley region. Great Northern Highway is the major road connection through the region, with sealed roads spurring off it to connect to population centres, and unsealed roads offering an alternative route between Derby and Wyndham.

References

  1. Upper Regions map – Kimberley, Pilbara and Gascoyne (PDF) (PDF). Version 1.0. Cartography by Main Roads Western Australia. Main Roads Western Australia. 13 August 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 August 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.