List of roadhouses in Western Australia

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General highways map of Western Australia WAHighways.png
General highways map of Western Australia

Western Australia has extensive long-distance highways with few localities along them. Privately owned general stores known as roadhouses have been established at strategic points as an important utility for petrol, food, accommodation, emergency facilities and general supplies. They are also useful reference points in any response to accidents, floods, crime and other emergencies. [1]

Contents

North-western roadhouses are found next to river crossings or close to station homesteads. In the event of flooding of the North West Coastal Highway, they are locations where vehicles including road trains can be safely encamped and accounted for when a sudden deluge may make the road impassable. [2]

On the Nullarbor or Eyre Highway, places designated as roadhouses are in some cases also vested as localities and, in some cases, known as roadhouse communities.

The following list is of roadhouses that exist in isolation, having little or no adjacent community infrastructure. It does not include roadhouses which are in country towns.

Roadhouses

Kumarina Roadhouse, on the Great Northern Highway, north of Meekatharra. Kumarina Roadhouse.jpg
Kumarina Roadhouse, on the Great Northern Highway, north of Meekatharra.

Driver fatigue

Due to the high incidence of fatalities and accidents attributed to driver fatigue, some locations have opted into a program of providing free coffee to encourage drivers to take a break or rest on long journeys - in some cases some of the roadhouses above have become involved in that programme. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brand Highway</span> Highway in Western Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">North West Coastal Highway</span> Highway in Western Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helena River</span> River in Western Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coorow, Western Australia</span> Town in Western Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balladonia, Western Australia</span> Roadhouse community in Western Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williams, Western Australia</span> Town in the Wheatbelt, Western Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyndham, Western Australia</span> Town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minilya, Western Australia</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overlander Roadhouse</span>

The Overlander Roadhouse is a petrol service station in Western Australia, between Geraldton and Carnarvon on the North West Coastal Highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nannup, Western Australia</span> Town in the South West region of Western Australia

Nannup is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, approximately 280 kilometres (174 mi) south of Perth on the Blackwood River at the crossroads of Vasse Highway and Brockman Highway; the highways link Nannup to most of the lower South West's regional centres. At the 2011 census, Nannup had a population of 587.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Central Road</span> Track in Western Australia and the Northern Territory

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forrest Highway</span> Highway in Western Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pardoo Station</span> Pastoral lease in Western Australia

Pardoo Station is a pastoral lease, formerly a sheep station, and now a cattle station approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) east of Port Hedland and 121 kilometres (75 mi) north of Marble Bar, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Nanutarra is a locality in Western Australia adjacent to where the Ashburton river is crossed by the North West Coastal Highway. It is also close to the turn-off for State Route 136 to Paraburdoo and Tom Price. It is 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of the Onslow turn-off in the Cane River conservation park where it is on either side of the highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclone Lua</span> Category 3 Australian region tropical cyclone in 2012

Severe Tropical Cyclone Lua affected a sparsely populated region of Western Australia during mid-March 2012. Originating in a broad low pressure area that formed northwest of Australia by 8 March, the storm was plagued by inhibiting wind shear for the duration of its formative stages. However, it gradually organised, and received the name Lua on 13 March. The cyclone meandered for the first several days of its existence, caught between weak and competing steering currents. After the cyclone drifted northwestward, a building ridge of high pressure to the north drove Lua southeastward toward the Pilbara region. Ultimately intensifying into an upper-end Category 3 severe tropical cyclone with maximum sustained 10-minute winds of 155 km/h (96 mph), Lua made landfall near the remote community of Pardoo, about 150 km (93 mi) east of Port Hedland. It steadily weakened as it progressed south over interior Western Australia, diminishing below tropical cyclone status on 18 March.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanutarra Station</span> Pastoral lease in Western Australia

Nanutarra Station, commonly referred to as Nanutarra, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station, and previously operated as a sheep station, in Western Australia.

References

  1. e.g., this report of a missing person
  2. Record breaking deluge floods Carnarvon ABC News 17 December 2010
  3. Doon Doon Roadhouse construction underway. Woolah people will call the store "Djuwarlu" and will sell crafts and supplies and hope to run tours. Kimberley echo, 9 Nov. 2000, p.9
  4. Underwood, Gus (12 October 2011). "Thriving on Isolation". Kyabram Free Press. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  5. Johnson, Genine. (2001) Roadhouse reopens after community rift. A rift in the Kupungarri Aboriginal community has left the community deserted for 6 months, and led to the closure of the roadhouse and Manning Gorge. Broome advertiser, 23 May 2001, p.1,2,
  6. Laud, Peter (1998) Rough and ready. Life at the Roadhouse features one of WAs oddest golfcourses. Sunday times (Perth, W.A.), 22 August 1998, Sunday Section, p.7
  7. Rovis-Hermann, Tom.(1997) Roadhouse jewels of the north. (Roadhouse owners talk about their lives and work - including Nanutarra, Overlander and Billabong road houses).Sunday times (Perth, W.A.), 6 July 1997, Sunday Section, p. 3
  8. Taylor, Nick.(2000)Dusting off the city. Therese Long talks about her life running the roadhouse. Pardoo Roadhouse (W.A.) Sunday times (Perth, W.A.), 12 March 2000, p.22
  9. Taylor, Nick.(2002) Spirit of our bush. Pardoo Roadhouse destroyed by Cyclone Chris; volunteering locals help Graham and Suzanne Farmer get their business started again. Sunday times, 10 Feb. 2002, p.21
  10. "'Four hours of hell': Roadhouse owner feels 'lucky to be alive' after Ilsa slams into WA coast". ABC News. 14 April 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  11. Western Australia. Main Roads Dept. Graphic Services. (1995) Coffee stops [cartographic material] : a project to reduce driver fatigue designed by Graphic Services, Main Roads, Western Australia, Traffic Board of Western Australia, WA Police. East Perth, W.A. : Main Roads, Scale [ca. 1: 10 000 000]. Scale [ca. 1: 3 333 333 (E 114°--E 121°/S 027°--S 035°30') Maps of major highways showing locations of participating roadhouses."Free coffee for driver" - Traffic sign logo in title cartouche. "31/3/95"