Major roads in the Pilbara region of Western Australia

Last updated

Main Roads Western Australia controls the major roads in the state's Pilbara region. [1] 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. [2] [3]

Contents

The region's main roads are important for multiple aspects of the Pilbara's economy. These activities include mining (despite most products being transported by rail), agriculture and pastoral leases, and tourism, especially to the national parks at Karijini, Millstream-Chichester, and Rudall River. [4]

Bingarn Road

Bingarn Road

Location Tom Price
Length0.9 km [5]  (0.56 mi; 3,000 ft)

Bingarn Road is the main access road connecting Tom Price to the wider Pilbara region since 2020. [6] It commences at the intersection of Manuwarra Red Dog Highway and Paraburdoo–Tom Price Road and terminates at the intersection of Willow and Central Roads in central Tom Price. It was originally known as Mine Road prior to the naming of the Manuwarra Red Dog Highway replacing the original Bingarn Road alignment. The original Bingarn Road was a major north–south road in the Pilbara connecting Tom Price north to Nanutarra Munjina Road at Mount Sheila. [2] [7] .


Burrup Road

Burrup Road

Location Burrup Peninsula
Length9.25 km [7]  (5.75 mi)

Burrup Road, [1] also known as Burrup Peninsula Road, [7] is a main road on the Burrup Peninsula. From Dampier Road near Dampier, it heads north-east up the peninsula to Woodside's onshore LNG processing plant. [2] [8]

Dampier Road

Dampier Road

Location KarrathaDampier
Length19.27 km [7]  (11.97 mi)

Dampier Road, [1] [2] also known as Dampier Highway, [9] is a major road in the Pilbara. From De Witt Road in Karratha, it travels west along the southern edge of town, and continues west to Gap Ridge. It then turns north-westerly, running to Dampier on the Burrup Peninsula.

The road was completed in the late 1960s as a major link between Karratha and Dampier.

Duplication between Balmoral Road West and Burrup Peninsula Road, turning the road into a dual carriageway, was completed on 28 February 2013. [9]

Great Northern Highway

Great Northern Highway
(Pilbara region)

Location NewmanPardoo
Length609.34 km [7]  (378.63 mi)
Route number

Great Northern Highway is a main highway through the Pilbara region, and part of the Perth to Darwin national highway. From the southern edge of the region at Newman, the highway travels north-west towards Karijini National Park, and then north to Port Hedland, where it meets the northern end of North West Coastal Highway. Great Northern Highway continues north-eastwards near the coast, passing into the Kimberley region at Pardoo. [2]

De Witt Road

De Witt Road

Location Karratha
Length6.57 km [7]  (4.08 mi)

De Witt Road (formerly Karratha Rd) is a main north–south road in the Pilbara region, linking Karratha to the North West Coastal Highway. It travels from the highway to the town centre along the eastern edge of Stove Hill, terminating at Dampier Road. [2]

Karijini Road

Karijini Road

Location Juna DownsMount Sheila
Length108.66 km [7]  (67.52 mi)

Karijini Road, [1] also known as Karijini Drive, [2] [3] is a major east–west road through the Karijini National Park. It connects Great Northern Highway, on the eastern side of the park, to Mount Sheila, near Tom Price, west of the park. [2]

Madigan Road

Madigan Road

Location Karratha
Length5.78 km [7]  (3.59 mi)

Madigan Road is a major north–south road in the Pilbara region. It runs north from the Karratha Roadhouse on North West Coastal Highway, linking traffic to Dampier and Karratha via Dampier Road. [2]

Manuwarra Red Dog Highway

Manuwarra Red Dog Highway

Location KarrathaTom Price
Length275.26 km [7]  (171.04 mi)

Manuwarra Red Dog Highway is a major north-west to south-east road in the Pilbara region currently being constructed between Karratha and Tom Price. Originally known as Karratha-Tom Price Road, it acquired its new name in September 2020 after community consultation. [10] Manuwarra means "heaps" in the Yindjibarndi language and is the indigenous name for the Red Dog Gorge in the Millstream Chichester National Park. Both the gorge and the highway acquired its English name from the eponymous Red Dog, a famous Kelpie/Cattle Dog and Pilbara mascot from the 1970s.

The road is constructed from renamed sections of Warlu Road, Roebourne-Wittenoom Road and Bingarn Road along with a portion of the service road originally constructed to service the Hamersley & Robe River railway.

Marble Bar Road

Marble Bar Road

Location NewmanStrelley
Length433.94 km [7]  (269.64 mi)
Route number Australian state route 138.svg State Route 138

Marble Bar Road is a main north–south road in the Pilbara region. From Great Northern Highway at Newman, it heads north via Nullagine and Marble Bar to rejoin Great Northern Highway at Strelley, east of Port Hedland. Although it provides an alternative route to Great Northern Highway, most of the Newman to Marble Bar section is unsealed. [2] The Northern Australia Roads Program announced in 2016 included the following project for the Marble Bar Road.

Coongan Gorge

The project for realignment and reconstruction works was completed in mid 2019 at a total cost of $34.5 million. [11]

Nanutarra Munjina Road

Nanutarra Munjina Road

Location NanutarraKarijini
Length417.12 km [7]  (259.19 mi)
Route number Australian state route 136.svg State Route 136

Nanutarra Munjina Road is a major east–west road in the Pilbara region. From North West Coastal Highway at the Nanutarra Roadhouse, it travels east-south-east towards Paraburdoo–Tom Price Road. The sealed road turns here towards Paraburdoo, but Nanutarra Munjina Road continues as an unsealed road for most of its remaining length. It curves to the north-east, heading around Tom Price and the Karijini National Park. Near the Fortescue River, the road again travels east-south-easterly to Great Northern Highway at the Auski Roadhouse, Karijini. [2]

North West Coastal Highway

North West Coastal Highway
(Pilbara region)

Location YannarieMundabullangana
Length570.26 km [7]  (354.34 mi)
Route number Australian national route 1.svg National Route 1

North West Coastal Highway is a highway that follows the southern half of the Pilbara coastline. From the Gascyone region at Burkett Road, a turnoff for Exmouth, the highway enters the Pilbara region at Yannarie. It heads north-easterly, gradually moving closer to the coast until it reaches the access roads to Dampier and Karratha, Madigan Road and Karratha Road. From here the highway moves runs to Roebourne and then over to Whim Creek, where it curves back to the north east to meet Great Northern Highway at Mundabullangana, south of Port Hedland. [2]

Onslow Road

Onslow Road

Location CaneOnslow
Length79.40 km [7]  (49.34 mi)

Onslow Road is a major road in the Pilbara region. From North West Coastal Highway at Cane, north of the Nanutarra Roadhouse, it heads north-west to the town of Onslow on the coast. [2]

Paraburdoo–Tom Price Road

Paraburdoo–Tom Price Road

Location RockleaTom Price
Length130.78 km [7]  (81.26 mi)

Paraburdoo–Tom Price Road, [1] also known as Paraburdoo Tom Price Road [2] or Paraburdoo Road (west of Paraburdoo) and Tom Price Road (east of Paraburdoo), [7] is a major road in the Pilbara region. From Nanutarra Munjina Road in Rocklea, the road heads south-east to Paraburdoo. It then curves round to the north, meeting Karijini Road, before heading a short distance north-west to Tom Price, where Manuwarra Red Dog Highway completes the loop back to Nanutarra Munjina Road. Paraburdoo–Tom Price Road is part of the sealed road link between North West Coastal Highway and Great Northern Highway in the southern half of the Pilbara. [2]

Point Samson–Roebourne Road

Point Samson–Roebourne Road

Location Point SamsonRoebourne
Length18.41 km [7]  (11.44 mi)

Point Samson–Roebourne Road, [1] also known as Point Samson Roebourne Road, [2] is a major north–south road in the Pilbara region. It links Point Samson on the coast via Wickham to North West Coastal Highway at Roebourne. [2]

Ripon Hills Road

Ripon Hills Road

Location Marble Bar
Length130.94 km [7]  (81.36 mi)

Ripon Hills Road is a major east–west road in Marble Bar. It travels from Marble Bar Road near the Marble Bar townsite to the Telfer Mine Road turnoff, near the Oakover River, which provides access to Telfer. [2] After the turnoff, Ripon Hills Road continues as Woodie Woodie Road to the Nifty and Woodie Woodie mine sites. [12]

Ripon Hills Road was opened in November 1999 to replace the unsealed Woodie Woodie Road between Marble Bar townsite and the Telfer Mine Road turnoff as the main road through the region. At the time Ripon Hills Road was opened, Woodie Woodie Road carried over 500 Thousand tonnes of freight. [13]

Wilson Street

Wilson Street

Location Port Hedland
Length10.38 km [7]  (6.45 mi)

Wilson Street is a major road in Port Hedland, in the Pilbara region. It connects the coastal townsite to Great Northern Highway. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

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

Dampier is a major industrial port in the Pilbara region in the northwest of Western Australia. It is located near the city of Karratha and Port Walcott.

The Pilbara is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a global biodiversity hotspot for subterranean fauna.

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

Great Northern Highway is an Australian highway that 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. The 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.

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

North West Coastal Highway is a generally north-south Western Australian highway which links the coastal city of Geraldton with the town of Port Hedland. The 1,300-kilometre-long (808 mi) road, constructed as a sealed two-lane single carriageway, travels through remote and largely arid landscapes. Carnarvon is the only large settlement on the highway, and is an oasis within the harsh surrounding environment. The entire highway is allocated National Route 1, part of Australia's Highway 1, and parts of the highway are included in tourist routes Batavia Coast Tourist Way and Cossack Tourist Way. Economically, North West Coastal Highway is an important link to the Mid West, Gascoyne and Pilbara regions, supporting the agricultural, pastoral, fishing, and tourism industries, as well as mining and offshore oil and gas production.

Karratha is a city in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, adjoining the port of Dampier. It was established in 1968 to accommodate the processing and exportation workforce of the Hamersley Iron mining company and, in the 1980s, the petroleum and liquefied natural gas operations of the North West Shelf Venture. As of the 2021 census, Karratha had an urban population of 17,013. The city's name comes from the cattle station of the same name, which derives from a word in a local Aboriginal language meaning "good country" or "soft earth". The city is the seat of government of the City of Karratha, a local government area covering the surrounding region.

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

Roebourne is a town in Western Australia's Pilbara region. In the Ngarluma language, Roebourne is called Yirramagardu (Ieramagadu). It is 35 km from Karratha, 202 km from Port Hedland and 1,563 km from Perth, the state's capital. It is the only town on the North West Coastal Highway between Binnu and Fitzroy Crossing; over 2,000km. It is located within the City of Karratha. It prospered during its gold boom of the late 19th century and was once the largest settlement between Darwin and Perth. At the 2016 census, Roebourne and the surrounding area had a population of 981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral district of Pilbara</span> State electoral district of Western Australia

The electoral district of Pilbara is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Pilbara is named for the region of Western Australia in which it is located. It is one of the oldest electorates in Western Australia, with its first member having been elected to the Second Parliament of the Legislative Assembly at the 1894 elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murujuga</span> Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia

Murujuga, formerly known as Dampier Island and today usually known as the Burrup Peninsula, is an area in the Dampier Archipelago, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, containing the town of Dampier. The Dampier Rock Art Precinct, which covers the entire archipelago, is the subject of ongoing political debate due to historical and proposed industrial development. Over 40% of Murujuga lies within Murujuga National Park, which contains within it the world's largest collection of ancient 40,000 year old rock art (petroglyphs).

Karratha Airport is an airport in Karratha, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The airport is 14 km (8.7 mi) from Karratha and 5 nautical miles south of Dampier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pilbara newspapers</span> Newspapers published in the Pilbara region of Western Australia

Pilbara newspapers is a selection of newspapers published in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Dampier Highway, formerly known as Karratha-Dampier Road, is a Western Australian highway linking Dampier on the state's north-western coast with the nearby regional centre of Karratha. The 19.3 kilometres (12 mi) long highway is also the primary thoroughfare for both communities to access the Karratha Airport, as well as industrial facilities including the Pluto LNG project and Murujuga National Park located on the Burrup Peninsula.

Burrup was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1996 to 2005.

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.

Ngarluma and Kariyarra are members of a dialect continuum, which is a part of the Ngayarda language group of Western Australia, in the Pama–Nyungan language family. Some sources suggest that an extinct dialect, Jaburara, was a third member of the continuum. However, it is clear that Jaburara had a distinct identity that has been partly obscured by a collapse in the numbers of Jaburara speakers during the late 19th century, and there is some evidence that Jaburara may have instead been a dialect of Martuthunira.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclone Christine</span>

Severe Tropical Cyclone Christine was the third tropical cyclone and the second severe tropical cyclone of the 2013–14 Australian region cyclone season. It made landfall on Western Australia's Pilbara coast nearly halfway between the major towns of Karratha and Port Hedland as a category 4 cyclone on midnight of 31 December 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pilbara Coast</span> Coastline of Western Australia

The Pilbara Coast is the coastline of Western Australia's Pilbara region. It is often referred to as the North West Coast of Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclone Ilona</span> Category 2 Australian region cyclone

Severe Tropical Cyclone Ilona caused moderate damage across the Pilbara region of Western Australia in mid-December 1988. The system originated from a monsoon trough that coalesced into a tropical low over the Timor Sea on 12 December. The system initially moved southwest, before moving on a more westerly course. Steady intensification occurred and Ilona reached its peak strength on 17 December as a low-end severe tropical cyclone. A southward turn directed the cyclone toward Western Australia, and it made landfall near Mardie Station. The system subsequently degraded over land and dissipated on 19 December.

<i>Hamersley News</i>

Hamersley News was a fortnightly English language newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia by Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd. It was distributed to mining communities in Dampier, Karratha, Tom Price and Paraburdoo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclone Damien</span> Category 2 Cyclone in 2020

Severe Tropical Cyclone Damien was the strongest cyclone to make landfall in the Western Australian coast since Cyclone Christine in 2013 and the second-strongest cyclone in the 2019–20 Australian region cyclone season after Cyclone Ferdinand. The fifth tropical low, and the third named storm of the 2019–20 Australian region cyclone season, Damien originated from a monsoon trough over Kimberley.

Manuwarra Red Dog Highway is a major road currently under construction in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, between Karratha and Tom Price. Originally known as Karratha-Tom Price Road, it acquired its new name in September 2020 after community consultation. Manuwarra means "'heaps' or 'masses'" in the Yindjibarndi language and is the indigenous name for the Red Dog Gorge in the Millstream Chichester National Park. Both the gorge and the highway acquired its English name from the eponymous Red Dog, a famous Kelpie/Cattle Dog and Pilbara mascot from the 1970s.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Main Roads Western Australia (17 December 2013). "Regional Roads". Government of Western Australia. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Main Roads Western Australia (13 August 2013). Upper Regions map – Kimberley, Pilbara and Gascoyne (PDF) (Map). 1:3,000,000. Version 1.0. Government of Western Australia. Archived from the original on 29 August 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  3. 1 2 Main Roads Western Australia (28 February 2011). "Pilbara Network" (Map). Intergrated Service Arrangement. 1:3,092,784. Government of Western Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 August 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  4. Main Roads Western Australia (2013). "Pilbara Regional Profile" (PDF). Government of Western Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  5. "SOS Specialized Office Services to Tom Price". Google Maps. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  6. "Confirmed Public Minutes OCM 13 October 2020" (PDF). Shire of Ashburtion. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Main Roads Western Australia. Road Information Mapping System (Map). Government of Western Australia. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  8. "Pluto LNG". Woodside. Archived from the original on 7 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  9. 1 2 Main Roads Western Australia (20 December 2013). "Dampier Highway Duplication". Government of Western Australia. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  10. "Karratha-Tom Price Road officially named Manuwarra Red Dog Highway". Government of Western Australia. Government of Western Australia. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  11. "Marble Bar Road - Coongan Gorge". Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  12. "Roads 2030 Strategies for Significant Local Government Roads – Pilbara Region" (PDF). Retrieved 24 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. "Official opening of Ripon Hills Road in east Pilbara". 3 November 1999. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.