Eyre Highway
Eyre Highway is a highway linking Western Australia and South Australia via the Nullarbor Plain. Signed as National Highways 1 and A1, it forms part of Highway 1 and the Australian National Highway network linking Perth and Adelaide. It was named after explorer Edward John Eyre, who was the first European to cross the Nullarbor by land, in 1840–1841. Eyre Highway runs from Norseman in Western Australia, past Eucla, to the state border. Continuing to the South Australian town of Ceduna, it crosses the top of the Eyre Peninsula before reaching Port Augusta.
The construction of the East–West Telegraph line in the 1870s, along Eyre's route, resulted in a hazardous trail that could be followed for interstate travel. A national highway was called for, with the federal government seeing the route's importance in 1941, when a war in the Pacific seemed imminent. The highway was constructed between July 1941 and June 1942, and was trafficable by January 1942. It was originally named Forrest Highway, after John Forrest, by the war cabinet. It was officially named Eyre Highway, a name agreed upon by the states' nomenclature committees.
The finished road, while an improvement over the previous route, still was not much more than a track, and remained such throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Efforts to seal the highway began in Norseman in 1960, with the Western Australian section completed in 1969 and the South Australian section finished in 1976. Further improvement works have been undertaken since the 1980s, including widening and reconstructing portions of the road.
Route description
Eyre Highway is the only sealed road linking the states of Western Australia and South Australia. It is one of Western Australia's two sealed interstate roads, the other being the Victoria Highway linking Western Australia and Northern Territory. Eyre Highway runs east from Norseman in Western Australia for across the Nullarbor Plain to Ceduna, South Australia. It crosses the top of the Eyre Peninsula as it continues eastwards for, before reaching Port Augusta.Eyre Highway is part of the National Highway route between Perth and Adelaide, and forms part of Australia's Highway 1. It is signed as National Highway 1 in Western Australia, and National Highway A1 in South Australia. The vast majority of the highway is a two-lane single carriageway with a speed limit of, except in and around built-up areas. Road trains up to are permitted on the Eyre Highway, with Quads up to 49.5 metres between Ceduna and Colona Station turnoff limited to.
The Western Australian section of Eyre Highway is on the western side of the Nullarbor Plain. The South Australian section crosses the eastern section of the Nullarbor Plain, and the top of the Eyre Peninsula. The Nullarbor gets its name from Latin for "no tree". The typical view on the route is a straight highway and practically unchanging flat saltbush-covered terrain. The Eyre Peninsula has been extensively cleared for agriculture, although there are remnant corridors of native eucalyptus woodland alongside its roads.
Main Roads Western Australia and the Department for Infrastructure & Transport in South Australia monitor traffic volume across the states' road networks, including various locations along Eyre Highway. In Western Australia, the recorded traffic volumes ranged between 430 and 760 vehicles per day in 2013/14. In South Australia, the estimated annual average daily traffic as of September 2015 varied between 500 and 1,500 vehicles west of Lincoln Highway, and was 2,700 to the east.
Safety
In 2011, the Australian Automobile Association considered the Eyre Highway to be among the lowest risk highways in the country, based on total number of casualty crashes per length of road. The individual risk based on casualty crash rates per vehicle kilometre travelled was assessed as high for the 95 km section east of Yalata to Fowlers Bay. It was medium for a section from Fowlers Bay to Ceduna, low-medium between Ceduna and Port Augusta, and low west of Yalata.In 2013, Eyre Highway similarly received a lower safety rating for the South Australian sections, compared to the Western Australian section. Out of five stars, approximately 10% was rated as one- or two-star in Western Australia, generally towards the Norseman end, and 91% was rated three- or four-star. In South Australia, 49% was rated as one- or two-star, mostly from Yalata to Ceduna, and across the Eyre Peninsula, with the remaining 51% rated as three- or four-star.
Western Australia
Eyre Highway begins at the town of Norseman, on the Coolgardie–Esperance Highway. Apart from Eucla, from the South Australia border, roadhouses serving the highway are the only settlements on the stretch through Western Australia. These are located apart, at Balladonia, Caiguna, Cocklebiddy, Madura, and Mundrabilla. The section between Balladonia and Caiguna includes what is regarded as the longest straight stretch of road in Australia and one of the longest in the world. The road stretches for without turning, and is signposted and commonly known as the "90 Mile Straight". Travelling east, the highway descends through the Madura Pass just before the Madura roadhouse from the Nullarbor Plain to the coastal Roe Plains. It skirts the bottom of the escarpment, climbing back through the Eucla Pass just before Eucla.Because of its remoteness, some widened sections of the highway serve as emergency airstrips for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. These airstrips are signposted, have runway pavement markings painted on the road, and turnaround bays for small aircraft.
South Australia
After crossing the border at the settlement of Border Village, the highway passes through the Nullarbor Wilderness Protection Area and through the localities of Yalata, Penong and Ceduna. Before arriving at Ceduna, it enters the Eyre Peninsula. After Ceduna, the highway passes the intersection with Flinders Highway and heads south-east towards Kyancutta. After passing through Wirrulla, Poochera, Yanninee and Wudinna, the highway arrives at Kyancutta where it meets the north end of the Tod Highway.After Kyancutta, the highway turns to the east towards the town of Kimba. Before arriving at Kimba, it turns to the north-east. After Kimba, the highway passes through the southern end of the Lake Gilles Conservation Park and to the immediate north of both the town of Iron Knob and the Cultana Training Area before meeting the Lincoln Highway. It continues north-east until it intersects with the Augusta Highway and Stuart Highway, north-west of the Joy Baluch AM Bridge which crosses Spencer Gulf at Port Augusta.
An alternative route between Ceduna and Port Augusta, formerly signed Alternate National Route 1 and now signed B100, follows Flinders Highway and Lincoln Highway down the western and eastern sides of the peninsula respectively.
History
Background
In 1840–1841, Edward John Eyre was the first European to traverse the coastline of the Great Australian Bight and the Nullarbor Plain by land, on an almost trip from Adelaide to Albany, Western Australia.Three decades later, the East–West Telegraph line was installed. Constructed between 1875 and 1877, it followed the same route across the Nullarbor and along the Great Australian Bight, after John Forrest retraced Eyre's route in 1870 and confirmed its suitability. Repeater stations were installed at Port Lincoln, Streaky Bay, Smoky Bay, Fowlers Bay, Eucla, Israelite Bay, Esperance and Bremer Bay. Stations were later added at Franklin Harbour in 1885, Yardea in 1896 and Balladonia in 1897.
From 1912 to 1917 an inland route across the Nullarbor was established with the construction of the Trans-Australian Railway, from Port Augusta via Tarcoola to Kalgoorlie. With few roads or tracks encountering the line, most of it is only accessible by rail.
Highway planning and construction
The construction of the telegraph had resulted in a trail that could be followed for interstate travel, but it was a haphazard route which only the more adventurous motorists would take. Many travellers were unprepared for the harsh conditions and lack of services. They would cause a nuisance for station owners and other travellers by scrounging petrol, contaminating water supplies, leaving gates open, and committing acts of vandalism.In 1938 the Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia called for a national highway to be constructed by the federal government, as it would be a strategic defence road, provide another link between Western Australia and other states, and improve the tourist experience. The federal government did not see the road as important enough for its involvement.
In May 1941, following the construction of the central north–south Stuart Highway, the federal government announced its decision to build the east–west highway between Norseman and Port Augusta. A northerly route, close to the Trans-Australian Railway, had been considered, but extensive limestone outcrops made it impractical. Taking a route east from Norseman, with some detours around limestone ridges, would allow a road to be formed quickly and easily. With a war in the Pacific seemingly imminent, construction began in July 1941. The Army was responsible for fuel, food, and communications, while the state government departments of Main Roads and Highways managed the construction.
The road was completed in June 1942. Construction cost twice the initial £125,000 estimate over a period of four months. The road was sufficiently trafficable and in use by January 1942. The finished road, while an improvement over the previous route, still was not much more than a track. The only sections with a bitumen surface were the Madura and Eucla Passes. The formed width was, with some sections lightly gravelled over a width.
By the middle of the century, several water tanks with up to capacity were located alongside the highway, including at Madura Pass, Moonera, Cocklebiddy, and east of Mundrabilla. In some cases the tanks were accompanied by amenity such as a shed, or a hut and stove, or even petrol and cafes at Ivy Tanks. The establishment of Ivy Tanks in any form was being lost by the 1980s.