The Kwinana Freeway began as a proposed controlled-access road to link the Narrows Bridge in Perth with the developing area of the
City of Kwinana. Planning began in 1954, The original route travelled through South Perth to Canning Highway, and included a new bridge over the Canning River. The planned route was later adjusted so that it crossed the river further south, due to the expected traffic volume, and difficulties in construction and traffic management at the existing Canning River Bridge.
Initial construction In 1956, the
Government of Western Australia decided to construct the first section of the freeway, between the Narrows Bridge and Canning Highway. An extension was planned to be constructed seven years later. A significant change to the foreshore was the relocation of the South of Perth Yacht Club. In 1960, the club moved from the Canning River's eastern shore, at Olives Reserve in Como, to Coffee Point in , on the western shore. The termination of the Kwinana Freeway at Canning Highway meant that the highway would be part of the main link between Perth and Kwinana, along with the freeway and
Stock Road. Therefore, Canning Highway was upgraded to a
dual carriageway. The upgrade works included the construction of a new bridge across the Canning River, next to the existing bridge, built in 1938. This allowed for six lanes of traffic on Canning Highway. Construction of this stage was completed in 1959, In 1974, this first section was described by the EPA as "environmental desecration". This was primarily due to the public being denied access to the foreshore environment. Pedestrian overpasses were described as ineffective for "obvious physical [and] psychological reasons", and the impact on the riverfront was described as a "blight which has descended there". Construction works south of the interchange began in 1979. The freeway was initially planned to terminate at
Leach Highway, but was extended as far as South Street, at the request of the
Melville City Council. The council wanted the extra length of freeway to alleviate
congestion on its local roads, and contributed $600,000 to expedite the construction. This stage included construction of the Mount Henry Bridge across the Canning River. , it is Western Australia's longest bridge, at a length of . This extension was completed in two stages. The first was a extension to
Forrest Road, which opened on 12 December 1991, at a cost of $36.7 million. Subsequently, the freeway was extended a further to Thomas Road. Main Roads looked for opportunities to improve the environment during the planning of this segment. These included the establishment of a protected strip of vegetation alongside the freeway, and the preservation or enhancement of remnant wetlands under threat from urban expansion. The main negative impacts of construction would be controlled through vegetation reinstatement and drainage management plans, as well as the use of "standard techniques" for preventing pollution, which was recognised as a severe environmental impact. The proposed route had the least environmental consequences compared with viable alternatives, and was the
Department of Environment and Conservation's preferred route. The impact on wetlands was further investigated by the EPA in 1992. The EPA estimated that of wetland habitat would be lost, including with conservation status. The EPA's report concluded that the alignment was not ideal from an environmental standpoint, but recognised the social importance of constructing the freeway, which would facilitate development of the area. The authority was satisfied that the project's environmental repercussions could be managed, with the key recommendation of replacing the function of impacted wetlands. This $31 million section had three
at-grade traffic light controlled intersections, which were designed to be replaced by grade separated interchanges. Intersections were used to avoid delaying the extension, as Main Roads Western Australia considered the $30 million cost for interchanges to be prohibitively expensive. The extension opened on 11 September 1994; the
Town of Kwinana contributed $1 million, per an agreement on completing the freeway prior to 1995. A report for a later stage regarded the approval for this section as lacking strict stipulations for the management of environmental impact, which was attributed to the assessment of the era not being subject to recent environmental regulations and scrutiny. A extension along this alignment, to Safety Bay Road in
Baldivis, was opened on 23 June 2001 by Premier
Geoff Gallop. This project also included grade separation of the existing at-grade intersections. The Kwinana Freeway Bus Transitway was completed soon afterwards, in February 2002.
New Perth Bunbury Highway Construction of an extension to the freeway, initially known as the "New Perth Bunbury Highway", began in December 2006. The project consisted of a freeway-standard extension to Pinjarra Road and the Murray River at South Yunderup, and a highway-standard dual carriageway to Old Coast Road at
Lake Clifton. It had undergone an environmental assessment by the EPA in 2000. Main Roads proposed management plans for each environmental factor identified by the EPA. Only clearing of vegetation critical for road construction would be undertaken, and more vegetation would be replaced than the amount impacted, using local native species. A flora survey found no rare species, and only one priority species,
Lasiopetalum membranaceum, near the southern end of the project. Road construction would impact one conservation class wetland, but no protected wetlands. To minimise impact, road drainage would be designed to contain spills, and prevent direct discharges into the surrounding environment. Noise levels would be contained to an acceptable limit in the road design, in accordance with the Main Roads traffic noise policy. The EPA concluded that the road could be designed and managed to an acceptable standard. Main Roads' 2006 plan for environmental management of the project included numerous aspects, described as best management practices, which for the northern segment of the project were beyond the environmental approval requirements. Specific plans were developed regarding fauna, vegetation, dieback and weeds, and revegetation and rehabilitation. Other areas with specific plans included topsoil management, drainage, construction (covering dust, noise, and vibrations), foreshores, and both Aboriginal and European heritage. The route bypasses Mandurah by taking traffic around the eastern side of the
Peel-Harvey Estuary prior to joining the existing dual carriageway on Old Coast Road, reducing the journey time from Perth to Bunbury. The Kwinana Freeway extension and Forrest Highway were opened on 20 September 2009, with a ceremony held at the interchange between the freeway, highway, and Pinjarra Road. The roads were officially opened by Premier
Colin Barnett, Senator
Chris Evans, Transport Minister
Simon O'Brien, Member for Canning
Don Randall, and previous Transport Minister
Alannah MacTiernan.
Bus transitway Dedicated
bus lanes have existed on the Kwinana Freeway since the late 1980s, when a project was set up to decrease bus commuters' travel times into
Perth from suburbs south of the Swan River. In 1987,
Main Roads Western Australia and
Transperth trialled a
contraflow bus lane along the Kwinana Freeway, from the Canning Interchange to the Narrows Interchange. The lane operated between 7:00 am and 9:30 am, the period with the most traffic congestion on the freeway. After two months, the results were examined, and the agencies decided to build an additional bus lane on the northbound carriageway. The construction included bus-only ramps at the beginning and end of the lane. The works were mainly funded by Transperth, which contributed $8.22 million out of the $10.23 million total cost. The remaining $2.01 million was provided by Main Roads Western Australia. and received an
Institute of Engineers award for engineering excellence. Construction of the first stage, between the Narrows Interchange and Canning Interchange, began in September 2000, and was completed in February 2002. The bus transitway was replaced by the Mandurah railway line, constructed in the freeway median between May 2004 and December 2007. After rail services commenced, most freeway bus services ceased; however, dedicated ramps and short priority lanes remain for bus services between
Canning Highway and Perth.
Widening In March 2011, it was announced that the Kwinana Freeway between Leach Highway and Roe Highway would be widened from two to three lanes in each direction. The $58 million project was brought forward to ease increased congestion on this part of the freeway. Construction began in July 2011, with completion scheduled for May 2012. The new southbound lane opened on 1 June 2012. On 20 December 2012, state Transport Minister
Troy Buswell, with
Federal MP Gary Gray and
State MLA for
Riverton Mike Nahan, officially opened the northbound lane. By May 2013, all major construction works had been completed, including a
pedestrian underpass at South Street, a new carpark and access road for Murdoch railway station, and
noise walls. Remaining landscaping works were expected to be finalised in September 2013, Widening of the Kwinana Freeway with an extra southbound lane between Roe Highway and Armadale Road began in mid-2014. The project aims to increase the freeway's reliability, efficiency, and safety, as the current two-lane configuration is subject to a large proportion of heavy vehicles and severe peak hour congestion. The project also involves the realignment of ramps at Berrigan Drive and Armadale Road, construction of noise barriers and noise walls where required, and installation of components for
intelligent transport systems – optic fibre communications, vehicle detection devices, and closed circuit cameras. The Russell/Gibbs Road interchange itself was also upgraded during 2016–17 in preparation for the opening of
Aubin Grove railway station on the
Mandurah Line itself, with the bridge widened to carry eight lanes of traffic (two through-lanes and two right-turning lanes in both directions. Widening of the corresponding northbound section from Russell/Gibbs Road to Farrington Road commenced in late 2018 in conjunction with the extension of
Roe Highway to link with Murdoch Drive. The project consists of the following: • A third lane added from the Russell Road/Gibbs Road interchange to the Armadale Road/Beeliar Drive interchange. • A
collector-distributor lane system in addition to a third lane up to Berrigan Drive (allowing for the construction of a half-diamond interchange with North Lake Road). • The above lanes merge to form four lanes of traffic up to Farrington Road aside from small section of three lanes under the westbound Roe Highway overpass. • A reconstruction of the Principal Shared Path (PSP) or cycle path along the freeway with additional lighting. In addition the interchange with Roe Highway was modified to become a partial
combination interchange due to the direct link between Roe Highway and Murdoch Drive, with no ramps between Kwinana southbound and Murdoch westbound nor Murdoch eastbound to Kwinana northbound due to the nearby Farrington Road interchange providing these movements. The project was completed on 20 April 2020. A proposal was drawn in the 1980s to construct a southbound on-ramp at the partial interchange with Manning Road. The land requirements were included on the
Perth Metropolitan Region Scheme. The
City of South Perth considers the ramp a "major priority" In 2001, the City estimated the construction cost to be $1.77 million. Construction of the ramp commenced in October 2019 at a cost of $35 million, and was opened on the morning of 13 July 2020. The northbound section between
Mount Henry Bridge and the
Narrows Bridge was converted to a
smart freeway system during 2019–20. The main features of the project include: • Conversion of the emergency lane north of
Canning Highway to a fourth lane (all lane running). • Installation of variable message and speed limit signs, allowing for opening and closing lanes. •
Ramp signalling on the northbound entries to the freeway from Farrington Road to Cranford Avenue. A half-diamond interchange with North Lake Road was also constructed. This project involved the construction of a bridge over Kwinana Freeway with north-facing on and off ramps, reconnecting Armadale Road to North Lake Road after the original connection (then known as Forrest Road) was severed during the 1990s as part of the freeway extension. Grade separated roundabouts will also be constructed at Tapper Road / Verde Drive and at a new Beeliar Drive / Solomon Road intersection along with improved access to Cockburn Central railway station. Construction began in late 2019, with the bridge and associated interchanges opened on the morning of 16 December 2021. ==Future works==