The road had a number of factories located on the street; examples include the
Michelides Tobacco Factory and a factory for
Peters Ice Cream. For a considerable length of time in the twentieth century it was also associated in the popular imagination in Western Australia as the location of
brothels in Perth. Dubbed "Rue-de-Roe" by the press, fences were eventually erected along the rail line to shield the public from the view of the brothels on the street. Because of the changes in the regulation of prostitution in the state, the brothels have long since gone, and were replaced with other developments. A small section of the street serves as the southern boundary of
Perth's Chinatown and features Asian-style street theming. In the 2010s the Perth City Link project removed the vestiges of the railway yard and sunk and covered the
Fremantle railway line, creating a large space for redevelopment of the area to the immediate south of the street. Between January 2014 and July 2016, the
Roe Street bus station operated near Perth station to facilitate the construction of the
Perth Busport at the former
Wellington Street bus station site. In December 2016, a new exit onto the street from the southbound direction of the
Mitchell Freeway opened. The exit replaced a previous one on
James Street, which was closed to enable the construction of the
Charles Street Bus Bridge. In June 2021, work began on revitalising a significant portion of the street to make it more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. ==Intersections==