Canning Highway - History

History

Canning Highway is named for Alfred Canning, a pioneer West Australian pastoralist and late 19th century settler in the area that is now part of the City of Melville.

The modern highway was formally commenced in the 1920s, with major work commencing in 1927 to upgrade an 8-mile (13 km) section between Suburban Street, South Perth and Petra Street, East Fremantle. The road initially had the following names:

• Canning Road (Fremantle–Wireless Hill)
• Perth–Fremantle Road (Wireless Hill–Canning Bridge)
• Lower Canning Road (Canning Bridge–South Terrace)
• Fremantle Road (South Terrace–Causeway)

The road was officially named Canning Highway on 23 November 1937. In 1938, the present northern bridge over Canning River was opened. It was 32 feet (9.8 m) wide and constructed of timber, as was then common practice. The experience gained building this bridge was used to construct the Fremantle Traffic Bridge over the Swan River one year later. The Fremantle Traffic Bridge joined Canning Highway near Fremantle with North Fremantle, and this intersection forms the highway's present western terminus.

In 1958, the present southern bridge over Canning River was constructed which coincided with the opening of Kwinana Freeway between the Narrows Bridge and Canning Highway.

In 1974, the rotary (roundabout) at the southern end of the Causeway in Victoria Park was upgraded to a parclo interchange, which resulted in Canning Highway joining seamlessly with Great Eastern Highway. At the same time, Stirling Highway was extended from North Fremantle across the Swan River via the new Stirling bridge to join with Canning Highway.

In 1979, a new diamond interchange was built near Canning Bridge to route the Kwinana Freeway underneath Canning Highway and progress the freeway further southwards.

Apart from minor additional lanes and modifications, the highway has remained largely unchanged since.