Eyre Highway - History

History

There are two parts of the Nullarbor crossing that are now distinct and separate routes to the current Eyre Highway: on the Western Australian side is a mapped Old Coach Road that is further north towards the Trans Australia Railway line. On the South Australian side the older highway route runs from Border Village to the Nullarbor Roadhouse, well away from the coast and running through the centre of the Nullarbor National Park.

Construction on the Eyre Highway first started in July 1941 and was completed six months later. First known as the Forrest Highway (named after John Forrest) Originally, the roads that followed closely to the route were very rough in condition, and during the road around Australia road trials in the 1950s, movie newsreels would show cars on very sandy tracks. The current route of the highway has not been deviated from significantly during various upgrades to the highway.

The differences between the condition of the road on either side of Eucla were notable as late as the mid-1980s. The last section was finally sealed on the South Australian section only in 1976.