History
Leach Highway is named for J.D. "Digby" Leach, former Commissioner of Main Roads Western Australia. In 1972 the first section was opened between its present western terminus at Carrington Street, Melville (now Palmyra), and High Road in Canning (now Willetton).
It was soon extended eastward from High Road through to Manning Road, using the old timber Riverton Bridge over Canning River. In 1976 it was further extended from Manning Road to Orrong Road, including bridges over the Armadale line and Albany Highway. Then in 1978 the 4-lane concrete Shelley Bridge over Canning River opened, with Riverton Bridge retained for local traffic.
In the early 1980s the highway was extended further eastward to the new Beechboro-Gosnells Highway which remains as the highway's present eastern terminus.
Also around that time a number of intersections were built to coincide with new roads being built around Leach Highway. A parclo interchange was constructed at the newly extended Kwinana Freeway, and an intersection was constructed for the new Centenary Avenue in Wilson to improve access to the West Australian Institute of Technology. New at-grade intersections were built at Murdoch Drive and Winthrop Drive to service the new suburbs of Bateman and Winthrop.
Although not strictly Leach Highway, in 1985 Stirling Highway was extended southwards from its then terminus at Canning Highway to a new terminus at High Street (an extension of Leach Highway). This marked the final piece of an improved freight link between the Port of Fremantle and Perth's major industrial areas around Kewdale
Then, apart from minor modifications, the highway remained largely unchanged until 2005/2006 when work on projects at Kwinana Freeway and Orrong Road commenced.
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