Great Southern Highway

Great Southern Highway

Western Australia
Great Southern Highway; Western Australia
	The Great Southern Highway at Pingelly, 2014
	Map of south-west Western Australia with Great Southern Highway highlighted in red
General information
Type	Highway
Length	374 km (232 mi)
Route number(s)	State Route 120 (York – Cranbrook)
Major junctions
North end	Great Eastern Highway (National Highway 94), The Lakes
	Northam–York Road (State Route 120); Westdale Road; Brookton–Corrigin Road (State Route 40); Brookton Highway (State Route 40); Wagin-Dumbleyung Road (State Route 107); Arthur Road (State Route 107);
South end	Albany Highway (State Route 30), Cranbrook
Location(s)
Major settlements	York, Beverley, Brookton, Narrogin, Wagin, Katanning
Highway system
	Highways in Australia; National Highway • Freeways in Australia; Highways in Western Australia; ; ;

Great Southern Highway is a highway in the southern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, starting from Great Eastern Highway at The Lakes, 50 km (31 mi) from Perth, and ending at Albany Highway near Cranbrook. It is the primary thoroughfare for this part of Western Australia and runs parallel with the Perth–Albany railway for its entire length. It is signed as State Route 120 from York to Cranbrook, and was first named in 1949,^[1] although it was built well before that time.

Description

The highway initially travels east to the historic town of York, before following the Avon Valley and the railway roughly southwards until Narrogin. The highway then runs parallel with Albany Highway at a distance of about 30 km (19 mi) through Wagin and Katanning before curving to approach Albany Highway where it ends 4 km (2.5 mi) past Cranbrook. Many of the towns along this highway have prominent grain silos, and Narrogin, Wagin and Katanning have remained important population centres sustained by agriculture and its supporting industries.