928.Forrest HighwayProviding a link between the city of Perth and Bunbury in the south west, the Kwinana Freeway Extension and new Forrest Highway was officially opened on Sunday 20 September 2009, in a ceremony held on the Murray River Bridge. At a cost of $705 million, it is the largest infrastructure project undertaken by Main Roads in Western Australia. Statistics include: 70.5 kms of dual carriageway; 32 kms of shared path for pedestrians and cyclists; 19 bridges; 6 interchanges; 10 intersections; 7 pedestrian underpasses; 12 fauna underpasses; 20.5 kms of drainage; the use of 5 borrow pits to source sand and limestone required for the project; more than 12 million tones of sand and 1 million tones of crushed rockbase; close to 27,000 cubic metres of concrete; 146 beams for the bridges; approx 21 kms of noise walls; and more than 3,000 workers toiled for a combined 3.8 million man-hours without any lost time through injury to complete the project. To offset the environmental impact of the freeway’s construction a 23 hectare area adjacent to the road in Karnup has been transformed into dedicated wetlands to provide an extensive breeding habitat for waterbirds and attract fauna to the region. Protection of native fauna has been achieved through the provision of underpasses to enable the animals to pass safely underneath the highway rather than attempt to cross it, causing danger to themselves and traffic.
