Albany Highway commences at The Causeway, a river crossing that connects to Perth's central business district.

The highway heads south-east through Perth's metropolitan region, bypassed in part by Shepperton Road and Kenwick Link, and continues south-eastwards through to Albany.

Prior to European settlement, the indigenous Noongar people had a considerable network of tracks, including a trade route between the areas now known as Perth and Albany.

Since the 1990s Main Roads has been upgrading various portions along the length of Albany Highway, including widening sections to dual carriageways in Perth, and the construction of the Kenwick Link bypass.

Albany Highway commences at The Causeway, a river crossing that connects to Perth's central business district.

[4]: 3  In the 2013/14 financial year, the recorded traffic volumes ranged between 3880 and 70,690 vehicles per weekday in Perth,[4]: 16–17  1980 to 3880 in the Wheatbelt,[4]: 89  and 1720 to 5120 in the Great Southern.

This part of the highway is dominated by commercial shopping precincts in Bentley, Cannington, Maddington, Gosnells and Kelmscott, with numerous sets of traffic lights.

The road continues south-east, with signs of human activity becoming more sparse as the highway crosses the Darling Scarp, and the scenery transitions to native forest.

Roadhouses exist at North Bannister, Crossman and Arthur River, while many of the service towns in the region are approximately 30 kilometres (20 mi) to the east on Great Southern Highway, including Narrogin, Wagin and Katanning.

[1][2] Prior to European settlement, the indigenous Noongar people had a considerable network of tracks around their territory in the south-west of Western Australia.

[7][8] On 25 December 1826, the New South Wales colonial government brig Amity, under the command of Major Edmund Lockyer, arrived at King George Sound to establish a military garrison.

[9] On 21 January 1827, as instructed by the Colonial Secretary, the Union Jack was raised and a feu de joie fired by the troops, formally annexing the territory, in assertion of the first official claim by the Imperial Government to British possession over the whole continent of Australia.

[12] Albany was officially named by Governor Stirling at the beginning of 1832, at the time that political authority passed to the Swan River colony.

[15] In October and November 1835, Governor Stirling and Surveyor-General John Septimus Roe travelled overland from Perth to Albany, with the focus of the journey being the route south of the Hotham River.

A few months later, in February 1837, Hillman accompanied a group that made the trip to Perth in 12 days travelling time, journeying via Chorkurup, Thokokup, Mount Barker, Lake Matilda, Kojonup, Williams and Arthur River.

This group was led by Mr J. Harris, and included Lieutenant Armstrong with eight soldiers of the 21st Fusiliers, Albany settlers Patrick Taylor and Dr. Thomas Harrison, as well as Kartrull, who was referred to as "the native 'Handsome'".

[17] In 1847, the Perth–Albany route was adjusted, so that the mail would travel from Albany to Kojonup, then head to Bunbury on the coast, and subsequently up to Perth via Rockingham and Fremantle.

[14] Construction was recommended in late 1852, after the mail contractor George Maxwell completed a journey along the proposed route in September, and soon commenced.

[19]: 435 In 1935, a town planning report for the City of Perth noted traffic congestion on Albany Road[b] in Victoria Park.

As widening the existing road would have left the council liable for compensation from affected businesses and properties, the provision of bypass routes was recommended instead.

[23] A new causeway to extend Berwick Street north over the Swan River, and make it a truck route, was considered by the state government in 1940.

Gray contended that parking should be prohibited, and refused to scrap the trams, but said he would consider the resumption of land east of Berwick Street to enable a one-quarter-mile (0.40 km) extension to Albany Road.

[29] However, Berwick Street was diverted to the south-west to connect with Chapman Road, providing a longer continuous route west of Albany Highway.

[33] In November 1939, the State Advisory Committee on Nomenclature recommended that the Perth–Albany road be named Great Southern Highway, in recognition of its importance as an arterial traffic route.

[34] Feedback was mixed; whilst the name was "thoroughly approved"[36] by the Tambellup Road Board,[36] and the Perth City Council's general purposes committee recommended that no objection be raised,[37] the Kojonup Road Board believed that "sufficient grounds [did] not exist for the proposed change",[38] and the Albany Municipal Council objected strongly to not retaining "Perth–Albany" in the name.

Resealing such cracks was a high priority, as expensive reconstruction would be required if water was allowed to enter the road base.

The four-lane undivided road had been one of the most congested in Perth but was improved by adding a third lane in each direction as well as a median strip.

[19]: 396–397  In the 1990s several other improvement projects were planned across the length of the highway, including between Bedfordale and North Bannister,[48][49] through Mount Barker,[50] and between Narrikup and Albany.

[51] Closer to Perth, the section along Bedfordale Hill (south-east of Armadale) was upgraded to a four-lane dual carriageway,[52][53][54] with work completed in June 1999.