It serves three purposes: firstly, providing a main route from Armadale to Fremantle; secondly, connecting Armadale to the Kwinana Freeway; and thirdly, since 2005, connecting it to the Tonkin Highway which ferries traffic to the eastern suburbs, Perth Airport and the Forrestfield and Kewdale industrial areas.

The road is signed as State Route 14 for almost its entire length, with the section west of Beeliar Drive unsigned.

[2] Following the 2017 election of Western Australian Labor to the state parliament, the controversial Perth Freight Link project was cancelled.

This removed another one of the state's black spots, the Beeliar Drive and Midgegooroo Avenue intersection, reduce congestion on the Kwinana Freeway interchange, and improve access to Cockburn Central railway station.

[9][10] The road has speed limits of 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph) between the Kwinana Freeway and Tapper Road in Atwell, and between the Armadale railway line and Albany Highway; all other sections are signed 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph).