interchange at Wilson Street, began towards the end of 2012. It was opened to traffic on 17 June 2014, and on 23 July 2014, Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss, Federal Member for Durack Melissa Price, and Pilbara MLA Brendon Grylls officially opened the project. It was finalised in August. In October 2013, construction began on a project to straighten and widen Great Northern Highway's curves around Bindi Bindi. The project was completed and opened to traffic on 27 February 2015, and allowed the speed limit to be raised from . A section between Batty Bog Road (north of New Norcia) and Walebing was reconstructed between September 2014 and 2015. Perth Darwin National Highway In the early 1990s, a corridor study conducted by Main Roads into the long-term needs of the Perth to Darwin National Highway concluded the existing Great Northern Highway, with bypasses around rural towns and the Swan Valley, was the most suitable route for the National Highway. Planning the alignment for the southernmost section, from Reid Highway in Perth to Bindoon, was undertaken from 2003 to 2013. It resulted in the planned alignment commencing from Tonkin Highway, bypassing the Swan Valley and Bullsbrook before reconnecting with Great Northern Highway near Brand Highway. Great Northern Highway is then followed until the Brockman River, where the planned route deviates to the east to bypass Bindoon, reconnecting with the existing Highway near Bindoon–Moora Road. The first stage of construction was undertaken as part of the NorthLink WA project. Tonkin Highway's original northern section was made grade separated, and a dual carriageway extended from the original northern end of Tonkin Highway (near Reid Highway) past Ellenbrook and through the Swan Valley to an interchange with Great Northern Highway and a new part of Brand Highway, with the extension continuing on as Great Northern Highway. The previously planned route of the bypass, prior to 2012, followed Lord Street, east of Whiteman Park. The project is funded by both the state and federal governments. Construction began in June 2017, and was completed on 23 April 2020. Environmental hazards As observed in the 2018 Broome flood, the highway, and its river crossings are always at risk in extreme weather situations. In 2023, Rio Tinto lost a radioactive capsule somewhere along the Great Northern Highway between Perth and Newman. On 2 February, 2023, the capsule was found by a search vehicle which detected its radiation south