intended to become a highway. Early surveying of the roads, in the 1950s, was undertaken from within a light aircraft flying over the area. This was one of the first times in Western Australia that this technique was used. Wide road reserves, up to in width, were acquired from crown land and pastoral leases. This allowed native wildflowers to survive and flourish on public land, providing aesthetically pleasing and interesting views to reduce road hypnosis and driver fatigue. The road would also be made safer by removing natural roadside obstacles, and replacing them with shrubs and more wildflowers. Construction of new roads that would eventually be part of the Brand Highway began in 1959. Various segments were completed as the need arose, until in 1975, there was a new link between Perth and Geraldton. The route reduced the distance between the cities by , and had a total cost of $4.2 million. On 14 February 1975, the new road was gazetted as part of the Geraldton Highway, with the old route via Moora renamed The Midlands Road. It was officially opened on 4 April 1975 by the Minister for Transport, Ray O'Connor at Eneabba. One year later, the road was named Brand Highway after Sir David Brand, who was Premier of Western Australia from 1959 to 1971 and also held the local electorate of Greenough from 1945 to 1975. The change of name from Geraldton Highway to Brand Highway was gazetted on 12 March 1976. Premier Charles Court officiated a ceremony held on 30 April 1976 at a tourist information bay in Dongara, where a plaque was unveiled commemorating the naming of the highway. The northern end of Brand Highway was upgraded as part of Stage 1 of the Geraldton Southern Transport Corridor, the biggest individual project in the early 2000s across all of rural Western Australia. The project, constructed between March 2004 and December 2005 at a cost of $92.5 million, involved the relocation of railway tracks, worth of road works, and grade separation of roads. Brand Highway's northern terminus at North West Coastal Highway was upgraded from a roundabout to an interchange. An overpass was built for nearby Durlacher Street to cross North West Coastal Highway, which was made into a dual carriageway in the vicinity of the interchange. Stage 2 of the project, constructed between December 2008 and December 2009, provided a new single carriageway connection to