road pronounced open by Premier Charles Court. The final cost of the project was approximately $31 million, substantially more than the initial estimate of $17 million. This was mainly due to two factors: increased construction standards, and inflation, which rose from 4% to 13% between 1970 and 1974. Further improvements In the 1980s the highway's flood resistance was improved with the construction of new, higher-level bridges to replace lower crossings. Galena Bridge over the Murchison River opened on 9 December 1983, and a new bridge over the Harding River near Roebourne was opened on 22 March 1985. In the late 1980s the various sections of road across Western Australia's road network were upgraded or reconstructed, with the worst segments prioritised. In August 1988, work on upgrading of North West Coastal Highway was completed, the final section between Geraldton and Carnarvon to have been brought up to standard. In the following two years, segments with a combined length of were resealed, and was widened from , with a sealed shoulder on each side. The northernmost section of the highway, from Great Northern Highway to Port Hedland, was made part of Great Northern Highway in early 1996. Over a ten-year period from 1996 to 2006, numerous improvements were made to the highway, with sections widened, reconstructed, and realigned. Intersections and stretches through townsites were also redesigned, existing bridges were strengthened, and new bridges replaced older bridges or floodways. Additional work was necessary to repair damage from natural events. Sections washed away by floods in January 2003 were rebuilt, and opened in October of that year, and repairs to the damage from Cyclone Monty in March 2004 were completed that November. The biggest individual project in this period, across all of rural Western Australia, was Stage 1 of the Geraldton Southern Transport Corridor. 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. North West Coastal Highway's southern terminus at Brand Highway was upgraded from a roundabout to an interchange, and an overpass was built for Durlacher Street to cross North West Coastal Highway. The highway was also 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 single carriageway connection from a traffic light-controlled intersection on the