A range of projects were carried out across the length of the highway between 1996 and 2006. By 1998, a section between the Sandfire Roadhouse and Victoria Highway had been improved at a cost of $1.1 million, and another north of Meekatharra was improved for $12 million in 1999. Two bridges were constructed in the vicinity of Halls Creek in 2000, and another four in 2004/05, replacing floodways so that the highway would remain open during floods. Similarly, north of Halls Creek, the Jarlalu Bridge over the Ord River was constructed to replace a single-lane floodway, and was opened in January 2003. That same year, the bridges over the Fortescue and Gascoyne Rivers were strengthened to increase the highway's load capacity. Modifications were made to the steep ascent of the Darling Scarp at Bindoon Hill between February 2002 and April 2003, and Great Northern Highway was realigned to bypass the Dalwallinu town centre.