Expressway - The Australian Highway Site: Road Photos & Information: NSW: M1 / A1 (Wahroonga to Sydney)

Road Photos & Information: New South Wales

Pacific Motorway, Pacific Highway, New England Highway, John Renshaw Drive, Gore Hill Freeway, Warringah Freeway, Sydney Harbour Tunnel, Eastern Distributor, Southern Cross Drive, General Holmes Drive, The Grand Parade, President Avenue, Princes Highway and Princes Motorway (M1 / A1)

Wahroonga to Sydney

Statistics:

Length:: 1333 km (Wahroonga to Sydney: 21 km)
Termini:: Northern: Northern: Pacific Mwy (M1), Tweed Heads, at the NSW / QLD Border; Southern: Southern: Princes Hwy (A1), Timbillica, at the NSW / VIC Border
Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route:: Wahroonga, Turramurra, Pymble, Gordon, Killara, Lindfield, Roseville, Chatswood, Artarmon, Naremburn, Crows Nest, Cammeray, North Sydney and Milsons Point

Route Numbering:

Current: M1 A1
Multiplexed with: A38
Former: 1 1 F1
Road Authority Internal Classification: ¹: 6092 (Sydney to Kirribilli); MR651 (Kirribilli to Artarmon); HW10 (Artarmon to Wahroonga)

General Information:

M1 / A1 is the principal coastal route through New South Wales, and forms part of the circumferential route around Australia.

The route varies greatly along its length and includes sections of rural highway, urban arterial road, divided rural highway and also motorway. The route also features several tunnels, located in the inner east, inner south and lower northern suburbs of Sydney and at Yelgun and Tweed Heads, at the northern end of the route in NSW. The route passes through forest, rural, residential, commercial and industrial areas.

Multiplexes along the route include:

: A38, for 1 km, between Chatswood and Roseville

Gore Hill Freeway:

The Gore Hill Freeway was constructed along a narrow corridor on Sydney's lower north shore. It's 3.1 kilometres in length and links the Warringah Freeway at Naremburn with the Lane Cove Tunnel at Lane Cove. Originally the freeway linked with Epping Road. During construction 70 000 trees were used in the landscaping, more than was removed to build the freeway. ²

Pacific Highway:

The Pacific Highway section of A1 runs between Port Macquarie and Hexham, and also between Wahroonga and the Gore Hill Freeway at Artarmon. The northern section is all dual carriageway mostly of freeway standard. The southern section between Wahroonga and Artarmon is urban arterial standard and passes through one of Sydney's more affluent areas.

The highway traces its origins back to an early settler, George Peat, who owned the land between the Hawkesbury River and Mooney Mooney Creek. To provide access to his property, Peat began a ferry service across the Hawkesbury River in 1844 and surveyed, then constructed a road between Hornsby and Kariong in 1854. After his death in 1870, the ferry service was abandoned and the road fell into disrepair, finally closing to all traffic in 1899, following the completion of the Sydney-Newcastle railway.

Demand for a route between Sydney and Newcastle dates back to the early 20th century. When the only access was via the sea or via a long route through the town of Wiseman's Ferry. In the 1920s, the then Main Roads Board undertook a series of surveys to form an easier and more reliable route north from Sydney. In 1928 construction began on upgrading the old road and converting it to a modern standard, plus creating a new route north, utilising some of the abandoned Peat's Ferry Rd, while improving the horizontal and vertical alignments. In May 1930 the ferry service across the Hawkesbury River was re-established to service the new road until such times that a bridge became necessary. June 1930 marked the completion of the concrete surfacing.

During the time of the Hornsby to Gosford construction, improvements were made to roads between Gosford to Newcastle as part of the link. On May 17 in 1929, the route was named as the Great Northern Highway. The work from Hornsby to Gosford cost almost £1 million, however it was money well spent, reducing the trip from Sydney to Newcastle from 9 hours to 4 ½ hours.

Gore Hill Freeway:

Warringah Freeway:

Built during the 1960s, the Warringah Freeway consists of a series of close interchanges and a large number of lanes, very reminiscent of some US freeways, and connects the Gore Hill Freeway with the Sydney Harbour Tunnel (and also the Sydney Harbour Bridge).

Formerly known as the Warringah Expressway, this section of M1 is one of Sydney's grander road engineering feats. It was originally designed to head through Sydney's north shore to the northern beaches.

The original plan for the Warringah Freeway was to have head north at Willoughby Road, through the SCEGGS playing fields, through Castlecrag and cross Middle Harbour at Sugarloaf Point / Pickering Point. From there it would continue north along the Wakehurst Pkwy. There was an EIS comissioned in 1963 for an interchange at Warringah Road & Wakehurst Parkway. There was also to be two spurs from Pickering Point into Balgowlah and another along Burnt Bridge Creek to join Condamine Street near Kenneth Road.

The Warringah Freeway also features adjustable lanes depending on traffic requirements. The western middle carriageway, which is usually northbound, becomes southbound during the morning peak (from 05:30 - 09:30). The time the change back occurs, depends on different traffic conditions. The eastern middle carriageway used to become northbound in the afternoon peak prior to 1987. This changed when construction of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel began. Because of the tunnel approach, this carriageway is now permanently southbound only.

History:

Pacific Highway:: 1920s: The then Main Roads Board undertook a series of surveys to form an easier and more reliable route north from Sydney. Reconstruction of Lane Cove Road (now Pacific Highway) between Boundary Street, Roseville and Pearces Corner, Wahroonga was undertaken in asphaltic concrete. It was the longest length of asphaltic concrete road then constructed by a local government authority. ³; 17 May 1929: The route was named as the Great Northern Highway.; May 1931: After pressure from the Queensland Government, the coastal highway linking Sydney and Brisbane was named Pacific Hwy.; 1939: Two thirds of the Pacific Highway was bitumen. ⁵; 1949: The Commissioner for Road Transport installed a set of pedestrian actuated traffic lights on the Pacific Highway at Lindfield Railway Station. ³; 1980s: The introduction of "S" lanes, which allowed two continuous through lanes in each direction on six lane arterial roads in the city. "S" lanes were provided on the Pacific Highway between Hornsby and St Leonards. ³

Gore Hill Freeway:: 1992: Gore Hill Freeway completed to coincide with the opening of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel. ⁴; 2008: Transit lanes replace 1 traffic lane in each direction on the Gore Hill Fwy. ⁴

Warringah Freeway:: 1968: Opening of the then Warringah Expressway. ⁵; 1978: Completion of the extension of the Warringah Freeway from Cammeray, to Willoughby Road Naremburn. ⁶

Image © Michael Greenslade

Wahroonga To Sydney

Reassurance Directional Sign:

RD sign on Pacific Hwy (A1 / A38) at Chatswood, December 2013.

Image © Michael Greenslade

Railway Street:

ID sign at the corner of Pacific Hwy (A1 / A38) and Railway St, Chatswood, January 2017.

Image © Spenser Tan

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign one Pacific Hwy (A1 / A38) at Chatswood, approaching Fullers Rd (A38), January 2017. The A38 duplex ends at this junction.

Image © Spenser Tan

Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign on Mowbray Road approaching Pacific Highway (A1) at Chatswood, January 2017.

UPDATED Advance Directional Sign:

AD sign on Warringah Fwy (M1) at Neutral Bay, approaching Cahill Expwy lanes, December 2017.

Intersection Directional Sign:

ID sign on on Warringah Fwy (M1) at Kirribilli, at the split between Cahill Expwy and Sydney Harbour Bridge lanes, December 2013.

Advance Directional Signs:

AD sign at North Sydney for Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel, December 2017.

Mount Street:

Warringah Fwy (M1) at North Sydney, passing under Mount St, December 2017.

High Street:

Warringah Fwy (M1) passing under High St at North Sydney, December 2017.

Click or tap here for the continuation of M1 / A1 between Sydney and Sylvania
Click or tap here for the continuation of M1 between Somersby and Wahroonga

¹ NSW Government, Transport for NSW, Schedule of Classified Roads And State and Regional Roads, July 2022.
² City of Sydney.
³ Roads & Maritime Services.
⁴ NSW Parliament.
⁵ North Sydney Council.
⁶ Home Traders Real Estate.