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)
Sydney to Sylvania
Statistics:
- Length:
- 1333 km (Sydney to Sylvania: 34 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:
- Sydney, Woolloomooloo, Darlinghurst, Moore Park, Kensington, Eastlakes, Mascot, Botany, Kyeemagh, Brighton-Le-Sands, Monterey, Kogarah, Carlton and Blakehurst
Route Numbering:
- Current: M1 A1
- Former: 1 1
- Road Authority Internal Classification: 1
- HW1 (Waterfall to Kogarah)
- MR667 (Kogarah to Brighton-Le-Sands)
- MR194 (Brighton-Le-Sands to Mascot)
- MR593 (Mascot to Moore Park)
- MR592 (Moore Park to Sydney)
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.
Built during the late 1980s, the Sydney Harbour Tunnel was built to provide additional traffic capacity across Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), and helped alleviate traffic levels on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The route also forms part of an eastern bypass of the Sydney CBD. The route is tolled.
The 2.3 kilometre Sydney Harbour Tunnel connects the Warringah Freeway on the northern side of Sydney Harbour to the Cahill Expressway, south of the harbour. It includes a one kilometre section below the harbour constructed by the immersed tube method. The Sydney Harbour Tunnel Company (SHTC) owns, operated and maintained the Harbour Tunnel until August 2022 when was transferred to public ownership. 2
The route features New South Wales first ever expressway, the Cahill Expressway built in the 1950s at Circular Quay. Stage 1 of the route features a dual deck, with roadway on the top and railway under, both passing over the Circular Quay ferry terminal on Sydney Harbour. 2
The Eastern Distributor forms the rest of the eastern bypass of the Sydney CBD and was built during the 1990s as a slot freeway, which is sunken below the surface of surrounding suburbs and streets. This route also features tunnels and is tolled.
The Eastern Distributor provides a high-quality road link between the Cahill Expressway at Woolloomooloo and Southern Cross Drive at Zetland. The motorway was funded and built by Airport Motorway Limited, which now operates, maintains and repairs the motorway until 2048, when it will revert to public ownership. The motorway is operated on Airport Motorway's behalf by Leighton Contractors. 2 The Eastern Distributor bypasses up to 19 sets of traffic lights. 3
Southern Cross Drive was built during the beginning of Sydney's freeway era, and connects the Eastern Distributor with General Holmes Drive, and features some viaducts over swampy ground located near Kingsford Smith Airport.
General Holmes Drive was an expansion of existing roads around the southeast of Kingsford Smith Airport, the international airport for Sydney. It features a dual tunnel underneath the north-south runways of the airport and located close to Botany Bay. The route connects with The Grand Parade (A1) and also South Western Motorway (M5).
The Grand Parade is a suburban arterial route that runs along the southwestern part of Botany Bay, and passes through mostly residential and commercial precincts, and as a result suffers from traffic congestion.
Suffering traffic congestion similar to The Grand Parade, President Avenue connects The Grand Parade with the Princes Highway, for the journey to Sydney southernmost suburbs and beyond.
The Princes Highway was formed from a string of roads linking Sydney to the Illawarra, and then forming a coastal route to Melbourne and into South Australia. The section covered by A1 is in 2 pieces - between Kogarah and Waterfall in Sydney, and then Kiama near Wollongong through to the Victorian Border. The route is a mix of urban arterial road, dual carriageway and also rural highway.
History:
- Sydney Harbour Tunnel:
- 1987: Construction commenced on the Sydney Harbour Tunnel. 4
- 31 August 1992: The Sydney Harbour tunnel opened to traffic. 5
- Cahill Expressway:
- 24 March 1958: The Cahill Expressway started as a distributor for traffic from the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Eastern Sydney and opened to traffic by the Premier JJ Cahill. 6
- 1 March 1962: The second section of the Cahill Expwy opened to traffic. Extending from the overhead road at Circular Quay to Sir John Young Crescent at Woolloomooloo. 4
- Eastern Distributor:
- 26 June 1997: The Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning granted approval for construction of the proposed Eastern Distributor. 4
- 19 December 1999: Opening of the Eastern Distributor. 7
- Southern Cross Drive:
- 1968-1969: The DMR laid a deep asphalt pavement on Southern Cross Drive, one of the earliest uses of this surface in Australia. 5
- 1990s: Southern Cross Drive widened from 4 to 6 lanes. 4
- General Holmes Drive:
- 1967: Opening of the tunnel under the Kingsford Smith Airport north-south runway on General Holmes Drive at Kyeemagh.
- Princes Highway:
- 7 June 1926: The Princes Highway comes under a federal and state government £ for £ funding scheme, thus recognising the importance of the highway as major route.
- August 1920: Official opening of Princes Highway performed at Warragul in Victoria. The formation of the Princes Highway is from existing roads being renamed, after the visit to Australia in 1920 of the Prince of Wales (later to become King Edward VIII, and after abdicating, the Duke of Windsor).
- 1 July 1928: Princes Highway became a state highway. 8
- 1929: Construction of Tom Uglys Bridge. 5
- 1939: By the middle of the year, 300 miles (or 50% of the then highway) had been paved with bituminous surface.
- 17 October 1987: Duplication of Tom Uglys Bridge complete. Southbound traffic assigned to the new bridge, and the old bridge was assigned to northbound traffic. 5
Sydney to Sylvania
Reassurance Directional Sign:
Distance sign on Eastern Distributor (M1) at Moore Park, December 2013.
Image © Michael Greenslade
Reassurance Directional Sign:
Distance sign on Southern Cross Dr (M1) at Zetland, December 2013.
Image © Michael Greenslade
NEW Supplemental Advance Directional Sign:
Supplemental AD sign on Eastern Dist (M1) at Moore Park, approaching Dacey Av and Lachlan St, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Dacey Avenue & Lachlan Street Interchange:
Eastern Dist (M1) at Moore Park, at the interchange with Dacey Av and Lachlan St, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign on Southern Cross Dr (M1) approaching Wentworth Av at Eastlakes, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Wentworth Avenue:
Southern Cross Dr (M1) at the interchange with Wentworth Av at Eastlakes, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Supplemental Advance Directional Sign:
Supplemental AD sign at Pagewood approaching Mill Pond Rd and Botany Rd, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Reassurance Directional Sign:
Distance sign at Pagewood, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Supplemental Advance Directional Sign:
Supplemental AD Sign at Pagewood approaching Mill Pond Rd and Botany Rd, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Advance Directional Sign:
AD Sign at Pagewood approaching Mill Pond Rd and Botany Rd, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Mill Pond Road & Botany Road Interchange:
Southern Cross Dr (M1) at the interchange with Mill Pond Rd and Botany Rd at Mascot. M1 becomes General Holmes Dr at this location., January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Mill Pond Road & Botany Road Interchange:
Southern Cross Dr (M1) at the interchange with Mill Pond Rd and Botany Rd at Mascot. M1 becomes General Holmes Dr at this location., January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Supplemental Advance Directional Sign:
Supplemental AD sign on General Holmes Dr (M1) after Wentworth Av at Mascot, approaching South Western Mwy (M5), January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Foreshore Road:
General Holmes Dr (M1) at the Foreshore Rd exit at Mascot, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
UPDATED Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign at Mascot approaching South Western Mwy (M5), January 2018.
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign on General Holmes Dr (M1) at Mascot approaching South Western Mwy (M5), January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Supplemental Advance Directional Sign:
Supplemental AD sign on General Holmes Dr (M1) at Mascot approaching South Western Mwy (M5). Note the tunnel under the runway of Kingsford Smith Airport, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW South Western Motorway Interchange:
General Holmes Dr (M1) at Mascot at the South Western Mwy (M5) interchange, January 2018. General Holmes Dr becomes A1 at this location.
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Kyeemagh Avenue Exit:
General Holmes Dr (A1) at Mascot at the Kyeemagh Av exit, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Cooks River:
General Holmes Dr (A1) as it crosses Cooks River via Endeavour Bridge. This is the location where General Holmes Dr becomes The Grand Parade, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
UPDATED Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign at Kyeemah approaching Bestic St, January 2018. Click or tap here for a photo of this location by Michael Greenslade from December 2013.
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Bestic Street:
The Grand Parade (A1) at the junction with Bestic St in Kyeemagh. The D5 designation is for Detour Route 5, which is used when traffic from the M5 needs to be diverted, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign on The Grand Parade (A1) approaching Bay St in Brighton-Le-Sands, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign on The Grand Parade (A1) approaching President Av (A1) and the continuation of The Grand Parade (unnumbered) in Brighton-Le-Sands, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW President Avenue:
Corner of The Grand Parade (A1), President Av (A1) and the continuation of The Grand Parade (unnumbered) in Brighton-Le-Sands. A1 turns right at this location, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign on President Av (A1) approaching Princes Hwy (A1 and A36) at Kogarah. A1 turns left at this junction, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Princes Highway:
Corner of President Av (A1) and Princes Hwy (A1 and A36) at Kogarah. A1 turns left at this junction, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Princes Highway:
Corner of President Av (A1) and Princes Hwy (A1 and A36) at Kogarah. A1 turns left at this junction, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Rocky Point Road:
Corner of Princes Hwy (A1) and Rocky Point Rd at Kogarah, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign at Beverley Park approaching Jubilee Av, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Jubilee Avenue:
Corner of Princes Hwy (A1) and Jubilee Av, Beverley Pk, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Entering Kogarah Bay:
Princes Hwy (A1) as it enters the suburb of Kogarah Bay, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign on Princes Hwy (A1) approaching Park Rd at Kogarah Bay, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Park Road:
Corner of Princes Hwy (A1) and Park Rd at Kogarah Bay, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign at Blakehurst, approaching King Georges Rd (A3) and Stuart St, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW King Georges Road & Stuart Street:
Princes Hwy (A1) at the junction with King Georges Rd (A3) and Stuart St at Blakehurst, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
NEW Georges River:
Princes Hwy (A1) as it crosses Georges River via Tom Uglys Bridge at Blakehurst, January 2018
Image © Paul Rands
2 City of Sydney.
3 Department of Main Roads, The Roadmakers, A History of Main Roads in New South Wales, ISBN 0 7240 0439 4.
4 NSW Parliament.
5 Roads & Maritime Services.
6 Airport Motorway Pty Ltd.
7 Home Traders Real Estate.
8 Main Roads Board, Annual Report, Volume 1, Number 1, September 1929.