# Cahill Expressway

Cahill Expressway is an urban freeway in Sydney and was the first freeway constructed in Australia, with the first section, from the Bradfield Highway to Conservatorium Place being opened to traffic in March 1958. It links the southern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, via an elevated roadway, a tunnel and cuttings between the Royal Botanic Garden and The Domain, to Woolloomooloo in Sydney's inner-eastern suburbs.
It is named after the then New South Wales Premier John Joseph Cahill, who also approved construction of the Sydney Opera House.

## Route

The Cahill Expressway starts at the interchange with the Bradfield Highway and heads east as a four-lane road on the upper level of a two-level viaduct across the northern edge of the Sydney CBD at Circular Quay, before turning south at the interchange with the Sydney Harbour Tunnel and then southeast into the 371-metre (1,217 ft) Domain Tunnel, located underneath the Royal Botanic Garden. It emerges soon afterwards in a cutting, then enters another tunnel under The Domain, before ending at the interchange with Cowper Wharf Road and continuing south as the Eastern Distributor. Entry ramps for the northwestern end of the Cahill Expressway also exist heading southbound along parts of the Warringah Freeway in North Sydney and the Bradfield Highway across the Harbour Bridge.
At the western end of the Cahill Expressway traffic reaches the Bradfield Highway to travel north via a tunnel under the Bradfield Highway then an anti-clockwise spiral which climbs up to the level of the Bradield highway, traversing 270° in doing so.
The expressway forms a link between Sydney's eastern and northern suburbs, by connecting the Eastern Distributor to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel. It allows travel directly from Kingsford-Smith Airport to the northern suburbs without traffic signals. The traffic on the elevated section was reduced by half following the opening of the Sydney Harbour tunnel in 1992, but has increased again since then as the increased road capacity as a result of the construction of the tunnel has encouraged greater car usage.
The elevated section is on a double deck viaduct, with the top deck carrying the Cahill Expressway, and the lower deck the City Circle railway and Circular Quay railway station.
The expressway has a pedestrian walkway next to the traffic lanes, where great views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the CBD can be seen. It is accessible by stairs from Macquarie Street, or an elevator near Circular Quay railway station. The walkway connects with the Sydney Harbour Bridge walkway. The Roads & Traffic Authority offers tickets to view the New Year's Eve fireworks from the Cahill Expressway deck through a competition.
Former The Sydney Morning Herald writer Elizabeth Farrelly described the freeway as 'doggedly symmetrical, profoundly deadpan, severing the city from the water on a permanent basis'. The sunken section of the expressway runs between the Royal Botanical Gardens and The Domain, key green spaces in Sydney. The Botanic Gardens Trust described the expressway as destroying the spatial relationship between the two. However this ignores the fact that, notwithstanding the almost constant closure of parts of The Domain to public access because of various private entertainments, there is unfettered public access to it, whereas the Botanic Gardens by contrast are heavily fenced, so that without the expressway there would still be limited movement opportunities between the two.
Demolition of the elevated section of the expressway has been proposed, most prominently by former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, who in 1994 offered federal funds in the amount of A$150 million toward such a project. The then NSW Premier, John Fahey, rejected the proposal because of the cost and the resultant traffic problems. Keating's proposal failed to take into account the necessity of the expressway for traffic, and the fact that even with removal of the expressway, the City Circle railway and Circular Quay station would remain, and need to remain because of the key role they play in Sydney's public transport system.

## History

The expressway was first proposed in 1945 as part of an overall expressway plan for Sydney. Public opposition began when the proposal was first made public in 1948, with the Quay Planning Protest Committee being formed. Despite the opposition, construction on the elevated section of the expressway went ahead in 1955. Funding was provided by the Sydney Council and the NSW Government, and the elevated section was opened on 24 March 1958. Work on the second section, from Conservatorium Place through the Domain Tunnel to Cowper Wharf Road commenced almost straight away after that, and the additional section was opened on 1 March 1962.
The passing of the Main Roads Act 1924 through the Parliament of New South Wales provided for the declaration of roads as state highways, trunk roads and ordinary Main Roads. Roads proclaimed as main roads were partially funded by the State government through the Main Roads Board (later the Department of Main Roads, and eventually Transport for NSW). Under the subsequent Main Roads (Amendment) Act 1929 to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, the Department of Main Roads (which succeeded the MRB in 1932) proclaimed Main Road 592 along Cahill Expressway, from the western boundary of Macquarie Street (ie the eastern end of the elevated section) to the junction with Sir John Young Crescent in Woolloomooloo, on 2 December 1964; this was extended west along the elevated section across Circular Quay to meet Bradfield Highway at Millers Point (and also extended south along Sir John Young Crescent, Bourke, Crown and Campbell Streets to Oxford Street at Darlinghurst) on 22 January 1993. The southeastern end of Main Road 592 was truncated to its current terminus at Woolloomooloo on 8 August 2003. Despite its role as a grade-separated expressway, the road is not officially gazetted as one by Transport for NSW, and is still considered today to be a main road.
The passing of the Roads Act of 1993 updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, Cahill Expressway retains its declaration as Main Road 592.
The Cahill Expressway was signedposted as part National Route 1 from its southeastern end to the interchange with the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, when the latter opened in 1992; this was replaced with Metroad 1 in 1993. With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, Metroad 1 was replaced by route M1.
As part of the Eastern Distributor works in the late 1990s, a landscaped canopy was built over the southeastern end of the Cahill Expressway (where it meets the Eastern Distributor) near the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
In June 2013, the expressway was temporarily renamed Tim Cahill Expressway in honour of Socceroo Tim Cahill, ahead of the Socceroos' 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Iraq.
Since 2022, Ventia has operated the Domain Tunnel on behalf of Transport for NSW.

## Jeffrey Smart painting

One of Australian artist Jeffrey Smart's most famous works is Cahill Expressway (1962). The painting shows a stylised view of the Cahill Expressway tunnel and approach road, with a single man shown at the side of the image. The painting shows the alienation many feel when faced with the infrastructure of large freeways, especially when closely juxtaposed with pedestrian-scale areas.

## Exits and interchanges

The Cahill Expressway is entirely contained within the City of Sydney local government area.
| Location | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
| Millers Point | 0.0 | 0.0 | Bradfield Highway – North Sydney, Lane Cove | Northwestern terminus of expressway at partial trumpet interchange Entrance and exit north to the Bradfield Highway only, no access south to Western Distributor |
| Sydney | 1.1 | 0.68 | Sydney Harbour Tunnel (M1) – North Sydney, Lane Cove | Southbound entrance and northbound exit only, route M1 continues south along the Cahill Expressway |
| Sydney | 1.2 | 0.75 | Conservatorium Road – Sydney CBD | Northbound entrance and southbound exit only, no access to Sydney Harbour Tunnel |
| Sydney | 1.2– 1.6 | 0.75– 0.99 | Domain Tunnel | Domain Tunnel |
| Sydney | 1.4 | 0.87 | Shakespeare Place – Sydney CBD | Southbound entrance only |
| Sydney | 1.7 | 1.1 | Sir John Young Crescent (north) – Woolloomooloo | Northbound entrance only |
| Woolloomooloo | 2.1 | 1.3 | Cowper Wharf Road (east) – Woolloomooloo, Potts Point Sir John Young Crescent (south) – Woolloomooloo, Darlinghurst | Northbound entrance and southbound exit only |
| Woolloomooloo | 2.1 | 1.3 | Eastern Distributor (M1) – Wollongong, Canberra | Southwestern terminus of expressway, route M1 continues south along Eastern Distributor |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Incomplete access Route transition |||||