Pacific Motorway (Sydney–Newcastle)

M1 Pacific Motorway is a 127-kilometre (79 mi) motorway linking Sydney to Newcastle via the Central Coast and Hunter regions of New South Wales. Formerly known but still commonly referred to by both the public and the government as the F3 Freeway, Sydney–Newcastle Freeway, and Sydney–Newcastle Expressway, it is part of the AusLink road corridor between Sydney and Brisbane.
Pacific Motorway commences at its southern end at an intersection with Pennant Hills Road in Wahroonga partially shared with ramps from Northconnex, then heads in a northerly direction, immediately passing under the interchange with Pacific Highway and then another interchange with NorthConnex in Sydney's north. It continues north, skirting the western edge of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, running parallel with the railway line until it descends to the Hawkesbury River, crossing at Kangaroo Point in Brooklyn. Immediately north of the river, the Hawkesbury River interchange provides access to Brooklyn and Mooney Mooney before the road climbs. At Mount White there are major heavy vehicle checking stations on both northbound and southbound carriageways, to assess compliance and roadworthiness of trucks.
The motorway passes through the Brisbane Water National Park, and the Calga interchange gives access to Peats Ridge. The motorway then turns east to cross Mooney Mooney Creek by way of the 480 m (1,575 ft) long, 75 m (246 ft) high Mooney Mooney Bridge before it reaches the first major interchange on the Central Coast at Kariong. After Kariong, the motorway continues through rural and semi-rural areas of the Central Coast with interchanges at Ourimbah, Tuggerah, Warnervale and Kiar, near Doyalson. From the Doyalson interchange the motorway continues to the west of Lake Macquarie with interchanges near Morisset, Cessnock, Toronto and West Wallsend.
At the West Wallsend interchange, eastbound traffic travels along Newcastle Link Road (route A15) into Newcastle via Wallsend, and westbound traffic travels along Hunter Expressway (route M15) towards Kurri Kurri and Singleton, while the motorway continues north to eventually terminate at a signalised intersection with Weakleys Drive and John Renshaw Drive, in Beresfield. From here traffic bound for Highway 1 takes John Renshaw Drive and New England Highway eastwards to meet Pacific Highway at Hexham; and Weakleys Drive connects with New England Highway westwards towards Maitland.
Between Wahroonga and Ourimbah the motorway passes through rugged sandstone country, particularly as it descends to and ascends from the Hawkesbury River. This section of the motorway is characterised by deep cuttings and extensive embankments.
Planning for a freeway began in 1952, with the aim of providing a high-speed replacement for a section of Pacific Highway that had been built in 1925–30 which was struggling to cope with the increased traffic. It was planned that the freeway would connect to the freeway systems being proposed for both Sydney and Newcastle, providing a city-to-city freeway link.
The route between Mount White and Kariong was originally planned to be further south than the route as built, with an easier crossing of Mooney Mooney Creek. By the time that construction on this section was to begin, resistance from the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service to the proposed route forced the Department of Main Roads to take a route through Calga, using part of the first stage of a proposed freeway route to Singleton which had been built in the 1960s. That scheme has never been further developed.
The route through the northern part of the Central Coast also changed; instead of passing east of Wyong along the western edge of the Tuggerah Lakes, development in that area forced the freeway to be moved to the west of Wyong, with link roads being constructed to meet Pacific Highway near Doyalson and Tuggerah.
In addition, the freeway was revised to go to the west of Lake Macquarie in the Lower Hunter rather than the east, and thereby bypass Newcastle. One of the reasons for this change of location was the issue of connectivity to Pacific Highway north of Newcastle, as the route of the Newcastle Inner City Bypass, which would have provided a northern extension of the freeway, is problematic in terms of its northern terminus point at Sandgate not easily allowing for a northward freeway-standard route to join to Pacific Highway.
The sections of the Newcastle Inner City Bypass from Pacific Highway at Bennetts Green to Kotara and from Jesmond to Sandgate have since been constructed, while the original freeway route between Belmont and Bennetts Green and then northward to Pacific Highway at Merewether Heights is still reserved from development, with the possibility that it could be constructed in the future.
The major stages in the construction of the freeway were:
It has also undergone several subsequent upgrades:
A number of interim F3 Freeway and National Highway 1 sections existed which have since been downgraded to local roads. These sections were used by freeway traffic until bypasses or new alignments were constructed.
The passing of the Main Roads Act of 1924 through the Parliament of New South Wales provided for the declaration of Main Roads, roads partially funded by the State government through the Main Roads Board (MRB, later Transport for NSW). With the subsequent passing of the Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929 to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, the Department of Main Roads (having succeeded the MRB in 1932) declared Sydney-Newcastle Expressway as a motorway (under plan number 6003), on 7 August 1974, and was re-declared to cover each extension until it reached its northern terminus in Beresfield; the motorway today still retains this declaration (under Motorway 6003).
The freeway at one stage carried the Freeway Route 3 (or F3) designation. This route numbering system, introduced in 1973, was to provide distinctive route numbering and signage for freeways in Sydney and the surrounding areas. However, it was quickly replaced by the National Highway 1 designation in 1974. Despite this, it was still often referred to as the F3 Freeway, with this title being used not only colloquially but on state and federal government documents and also some road signs.
With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, National Highway 1 was replaced with route M1, and Sydney-Newcastle Expressway was officially renamed as M1 Pacific Motorway.
The name is used for the F3 Derby, a rivalry between professional soccer teams from Sydney and Newcastle. The men's derby uses a concrete drilling core from the freeway, while the women's derby uses a piece of guard rail.
Strong public resistance in the 1970s to freeways being constructed within cities and unfavourable outcomes of government inquiries resulted in several freeway proposals in Sydney being abandoned. This included the connecting Lane Cove Valley and North Western Expressways, which means that Pacific Highway (a six-lane urban arterial) continues to be the connecting route between the freeway's southern terminus at Wahroonga and the city centre. In October 2020, NorthConnex opened via an alternative route, connecting the motorway at Wahroonga with the M2 Hills Motorway near the Pennant Hills Road interchange. Through traffic can proceed to the city centre via the Lane Cove Tunnel, or to Canberra and Melbourne via Westlink M7 and Hume Highway.
Originally part of the upgrade of Pacific Highway but now a separate project, an extension of Pacific Motorway is proposed to be constructed between the existing northern end and the Raymond Terrace bypass of Pacific Highway. This section of John Renshaw Drive and Pacific Highway between these two points is currently a major bottleneck during holiday and long weekend periods, with delays lasting hours not uncommon. The layout of the twin bridges across the Hunter River at Hexham was designed primarily for local traffic to and from Newcastle, rather than to connect Pacific Highway north of Newcastle to the freeway.
The Environment Impact Statement (EIS) of the extension was released in July 2021. The extension is expected to be completed by 2028. Construction formally commenced in January 2024.
Other than Pacific Highway, which the motorway has superseded, the motorway is the only direct route between Sydney and the Central Coast, and is the major road route for road transport from Sydney to the Central Coast, Hunter, Mid North Coast, Northern Rivers and Queensland. The motorway thus carries a heavy mix of commuter traffic, road freight transport, and (periodically) holiday and recreational travellers. It often suffers from traffic disruptions, generally associated with traffic volume and congestion related to on-road breakdowns and vehicle accidents, or natural disasters (in particular, bushfire).
In addition traffic on the motorway is frequently affected by vehicle crashes, often involving trucks. These events have encouraged the NSW motoring organisation NRMA to call for more freight to be moved by rail to reduce the number of trucks using the motorway.
Bushfires have caused closure of the motorway and the nearby railway line and Pacific Highway between Sydney and the Hawkesbury River on a number of occasions. One such event of this type was recorded on 21 and 22 January 2007, when a fire broke out in the adjoining Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The fire forced the closure of the two roads and the railway line between Sydney and the Central Coast, resulting in extended disruption to traffic flow.
Because of the frequency of these disruptions to traffic flow, arguments for a second major freeway north from the Sydney metropolitan area continue to be pushed forward. However topography and resultant cost rules this out for practical purposes, other than indirect routes crossing the Hawkesbury in the vicinity of Wiseman's Ferry, some 30 km upstream of the current crossing.
Following criticism of significant delays due to accidents and blockages, the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority announced in 2010 that it was undertaking a $28 million emergency plan for the motorway which involved the development of a 40 km/h contraflow traffic scheme to allow vehicles to travel around an accident.
The Annual average daily traffic (AADT) data from the Roads & Traffic Authority showed a decline in traffic volume on the motorway near its southern end at Wahroonga, from 78,600 in 2002 to about 76,600 in 2005 and then to 75,800 in 2006.
The 2004 AADT figures for other locations on the motorway include 73,400 at Mooney Mooney, just north of the Hawkesbury River bridge, 60,100 near Wyong, 38,500 near Wyee, 27,000 near Freemans Waterhole and 33,000 near its northern terminus at Beresfield.