Sydney-Newcastle Freeway

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Sydney-Newcastle Freeway
Length	127 kilometres
General direction:	North-South
From:	Beresfield, Newcastle
To:	Wahroonga, Sydney
Towns along freeway:	Wallsend, Morisset, Wyong, Gosford

Approximate road distances (in kilometres) of towns and cities along the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway from Sydney

The Sydney-Newcastle Freeway is a 127km stretch of motorway linking Sydney to the Central Coast, Newcastle and Hunter regions of New South Wales and is part of the AusLink road corridor between Sydney and Brisbane. It currently carries the National Highway 1 route designation, although as alpha-numeric route numbering is implemented across New South Wales it will be replaced by the M1 designation.

In addition to the National Highway 1 designation, the motorway at one stage carried the Freeway Route 3 (F3) designation. This route numbering system, introduced in the 1970s, was to provide distinctive route numbering and signage for freeways in Sydney and the surrounding areas. Although the route was never signed with the F3 route marker (the numbering system was removed in 80's~90's), the route is still known unofficially as the F3.

[edit] Route

The freeway starts with the junction of the Pacific Highway and Pennant Hills Road at Pearce's Corner, Wahroonga in Sydney's north. From here it goes north, skirting the western edge of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park before meeting the Hawkesbury River at Brooklyn. After crossing the Hawkesbury the motorway passes through the Brisbane Water National Park, crossing Mooney Mooney Creek with an impressive 480m long and 75m high bridge before reaching the first main interchange on the Central Coast at Kariong.

Southbound on the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway, approaching the Mooney Mooney Bridge.

Newcastke Link Road bridge over Freeway

After reaching Kariong the motorway continues through rural and semi-rural areas of the Central Coast with interchanges provided at Ourimbah, Tuggerah, Warnervale and also Kiar, near Doyalson. From the Doyalson interchange the freeway continues to the west of Lake Macquarie with interchanges near Morisset, Cessnock, Toronto and Cardiff.

After the Cardiff interchange a link road takes traffic into Newcastle via Wallsend while the motorway continues north to reach its finish with a roundabout at the junction of Weakleys Drive and John Renshaw Drive, Beresfield. From here the National Highway route continues to Brisbane via the New England Highway (accessed via Weakleys Drive), with traffic on Highway 1 taking John Renshaw Drive and the New England Highway eastbound to meet the Pacific Highway at Hexham.

[edit] Interchanges

The freeway has the following interchanges (travelling south to north):

Name	Road name	Route number	Focal points	Additional points	Direction
Pearce's Corner START FREEWAY	Pennant Hills Rd		Parramatta Canberra		Left turn off/left and right turn on
	Pacific Highway		Sydney Hornsby		South off/North on
	Ku-ring-gai Chase Road		Mt Colah Bobbin Head	Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park Hornsby Hospital	North off/South on
Windybanks	Pacific Highway		Berowra		North off/South on
Berowra	Pacific Highway		Berowra Hornsby		South off/north on
Hawkesbury River	Pacific Highway		Mooney Mooney Brooklyn		Both directions
Mt White	Pacific Highway		Mt White		Both directions
Calga			Calga Peats Ridge	Wollombi Cessnock Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park (formerly Calga Springs Sanctuary) Glenworth Valley Horse Riding	Both directions
Kariong	Central Coast Highway		Gosford Woy Woy Terrigal	Australian Reptile Park Gosford Hospital	Both directions
Somersby	Peats Ridge Rd		Central Mangrove Peats Ridge		Both directions
Ourimbah	Pacific Highway		Ourimbah Palmdale	Australian Rainforest Sanctuary University of Newcastle - Central Coast Campus	Both directions
Tuggerah			Wyong The Entrance Yarramalong	Tuggerah Berkeley Vale	Both directions
Freeway service centre - Jilliby				Caltex service station McDonald's Coolabah Tree Cafe Oliver's Real Food	Both directions
Warnervale	Sparks Rd		Wyee Toukley	Wyong Hospital Gorokan<Noraville>	Both directions
Doyalson	Motorway Link		Budgewoi Swansea Charlestown	East Lake Macquarie including Belmont	North off/south on
Morisset	Mandalong Rd		Morisset Cooranbong Doyalson (southbound only)	West Lake Macquarie	Both directions
Freemans Waterhole	Freemans Drive		Kurri Kurri Cessnock	Hunter Valley Vineyards	North off/south on
Awaba	Palmers Rd		Toronto		Both directions
West Wallsend	George Booth Dr		Cardiff		North off/south on
Newcastle	Newcastle Link Rd		Wallsend Newcastle Cardiff (southbound only)		North & south off/south on
Blackhill	On: Blackhill Rd Off: Lenaghans Dr		On: Maitland Taree Off: Minmi Blackhill		South off/north on
Beresfield roundabout END FREEWAY	John Renshaw Dr		Kurri Kurri Cessnock		Left off/right on
		To Pacific Highway	Newcastle Taree Brisbane	Newcastle Airport Service centre (BP service station, Hungry Jacks)	Right off/left on
	Weakleys Dr	To New England Highway	Maitland Tamworth Brisbane		Straight off/on

[edit] History

Planning began for the freeway in the 1950s, with the aim of providing a high-speed replacement to a section of the Pacific Highway which was built in the 1920s and was struggling to cope with the increased traffic volume. Furthermore it was planned that the freeway would connect to freeway systems being proposed for both Sydney and Newcastle, providing a city-to-city freeway link. However, due to several reasons the goal and route of the freeway changed significantly so that today it serves to bypass Newcastle rather than go into it.

Firstly, the route between Mount White and Kariong was originally planned to go further east than the current route with an easier crossing of Mooney Mooney Creek. By the time that construction was to begin on this section resistance from the National Parks and Wildlife Service to the proposed route forced the government to take a route through Calga which at the time would have formed part of a route to Singleton.

The route through Wyong Shire changed as well; instead of passing along the western edge of the Tuggerah Lakes development in that area resulted in the freeway moving further west with a link road being constructed to meet the Pacific Highway near Doyalson.

Perhaps the most significant effect on the freeway's route and its connections was the anti-freeway movement of the 1970s. Strong public resistance to freeways being constructed within cities along with less than favourable results from government inquiries resulted in unconstructed freeway projects being cancelled and those under construction being revised or cut short. For the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway, this meant that the connecting Lane Cove Valley and North-Western Freeways in Sydney would not be built - forcing traffic to travel along the Pacific Highway between Wahroonga and the city. In addition, the freeway would now go to the west of Lake Macquarie rather than the east and bypass Newcastle. Sections of State Route 123, one of the two expressway routes that the freeway would have connected to in Newcastle, have been constructed (with calls to complete the whole route between Bennetts Green and Sandgate), while the freeway route between Belmont and Bennetts Green and the connecting expressway route to Merewether are still reserved with the possibility that they could be constructed in the future.

The major stages in the construction of the freeway are:

• April 1963 - Construction begins on a 7km section of dual carriageways from the Hawkesbury River to Mount White. This section was opened as a toll road in 1965. The toll was removed around 1990 when the Federal Government decreed that all National Highways should be toll free.
• Late 1960's - Opening of Berowra to Hawkesbury River section as a toll road.
• Mid 1970's - Opening of the current 6 lane Hawkesbury River bridge. At this time the toll from each of the north and south sections open (20 cents for each section) was combined with the new bridge (which linked both sections) for a toll of 50 cents. This was collected at the existing Berowra toll booths.
• December 1983 - Opening of the Somersby to Wallarah Creek section.
• December 1986 - Opening of a 15 km section between Calga and Somersby
• December 1988 - Berowra to Wahroonga section opened
• December 1990 - Freeway completed from Wallarah Creek to Palmer's Road
• December 1993 - Palmer's Road to Minmi section opened
• December 1997 - "Missing link" between Ourimbah and Kangy Angy opened
• December 1998 - Final stage of freeway opened between Minmi and John Renshaw Drive, Beresfield

[edit] Connections

At the Sydney end, the freeway connects with Sydney's Metroad system. Traffic heading towards the city travels southbound on the Pacific Highway as Metroad 1 while traffic heading to the west and south of Sydney travels along Pennant Hills Road as Metroad 7. Both of these roads can be heavily congested during peak hour, although with the construction of the Westlink M7 traffic on Metroad 7 enjoys motorway conditions after joining the M2 Motorway at the Pennant Hills Road junction. In addition, the Pacific Highway continues north from Wahroonga towards Doyalson as State Route 83.

After leaving Sydney, there are interchanges providing access to the Pacific Highway near Berowra, Brooklyn, Mount White, Calga, Kariong and Ourimbah. The link road from the Doyalson interchange carries the State Route 111 designation, with the Pacific Highway carrying this designation from its junction with the link road to Hexham.

Interchanges as Calga and Somersby take traffic onto Peats Ridge Road - which served as a temporary route between Calga and Ourimbah while that section of the freeway was being constructed - and a Tourist Drive to Cessnock via Wollombi.

The Freeman's Waterhole interchange provides access to State Route 82, a route from Freeman's Waterhole to the New England Highway at Branxton via Cessnock, while the Cardiff interchange links to State Route 128 which runs between Newcastle and the Cessnock coalfields.

At the northern end of the freeway, John Renshaw Drive takes traffic westbound to Kurri Kurri and Cessnock as State Route 132 or eastbound towards the New England (National Highway 15) and Pacific Highways as Highway 1 while Weakleys Drive takes northbound traffic to the New England Highway.

[edit] Upgrades and maintenance

Core sampling in preparation for the F3 to Branxton link road

Plans are currently underway for extensions at both ends of the F3 (see external links, below):

• A freeway standard Sydney Bypass has been intended as part of the National Highway system for decades. At the southern end, a mostly underground route will link the freeway at Pearce's Corner, Wahroonga with the M2 Motorway near the Pennant Hills Road interchange. This will provide the motorway grade "missing link" between the F3 and the Sydney Orbital Motorway that was originally to be provided by the cancelled Lane Cove Valley Freeway section of the North West Freeway.
• At the northern end, a freeway link will be constructed from the Newcastle Link Road interchange at Seahampton to the New England Highway at the Belford Bends Deviation west of Branxton. This will allow traffic to bypass Maitland and its surrounding suburbs.
• As part of the upgrade of the Pacific Highway between Hexham and the New South Wales/Queensland border a freeway link will be constructed between the F3 near Black Hill and the Raymond Terrace Bypass. This section is currently a major bottleneck during the summer months, and certain long weekend periods, with delays lasting hours not uncommon. Northbound traffic is reduced to one lane before the Hexham Bridge, and southbound traffic must pass through a stop light at the south end of the Hexham Bridge. The Hexham Bridges are 3 lanes northbound, and 2 southbound, however this capacity is wasted due to the poor southern interchange.
• The freeway is mostly 4 lanes in width on the northern section. South of the Gosford exit at Kariong, the Mooney Mooney Bridge and its approaches were built as 6 lanes. The Hawkesbury River Bridge and its approaches were built as 6 lanes. The Southern extension from Berowra to Wahroonga was built as 6 lanes wide for a few kilometers at the southern end, with most of this section being 4 lanes wide.
• In 2004 - Widening of approx 2.4km of road from 4 to 6 lanes completed between Hawkesbury River Bridge and Mooney Mooney Bridge. The freeway is now 6 lanes wide over this whole section.
• In 2006 - Proposed widening of the remaining 14km 4 lane section south of the Hawkesbury River. This will give the whole southern section of the freeway from Wahroonga to Kariong, 6 lanes over 43km.

[edit] See also

• Highways in Australia
• List of freeways in Australia
• List of highways in New South Wales

[edit] External links

• Sydney-Newcastle Freeway at Ozroads Detailed site containing many existing and historical photos.
• Sydney-Newcastle Freeway Summary
• NSW RTA F3 Real-Time Traffic Cameras
• F3 to Sydney Orbital route study
• F3 to Branxton link-or-sink group
• F3 to Pacific Highway route study