| Eastern Distributor Motorway
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| Route information | |
| Maintained by Roads & Traffic Authority, Airport Motorway Limited | |
| Length: | 6 km (4 mi) |
| Existed: | 19 December 1999 – present |
| History: | Completed in July 2000 |
| Major junctions | |
| North end: | Cahill Expressway, Woollomooloo, Sydney |
| William Street Anzac Parade |
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| South end: | Southern Cross Drive, Kensington, Sydney |
| Highway system | |
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Highways in Australia |
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The Eastern Distributor, also identified as the M1, is a 6-kilometre (4 mi) long motorway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Part of Metroad 1, it links the Sydney central business district (CBD) with the Airport. The centre-piece is a 1.7 km (1.1 mi) tunnel running from Woolloomooloo to Surry Hills.
The motorway is tolled in one direction (northbound) with the toll plazas at Woolloomooloo and at the William Street exit. As of January 2011, the toll for cars/motorbikes is $5.50 (including GST) and $11.00 (including GST) for other vehicles.[1] The toll will be removed in 2048 when the contract held by Airport Motorway Limited (AML) expires.[2][3]
This motorway is part of the 110-kilometre (68 mi) Sydney Orbital Network. For about half its length, it is in a trench inside South Dowling Street. The motorway provides a southbound exit for Lachlan Street/Dacey Avenue, a northbound exit for Cleveland Street, northbound entrance ramp from Cleveland Street and connections to William Street. There are also connection to the Cross City Tunnel, giving motorists direct connections under the city to the Western Distributor. There are also northbound/southbound entry/exits to Moore Park Road and Anzac Parade. Southbound motorists were later found to be entering the Eastern Distributor from the Cross City Tunnel access point and immediately attempting to cross three lanes for the Anzac Parade off-ramp. Permanent traffic obstacles are now in place to prevent this and users are now referred to the Lachlan Street/Dacey Avenue exit instead.
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The need for an Eastern Distributor was first talked about in 1951. It was not until the Bob Carr, state Labor Government in the 1990s that the project was initiated. The motorway was opened in two stages with stage 1 opened to the traffic in December 1999 and stage 2 following in July 2000. The term of private ownership is 48 years after which the road will revert to government ownership.
The project's centrepiece is the 1.7 km (1.1 mi) piggyback tunnel under one of Australia's most densely populated urban areas. Two separate contractors began digging from either end at Surry Hills and Woolloomooloo in January 1998. On 4 December 1998 the two teams were shaking hands in the middle – 30 metres (98 ft) beneath Taylor Square. By March 1999 all digging was complete, after 400,000 cubic metres (523,180 cu yd) of soil, largely Sydney Hawkesbury Sandstone was removed – equal to 40,000 truckloads.
The tunnel's claim to fame at the time it was built was that at 24.5 m (80 ft) across at its widest point, it was the widest tunnel in the world. At 14 m (46 ft) high, the tunnel is also notably large from the ceiling to the floor. A concrete ledge in the middle was added after the original construction phase to separate the northern and southern roadways – with northbound cars using the three top lanes and southbound traffic using three lanes directly beneath. The requirement for three lanes each way within the existing roadway corridor meant a piggyback tunnel was the only choice.
The owner/operators of this tunnel are Transurban who also own/operate the M2 and partly own the M4, M5 and M7 motorways.
| Eastern Distributor | |||
| Northbound exits | Distance to Sydney CBD (km) |
Distance to Sydney Airport (km) |
Southbound exits |
| End Eastern Distributor continues as Cahill Expressway to Hornsby / Newcastle / Brisbane |
-- | 11 | Start Eastern Distributor from Cahill Expressway |
| TOLL PLAZA | Cathedral Street | ||
| TUNNEL EXIT | Paddington, Sydney CBD William Street |
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| Sydney CBD, Paddington William Street |
3.5 | 10.5 | TUNNEL ENTRY |
| Sydney CBD, Parramatta Cross City Tunnel |
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| no exit | 4.5 | 9.5 | Randwick, La Perouse Anzac Parade Moore Park Road |
| TUNNEL ENTRY | 5 | 9 | TUNNEL EXIT |
| START TOLL | 6 | 8 | To Lachlan Street via Waterloo Dacey Avenue South Dowling Street |
| To Cleveland Street via Surry Hills South Dowling Street |
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| TUNNEL | -- | -- | TUNNEL |
| Waterloo, Moore Park South Dowling Street |
8.5 | 5.5 | no exit |
| Kensington, Zetland Link Road |
9 | 5 | End Eastern Distributor continues as Southern Cross Drive to Wollongong / Canberra |
| Start Eastern Distributor continues from Southern Cross Drive |
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