Cahill Expressway is an urban freeway in Sydney and was the first freeway constructed in Australia,[3] first opening to traffic in 1958. It links the southern foot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, over an elevated roadway and through a series of sunken cuttings and tunnels between the Royal Botanic Garden and The Domain, to Woolloomooloo in Sydney's inner-eastern suburbs.
Cahill Expressway starts at the interchange with Bradfield Highway and Western Distributor - the former southern toll plaza for Harbour Bridge traffic - and heads east as a four-lane, dual-carriageway expressway on an elevated section 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.[4] 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 Eastern Distributor. Entry ramps for the northwestern end of Cahill Expressway also exist heading southbound along parts of Warringah Freeway in North Sydney and Bradfield Highway across the Harbour Bridge.
The expressway forms a link between Sydney's eastern and northern suburbs, by connecting Eastern Distributor to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel. It allows travel directly from the 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.
The elevated section is a double deck, with the top deck carrying cars, and the lower deck railway lines and Circular Quay railway station. The station provides easy access to the Sydney Opera House and the Royal Botanical Gardens. The westbound lanes dip underneath the Harbour Bridge approach road, before forming a large spiral circling Fort Street Public School to join to the Bridge in a confined space.
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.[5]
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'.[6] 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.[7]
Demolition of the expressway has been proposed in the past, 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.[8][9] The then NSW Premier, John Fahey, rejected the proposal because of the cost and the resultant traffic problems.[10][11]
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 sunken section commenced almost straight away after that, and the additional section was opened on 1 March 1962.[12]
The passing of the Main Roads Act of 1924[13] 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 (later the Department of Main Roads, and eventually Transport for NSW). With the subsequent passing of the Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929[14] to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, the Department of Main Roads (having succeeded the MRB in 1932) declared Main Road 592 along Cahill Expressway, from the western boundary of Macquarie Street to the junction with Sir John Young Crescent in Woolloomooloo, on 2 December 1964;[2] 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.[15] The southeastern end of Main Road 592 was truncated back to its current terminus at Woolloomooloo on 8 August 2003.[16] Despite its role as a grade-separated expressway, the road is not officially gazetted as one by Transport for NSW classification, and is still considered today to be a main road.[17]
The passing of the Roads Act of 1993[18] 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.[17]
Cahill Expressway was signed 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.[19]
As part of the Eastern Distributor works in the late 1990s, a landscaped canopy was built over the southeastern end of Cahill Expressway (where it meets Eastern Distributor) near the Art Gallery of New South Wales.[20]
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.[23]
Exits and interchanges
Cahill Expressway is entirely contained within the City of Sydney local government area.
Northwestern terminus of expressway at partial trumpet interchange Entrance and exit north to Bradfield Highway only, no access south to Western Distributor
^ ab"Main Roads Act, 1924-1963". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 137. National Library of Australia. 4 December 1964. p. 3910. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
^"History". Botanic Gardens Trust. NSW Department of Environment and Conservation. Archived from the original on 26 February 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2007.
^"Cahill Expressway Demolition". Legislative Council Hansard (Extract). Parliament of New South Wales. 15 September 1994. Archived from the original on 20 March 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2007.
^"$50m beautification of Cahill, Quay defended". The Canberra Times. Vol. 70, no. 21, 737. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 22 October 1994. p. 6. Retrieved 27 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"State Roads Act". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 7. National Library of Australia. 22 January 1993. pp. 223–30. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
^"Roads Act 1993"(PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 124. Legislation NSW. 8 August 2003. p. 7885. Archived(PDF) from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
M1 (2013–present)
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