Pacific Motorway (Sydney–Newcastle)

Planning for the freeway began in 1952, with the aim of providing a high-speed replacement for a section of the 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.[8] By the time that construction on this section was to begin, resistance from the 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 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 the 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 the 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 the Pacific Highway.

The sections of the Newcastle Inner City Bypass from the 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 the Pacific Highway at Merewether Heights is still reserved from development, with the possibility that it could be constructed in the future.

A turnoff sign when it was named a Tollway. Taken from DMR, 1968

The major stages in the construction of the freeway were:[9]

• April 1963 – Construction began on the 7 km (4 mi) section from the Hawkesbury River to Mount White. This was opened as a toll road in December 1965.
• October 1966 – Opening of the Mount White-Calga section (including first section of proposed freeway to link to the New England Highway at Singleton).
• December 1968 – Opening of Berowra to Hawkesbury River section as a toll road.
• October 1973 – Completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, thereby connecting the Berowra-Hawkesbury River and Hawkesbury River-Calga sections. At this time the separate tolls for the sections north and south of the Hawkesbury (20 cents for each section) were abolished and a single toll of 50 cents was introduced. This was collected at the Berowra toll booths, and the Mooney Mooney toll booths were removed. The toll was removed in 1990 when the Federal Government adopted a policy that a condition of its direct funding of the national highways was that they were to be toll free.
• December 1983 – Concurrent opening of the Somersby to Ourimbah and Kangy Angy to Wallarah Creek sections, including the single carriageway motorway link from Wallarah Creek to the Pacific Highway at Doyalson.
• December 1986 – Opening of the 15 km (9 mi) section between Calga and Somersby including the Mooney Mooney Bridge.[10]
• September 1987 – Freeway completed from Wallarah Creek interchange to Mandalong Road interchange.
• March 1988 – Freeway completed from Mandalong Road interchange to Freemans Waterhole interchange.
• March 1989 – Wahroonga to Berowra section opened[11]
• December 1990 – Section from Freemans Waterhole Interchange to Palmer's Road completed.
• December 1993 – Palmer's Road to Minmi section opened.
• December 1997 – "Missing link" between Ourimbah and Kangy Angy opened.
• November 1998 – Final stage of freeway opened between Minmi and John Renshaw Drive, Beresfield.

The motorway has also undergone several upgrades:

• December 2004 – Completion of widening to six lanes of the four-lane sections between the Hawkesbury River and Calga. As part of this work, a new south bound truck weighing station was built at Mount White to replace the facility at Berowra. The station was built on the existing two-lane alignment, and a new three-lane south bound alignment was built for car traffic.
• November 2009 – Completion of widening to six lanes of the four-lane sections between Wahroonga and the Hawkesbury River, resulting in a continuous six lane width over the 43 km (27 mi) from Wahroonga to Kariong.[12] This work was completed in three stages; stage 1 – Cowan to Berowra (3.4 km (2 mi)), completed September 2008, stage 2 – Berowra to Mount Kuring-Gai (4.9 km (3 mi)), completed September 2009) and stage 3 – Mount Kuring-Gai to Mount Colah (4.2 km (3 mi)), completed November 2009.
• August 2013 – road signs were changed to show the new M1 marker and the new name "Pacific Motorway" as part of a new statewide alpha numeric route scheme.[5]
• March 2019 – Replacement of the roundabout on Pacific Motorway, John Renshaw, and Weakleys Drives with a signalised intersection.[6][7]
• May 2020 – Completion of widening the Pacific Motorway to three lanes in each direction from Kariong to Somersby.[13][14][15]
• June 2020 – Completion of Widening the Pacific Motorway to three lanes in each direction from Tuggerah to Doyalson.[16][17][15]
• October 2021 – Extension of extension to Raymond Terrace announced[18]

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.

• Peats Ridge Road, used between 1966 (opening of Mount White–Calga section) and 1986. The road opened to traffic in 1964 and linked the freeway at Calga with the Pacific Highway at Ourimbah until it was bypassed by a more direct alignment. The section between Calga and Peats Ridge was an upgrade of an existing road, while the section from Peats Ridge to Ourimbah was a new grade-separated, two-lane road with long sections of third lane. The section from Somersby to Ourimbah was rebuilt to form part of the Freeway and opened in 1983.[19]
• The section of Pacific Highway between Ourimbah Creek Road and 33.328478°S 151.386916°E / -33.328478; 151.386916 at Kangy Angy, used between 1955 and 1997. Freeway and Pacific Highway traffic shared this section until it was bypassed in 1997.[20][21]
• Motorway Link, used between 1983 and 1988. It was the interim northern end of the freeway and still connects directly to Pacific Highway after the freeway was extended.[22]
• The section of Lenaghans Drive north of Stockrington Road, used 1993 and 1998. It was the interim northern end of the freeway and connected directly to the John Renshaw Drive intersection.[23]

The northbound and southbound cafes at the Warnervale interchange are called "Cafe F3", reflecting the road's former route allocation and its common name.

The freeway at one stage carried the Freeway Route 3 (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 so, route 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 web sites and some road signs. Following the introduction of alphanumeric route markers, the use of the F3 Freeway name was discontinued in favour of the new M1 Pacific Motorway designation.

The turnoff sign at Pennant Hills. Photo taken 2003

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.[24][25]

Originally part of the upgrade of the Pacific Highway but now a separate project, an extension of the Pacific Motorway is proposed to be constructed between the existing northern end and the Raymond Terrace bypass of the Pacific Highway.[27] This section of John Renshaw Drive and the 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 the 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.[28]