Other freeways (no route number)
New South Wales has the largest number and second highest density of motorways in Australia (behind Victoria), with the majority being located in Sydney City or the metropolitan areas.
(Oran Park to Bringelly, freeway grade road as part of the Northern Road Upgrades)
Unnumbered freeway-grade roads
While the Northern Territory does not have any official freeways, parts of the Stuart Highway and the Tiger Brennan Drive are freeway grade roads with grade separate intersections.
'No shield'
Motorway grade roads
Former motorways
In South Australia, expressway may refer to a controlled access highway with no at-grade intersections or a limited access road of slightly lower standard with at-grade intersections at some locations.
Unlike some other states, South Australia only uses the 'M' designation on grade separated freeways
While Tasmania's highway network has been constructed to a high standard, its grade-separated freeway network is limited. In the past, Hobart and Launceston have each had comprehensive transport studies conducted, proposing grade-separated freeways running through and around them. While some of these roads have been constructed, the majority are limited access featuring at-grade intersections. Devonport and Burnie are the only major population centres with freeway standard roads linking each other. There have been repeated proposals in recent years to fully upgrade the Midland Highway to grade-separated freeway standard. [8] [9]
This List is limited to Tasmania's freeway-standard roads.
Victoria has the second largest number (behind New South Wales) and highest density of freeways in Australia, with the majority being located in Melbourne City or the metropolitan areas. While most of Australia has a low population density over a large area, where towns are sparse or located a significant distance from each other; Victoria has towns located throughout the entire state, with large numbers of inhabitants, in both urban and rural areas (many of which are major) such as Ballarat or Bendigo. In addition to the roads listed below, Victoria has a number of dual carriageway standard Highways that are given an "M" designation. Whilst these roads are not officially Freeway standard, many of them may have a number of grade-separated intersections along the route. These routes are not listed below.
Note: "East" and "West" sections of Princes Freeway are officially part of the same freeway and route corridor.
Other freeway grade roads
These roads are officially designated by the Victorian Government as Freeways and may include some freeway signage, but are generally not considered part of the Melbourne freeway network.
On freeways outside of Greater Melbourne, [10] the speed limit varies between 80 km/h and 110 km/h.
Note: "East" and "West" sections of Princes Freeway are officially part of the same freeway and route corridor.
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Western Australia has three named freeways – Kwinana Freeway, Mitchell Freeway, and Graham Farmer Freeway – but in addition has several highways that are in the process of being upgraded to full freeway standard and are considered part of the Perth freeway network. Their designation may remain as a highway though due to state restrictions on heavy vehicles (e.g. road trains) that are prevented by law from travelling on any road classed as a freeway.
Australia's Highway 1 is a network of highways that circumnavigate the country, joining all mainland capital cities except the national capital of Canberra. At a total length of approximately 14,500 km (9,000 mi) it is the longest national highway in the world, surpassing the Trans-Siberian Highway and the Trans-Canada Highway. Over a million people traverse some part of the highway network every day. It is the longest continuing highway in the world as the Pan-American Highway is separated by the Darién Gap and AH1 is separated by the Sea of Japan.
A dual carriageway (BrE) or a divided highway (AmE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are designed to higher standards with controlled access are generally classed as motorways, freeways, etc., rather than dual carriageways.
The Sydney Orbital Network is a 110 kilometre motorway standard ring road around and through Sydney, the capital of New South Wales in Australia. It runs north from Sydney Airport, underneath the CBD to the North Shore, west to the Hills District, south to Prestons and then east to connect with the airport. Much of the road is privately owned and financed by tolls.
Princes Motorway is a 62-kilometre (39 mi) predominantly dual carriage untolled motorway that links Sydney to Wollongong and further south through the Illawarra region to Oak Flats. Part of the Australian Highway 1 network, the motorway is designated route M1.
The Pacific Motorway is a motorway in Australia between Brisbane, Queensland, and Brunswick Heads, New South Wales, through the New South Wales–Queensland border at Tweed Heads.
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms include throughway or thruway and parkway. Some of these may be limited-access highways, although this term can also refer to a class of highways with somewhat less isolation from other traffic.
M1 Pacific Motorway is a 127-kilometre 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.
The Gateway Motorway is a major tolled motorway in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia which includes the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges. The motorway is operated by toll road operator Transurban.
Roe Highway is a 35-kilometre-long (22 mi) limited-access highway and partial freeway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Kewdale with the city's north-eastern and south-western suburbs. The northern terminus is at Reid Highway and Great Northern Highway in Middle Swan, and the southern terminus is with Murdoch Drive at the Kwinana Freeway interchange in Bibra Lake. Roe Highway, in addition to Reid Highway, form State Route 3, a partial ring road around the outer suburbs of the Perth metropolitan area. Roe Highway also forms part of National Highway 94 from Great Eastern Highway Bypass to Great Eastern Highway, and National Highway 95 from Great Eastern Highway to Great Northern Highway.
M2 Hills Motorway is a 19.3-kilometre (12.0 mi) tolled urban motorway in Sydney, New South Wales that is part of the Sydney Orbital Network and the National Highway west of Pennant Hills Road. Owned by toll road operator Transurban, it forms majority of Sydney's M2 route, with the Lane Cove Tunnel constituting the rest of the M2 route.
The M4 Motorway is a 55-kilometre (34 mi) series of partially tolled dual carriageway motorways in Sydney designated as route M4. The M4 designation is part of the wider A4 and M4 route designation, the M4 runs parallel and/or below ground to Great Western Highway, Parramatta Road and City West Link, which are part of route A44.
The M5 Motorway is a 28.8-kilometre (17.9 mi) series of tolled motorways located in Sydney, New South Wales designated as route M5. It is part of the Sydney Orbital Network.
A two-lane expressway or two-lane freeway is an expressway or freeway with only one lane in each direction, and usually no median barrier. It may be built that way because of constraints, or may be intended for expansion once traffic volumes rise. The term super two is often used by roadgeeks for this type of road, but traffic engineers use that term for a high-quality surface road. Most of these roads are not tolled.
Sydney Bypass refers to a number of roads, existing and proposed, that motorists can use to avoid the congested approaches to the Sydney central business district (CBD). The main bypasses are:
This article describes the highway systems available in selected countries.
In New South Wales, Highway 1 is a 1,351-kilometre (839 mi) long route that crosses the state, from the Queensland/New South Wales border near Tweed Heads to the Victorian border near Timbillica. It provides the main coastal route between Brisbane and Melbourne via Sydney. Highway 1 continues around the rest of Australia, joining all mainland state capitals, and connecting major centres in Tasmania.
NorthConnex is a 9-kilometre (5.6 mi) twin-tube motorway tunnel in northern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, signposted as the M11 Tunnel. It acts as a tunnel bypass of the congested Pennant Hills Road, extending or connecting the M1 Pacific Motorway to the M2 Hills Motorway. Owned by NorthWestern Roads (NWR) Group, it is one of the longest road tunnels in Australia, along with the WestConnex Tunnel. It is also the deepest road tunnel in Australia, with more than half of the tunnel 60 metres (200 ft) deep or more, and the deepest point is underneath the Sydney Metro Northwest, about 90 metres (300 ft) below ground.
The M6 Motorway is an under-construction motorway in Sydney, New South Wales consisting of twin, 4-kilometre long tunnels linking the M8 Motorway at Arncliffe to President Avenue at Kogarah. This section started major construction in November 2021 and is expected to open in late 2025. The possibility of future extensions to the south will be accommodated by providing stub tunnels in the project.
The M8 Motorway is a 15.2-kilometre (9.4 mi) tolled dual carriageway motorway in Sydney that is designated the M8 route marker. It consists predominantly of tunnels and includes tunnel connections to the future Western Harbour Tunnel and the M6 Motorway.
Leach Highway has been upgraded to expressway standard