Sydney Orbital Network

The Sydney Orbital Network is a 110 kilometre[1] motorway standard ring road or orbital around the city of 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.

The Sydney orbital network.

History

Planning for this beltway, orbital or ring road began as early as 1962 under the "County of Cumberland scheme" (CCS) and was talked about as far back as 1944. Then, from 1973 to 1989, things started to take shape with new sections opening-up and then further advancing by 1999. In 2007, the Lane Cove Tunnel opened, completing the orbital network.

Motorways that make up the orbital road

The 110 km Sydney orbital consists of several motorways and freeways, they are listed below:

The major sunken/underground sections of the orbital are:

  • Sydney Harbour Tunnel
  • Eastern Distributor
  • M5 East tunnel
  • Epping Tunnel (M2 Hills Motorway, although not really a major tunnel)
  • Sunken Section of the M2 Hills Motorway (The trench between Epping Road)
  • Lane Cove Tunnel

The major elevated sections are:

  • Parts of the Westlink M7
  • Parts of Southern Cross and General Holmes Drive (past the airport)

The widest part of the orbital is the Warringah Freeway approach to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the longest tunnel is the M5 East tunnel, and the largest interchange is the Light Horse Interchange between the M4 and M7, a 4-level stack. It would cost over $30AU to take the whole orbital without exiting once. The average width of the Orbital is 3 lanes in each direction (The M7 and the M5 East are 2 lanes in each direction, the Lane Cove Tunnel is mostly 3 lanes in direction, however the M2, Gore Hill Freeway and M5 are 3 lanes each way while the Warringah Freeway is between 6-8 lanes each way for its short duration of around 3 km).

There is significant upgrade work occurring as part of the WestConnex project, which will see the M5 duplicated (total of 4 lanes each way) along with the addition of new freeways to the Sydney network.

Tolling

The Sydney Orbital Road Network consists of a number of roads built by private companies: tolling is mostly unavoidable when using the road network.

RoadDirectionOpenedToll Collection MethodToll PricingPriceOperator
Eastern Distributor Northbound1999ElectronicFlat rate$7.23Transurban
M5 South Western Motorway Both1992ElectronicFlat rate$4.65Interlink Roads
Westlink M7 Both2005ElectronicDistance based$0.3996/km - capped at $7.99Transurban
M2 Hills Motorway Both1997ElectronicEach direction/ Fixed$7.16 (North Ryde)
$3.58 (Pennant Hills Rd)
$2.53 (Windsor Rd)
$2.12 (Lane Cove Rd)
$3.58 (Herring & Christie Rd)		Transurban
Lane Cove Tunnel Both2007ElectronicFlat rate$3.27Transurban
Sydney Harbour Bridge Southbound1932Electronic[2]Time basedWeekdays $3.00 (9.30am - 4pm) $4 (6.30am - 9.30am, 4pm - 7pm) $2.50 (7pm - 6.30am); Weekends $3 (8am - 8pm) $2.50 (8pm - 8am)RMS
Sydney Harbour Tunnel Southbound1992ElectronicTime basedWeekdays $3.00 (9.30am - 4pm) $4 (6.30am - 9.30am, 4pm - 7pm) $2.50 (7pm - 6.30am); Weekends $3 (8am - 8pm) $2.50 (8pm - 8am)RMS

Intercity highways are linked to the Orbital, moving traffic away from the old busy National Routes. They are:

  • Link to the M1 Pacific Motorway – In 2015 construction of the NorthConnex tunnel under Pennant Hills Road commenced. Due for completion in the third quarter of 2020.
  • Partial link to the M1 Princes Motorway – A proposal that links the New M5 Tunnels and the southern suburbs of Sydney, as the M6 Motorway. The only section which was built is the Captain Cook Bridge and its approaches. Land is still reserved north of this point through Sandringham, and south through the Royal National Park. In October 2017, the government announced it will proceed with Stage 1 of the F6 extension, which will run via two 4 km tunnels linking the New M5 tunnels at Arncliffe to President Avenue at Kogarah.[3] In October 2019, the government announced a name change of the extension to M6 Motorway and also confirmed the completion date of Stage 1 would be pushed back to late 2025, with major construction to begin by early 2022.[4]
  • WestConnex – A proposal that incorporates the M5 duplication project and the M4 East extension of the M4 Motorway to the M5 South Western Motorway, involving a cutting along Parramatta Road, a tunnel from Taveners Hill to St Peters and a surface motorway to the M5 at Arncliffe.
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See also

 Australian roads portal

References
  1. RTA Website Motorways and tolling
  2. RTA Website The Sydney Harbour Bridge will be completely cash free from 11 January 2009.
  3. "F6 Extension - Stage 1". Roads and Maritime Services. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  4. "Sydney's south on the move with the new M6". NSW Government. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.


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