M5 Motorway (Sydney)

Logo of M5 South-West Motorway

Looking eastbound towards the M8 tunnel portal

The M5 South-West Motorway replaces the Hume Highway (Liverpool Rd) as the primary route from Liverpool to the Sydney CBD. In the 1980s the Hume Highway (National Highway 31) ended at Crossroads, just before Liverpool. This stretch of freeway (Campbelltown to Crossroads) was previously known as South Western Freeway designated F5.

From then on, to proceed to the city, the alternatives were either Liverpool Road (then National Route 31) or Newbridge Road (State Route 54) via Bankstown. Both routes have many traffic lights and are frequently heavily congested.

An initial stretch of the motorway was built in the mid-1980s to link Heathcote Road at Moorebank and the Hume Highway at Casula, including a bridge across the Georges River near Casula. Although built as dual carriageway at near freeway standard, this initial stage included a traffic light controlled, at-grade intersection at Moorebank Avenue.

After years of proposals and political promises, a privately constructed and operated motorway – the M5 South-West Motorway – was built under a "Build-Operate-Transfer" agreement. It was constructed on a publicly owned freeway reservation, between the existing road at Heathcote Road, Moorebank, to King Georges Road, Beverly Hills. Opened in August 1992, it was "completed" months ahead of schedule, even though the proposed link between the Cross Roads and Casula had yet to be constructed, and a third of the "motorway" existed only as single lane road between the Fairford Road interchange and the King Georges Road interchange, remarkably located at the busier city end of the road.

Metroad 5 was introduced in late 1992 along with other Metroads and was signed in February 1993.[2] The South-West Motorway from Beverly Hills to Moorebank and Crossroads to Campbelltown, Hume Highway from Moorebank to Crossroads, were allocated Metroad 5. When the Casula bypass opened in 1994, the Hume Highway section of Metroad 5 was realigned to the bypass and the entire South-West Motorway therefore had the route allocation of Metroad 5.

As part of the construction of the M5 East, the eastern single laned section of the South-West Motorway was widened to a full 4 lanes, finally bringing most of the M5 up to complete freeway standard. However, the at-grade intersection at Moorebank Avenue still remained, posing a constraint on traffic flow. Finally in 2003, the state government opened a new, completely grade separated interchange at Moorebank Avenue, meaning that not only the entire length of Metroad 5 was now freeway standard but also the entire route from Canberra to Sydney, and Melbourne to Sydney, is now high-speed dual carriageway.

With the completion of the Westlink M7 motorway in December 2005, the Roden Cutler Interchange was added at Prestons to allow traffic from the south to access western Sydney or bypass the city altogether.

Between 2012 and 2014, the motorway was widened to three lanes in each direction.[3]

New eastward-facing ramps at Belmore Road were constructed and opened on 5 February 2019.[4]

The M5 South-West Motorway is operated by Interlink Roads, which is 100% owned by Transurban since late 2019.[5][6] Transurban first acquired ownership of Interlink Roads in April 2007, and gained control by acquiring Sunsuper's stake on 18 September 2018.[7][8][9]

The motorway is tolled at Hammondville, with the current toll concession due to expire in December 2026.[10] The motorway is tolled differently to the M5 East. Regular users of the motorway can claim a rebate from the state government for the cost of the toll, excluding GST, as part of a 1995 election commitment by Bob Carr, who eventually won the election and became Premier of New South Wales.

As part of the acquisition of WestConnex by a Transurban-led consortium, the M5 South-West will be transferred to WestConnex ownership when the Interlink Roads concession ends in 2026.[11] The M5 South-West will then be tolled as part of WestConnex together with M5 East.[12]

M5 East Main Tunnel

M5 East Tunnel ventilation stack at Turrella
Overview
Location	Bexley North, New South Wales
Start	Bexley Road, Bexley North
End	Marsh Street, Arncliffe
Operation
Work begun	December 1997
Opened	December 2001
Owner	Transport for NSW
Operator	WestConnex
Traffic	Automotive
Technical
Length	4 kilometres (2.5 mi)
No. of lanes	2 lanes each way
Operating speed	80 km/h (50 mph) (variable)
Tunnel clearance	4.6 metres (15 ft)

After the Casula bypass from the Cross Roads and Casula was completed, the South-West Motorway still abruptly ended at King Georges Road, meaning that motorway traffic was forced onto congested roads to complete the journey into the city. In response, a publicly built link, known as the M5 East Freeway (now referred to as "M5 East Motorway"[17]) was constructed between the existing motorway at King Georges Road and General Holmes Drive (Metroad 1) at Mascot, adjacent to Sydney Airport, and includes two stretches of tunnel, a 4 km long tunnel between Kingsgrove and Arncliffe, with another tunnel under the Cooks River. Construction was commenced in August 1998 and the M5 East was opened in December 2001. Metroad 5 from Beverly Hills to the CBD, originally via Hume and Great Western Highway, was rerouted on the M5 East Freeway and ended at its terminus at General Holmes Drive.[2]

Controversy surrounded the construction of the M5 East concerning the effect of the freeway on the local environment, especially upon parts of Wolli Creek, and the construction of ventilation stacks required to remove pollution from the tunnel, which, ostensibly due to cost, lack filtration systems. Since its opening, the M5 East has attracted criticism for its lack of capacity, being full from the day it was opened, given that the tunnels provide only two lanes of traffic in either direction, and no provision has been made for future expansion. Most congestion problems occur at the western end of the main tunnel, which is long and steep.

An addition lane for slow traffic begins at the western tunnel exit for a short distance, to remove slow and heavy traffic. Had this been extended into the tunnel for a few hundred metres, the capacity would be far greater. These steep entrances to the tunnelled section are also the site of frequent vehicle accidents, usually involving heavy traffic. Pollution and smog inside the tunnel has also been a major concern, after it was revealed that the New South Wales Department of Health advised the New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority that pollution levels in the tunnel exceeded acceptable limits during peak hours of use, and urged motorists using the tunnel to keep their windows up and putting their car's ventilation system on "recirculate".[18]

The M5 East has been beset by many closures, due to accidents and computer failures within the tunnel, which cause gridlock. Between 2002 and 2008 there were six closures attributed to technical and computer failures alone in the tunnel.[19] The Government of New South Wales must pay penalties to the operators of the M5 East, BHBB, due to more traffic using the M5 than originally forecast. The penalties were expected to amount to $13 million by 2011. Some of this increase in demand was caused by the State Government's "Cashback" scheme, which involves public money subsidising motorists for using the adjoining, tolled M5 South-West Motorway.[19]

Until April 2020, the M5 East was operated and maintained by Ventia on behalf of Transport for NSW.[17] On 1 May 2020, WestConnex took over the operations and maintenance of the tunnels.[20]

In 2009, the government released the M5 Transport Corridor Feasibility Study, which investigated strategic options for improving the M5 Motorway corridor. The study identified a preliminary preferred option, being the M5 East Duplication, consisted of duplicating the M5 East and construction of a new connection from the M5 East at Arncliffe to Euston Road, Qantas Drive and Gardeners Road.[21] The strategic concept for the M5 East Duplication was placed on public exhibition between November 2009 and March 2010 for community and stakeholder feedback. Feedback received was used to further develop and refine the scheme. In 2012, the scheme become the King Georges Road Interchange Upgrade and New M5 projects, the second stage of WestConnex. The New M5 would consist of separate tunnels parallel to the M5 East tunnels and would later become known as M8 Motorway.

The M8 tunnels were completed in July 2020. The tunnels connect to the existing M5 East at Kingsgrove and run roughly parallel to M5 East to St Peters Interchange near the airport. The road will connect with the M4-M5 Link, the final stage of WestConnex currently under construction, to form an inner CBD bypass.

Since 5 July 2020, when the M8 tunnels opened, majority of the M5 East between King Georges Road and Marsh Street is tolled by distance travelled as part of the WestConnex.[22] A short section of the M5 East between Marsh Street and General Holmes Drive is toll-free.

The M5 East toll charge consists of:

• a flagfall
• a charge per kilometre

Tolls for heavy vehicles are triple of cars and motorcycles. Toll prices increase by 4% or the consumer price index (CPI) every year, whichever is greater, until 2040, after which CPI will apply.[23]

From its inception in 1992 until alphanumeric route numbers were introduced to New South Wales in 2013, the M5 motorway carried the Metroad 5 shield. However Metroad 5 and the M5 were not synonymous. The original Metroad 5 route commenced at the Hume Highway at Casula, before following the original extent of the M5 South-West Motorway, and then following King Georges Road, Hume Highway and Parramatta Road into the city.[2] In 1994, the Metroad 5 route was moved onto the new Casula Bypass section of the M5, and 1998 it was extended significantly to the southwest via Hume Highway to meet Metroad 9 near Campbelltown (replacing what was previously National Highway 31). Finally in 2001 with the opening of the M5 East Freeway, the Metroad 5 route was changed significantly to follow the new motorway to meet Metroad 1 near the airport instead of travelling to the city.[2]

With the introduction of alphanumeric route numbers in 2013, most of the Metroad 5 route was transitioned to route M5. However the Hume Highway section (Campbelltown to Prestons) has reverted to the updated incarnation of its previous marker, as part of the M31 Hume Motorway.[27]