West Gate Freeway

West Gate Freeway

West Gate Bridge looking towards Melbourne CBD
West Gate Freeway is located in Melbourne
West end
West end
East end
East end
Coordinates
General information
TypeFreeway
Length13.7 km (8.5 mi)[1]
Opened1971–1988
Route number(s) M1 (1996–present)
Former
route number
  • National Route 1 (1978–1996)
  • Freeway Route 82 (1971–1988)
Tourist routes Tourist Drive 2 (1989–present)
(Spotswood–Southbank)
Major junctions
West end Princes Freeway
Laverton North, Melbourne
 
East end CityLink
Southbank, Melbourne
Location(s)
LGA(s)
Major suburbs / townsAltona North, Spotswood, Port Melbourne
Highway system
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The West Gate Freeway is a major freeway in Melbourne, the busiest urban freeway and the busiest road in Australia, carrying upwards of 200,000 vehicles per day. It links Geelong (via the Princes Freeway) and Melbourne's western suburbs to central Melbourne and beyond. It is also a link between Melbourne and the west and linking industrial and residential areas west of the Yarra River with the city and port areas. The West Gate Bridge is a part of the freeway.

It is a fully managed freeway with a complete 'Freeway Management System' that is dynamically linked and adaptive to the entire M1 corridor. This includes the 2008 re-design of a substantial section. Overall, the freeway has between 4-6 lanes in each direction, with a maximum of 12 lanes at one point in its width.

  1. ^ "West Gate Freeway" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 19 December 2021.