West Gate Freeway
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.
West Gate Freeway | |
|---|---|
| West Gate Bridge looking towards Melbourne CBD | |
West end East end | |
| Coordinates |
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| General information | |
| Type | Freeway |
| Length | 13.7 km (8.5 mi) |
| Opened | 1971–1988 |
| Route number(s) | M1 (1996–present) |
| Former route number |
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| Tourist routes | Tourist Drive 2 (1989–present) (Spotswood–Southbank) |
| Major junctions | |
| West end | Princes Freeway Laverton North, Melbourne |
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| East end | CityLink Southbank, Melbourne |
| Location(s) | |
| LGA(s) | |
| Major suburbs / towns | Altona North, Spotswood, Port Melbourne |
| Highway system | |
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.