The Western Motorway - usually known as the M4 - is one of Sydney's most important roads; it is certainly one of the busiest roads in Australia. Its main purpose is to connect the fast-growing corridor of new urban development in the western suburbs of Sydney with central Sydney. However, the freeway fails in this purpose, as it stops about 12km short of downtown Sydney and unceremoniously dumps the traffic onto congested, undivided, badly maintained Parramatta Road, an ugly arterial fringed by car saleyards, discount bedding shops and working-class pubs.

However, where the M4 does succeed is in connecting the outer western suburbs and the Blue Mountains to Parramatta, Sydney's 'second downtown'. Parramatta is a major shopping, entertainment and employment centre in western Sydney.

The M4 has seen its fair share of controversy. The first section opened between Blacktown and Penrith in the early 1970's. This section still goes through pleasant rural land, to the south of the main suburban corridor. The next major section to open was in 1983, between Mays Hill and Strathfield. This section is one of the few elevated freeways in Australia; much of it sits on conrete piers through suburbs such as Silverwater and Rosehill.

In 1993, the most recent section opened, connecting these two earlier built sections. This was New South Wales' first privately built, owned and operated stretch of road. The tollway company, State Wide Roads, was given the right to toll the Western Motorway, however, it chose to put the tollgates near the eastern end of the tollway in Silverwater. This section had been free to use for over ten years, and the decision to charge for use of previously free roadway caused considerable anger and confusion amongst the people of western Sydney.

The M4 has recently been widened along 90% of its length from four lanes to six lanes. This was a much needed upgrade on a stretch of four lane highway that was long overdue. Roadworks were well behind schedule - it took nearly four years to complete, when it was scheduled for two and a half years - and this caused considerable consternation with commuters as well.

However, by no means is the M4 complete. The original plans called for the freeway to go into central Sydney, however every time plans have been considered, inner city NIMBY's have shot it down. The Liberal Party, at the last state election, floated a proposal for a 7km-long tunnel from the freeway's current beginning in Strathfield to Lilyfield to the east, where it would meet up with the short freeway standard road leading to the Glebe Island Bridge.

Below is a guide to the various exits and interchanges along the M4. On the left, you will find distances from the easternmost end of the motorway. These are not entirely accurate, being subject to the vagaries of my odometer. You will then find the route markers and control cities listed on signs; and any services or attractions signed on the M4 on the far right.

All inaccuracies are my fault; comments and suggestions are eagerly solicited at [email protected].

Distance (Westbound)	WESTBOUND (Read Down)	EASTBOUND (Read Up)	OTHER - Services, Attractions, etc.
0km	START MOTORWAY	END MOTORWAY
1km	NO EXIT	CONCORD ROAD Concord Strathfield	Concord
2km	HOMEBUSH BAY DRIVE Hurstville Homebush Bay Ryde		Sydney Markets
3km	NO EXIT	HILL ROAD Homebush Bay
5km	SILVERWATER ROAD Bankstown Silverwater
6km	TOLL - $1.50 (Passenger Cars)
8km	JAMES RUSE DRIVE Parramatta Hornsby Milperra	JAMES RUSE DRIVE Hornsby	Rosehill Racecourse
10km	NO EXIT	CHURCH STREET Parramatta Milperra
11km	BURNETT STREET Merrylands West	NO EXIT	Westmead
12km	COLEMAN STREET	NO EXIT	Westmead and New Childrens'
14km	CUMERLAND HWY Hornsby North Coast Liverpool South Coast		Westmead and New Childrens'
19km	PROSPECT HIGHWAY Blacktown Seven Hills Parklea		Blacktown
21km	RESERVOIR ROAD Blacktown		Eastern Creek Raceway
22km	SERVICE CENTRE McDonald's Caltex Red Rooster	SERVICE CENTRE McDonald's Caltex
23km	WALLGROVE ROAD Rooty Hill Richmond Badgerys Creek	WALLGROVE ROAD Rooty Hill Liverpool	Wonderland Sydney Australian Wildlife Park
27km	ERSKINE PARK ROAD ROPER ROAD St Clair Erskine Park Mount Druitt	NO EXIT
31km	MAMRE ROAD St Clair Erskine Park St Marys	MAMRE ROAD St Marys Mount Druitt St Clair
37km	THE NORTHERN ROAD Penrith Windsor Campbelltown		International Regatta Centre Whitewater Stadium
41km	MULGOA ROAD Penrith Wallacia Richmond		Panthers Museum of Fire
43km	RUSSELL STREET Emu Plains		Knapsack Bridge
46km	END MOTORWAY	START MOTORWAY

© Bradley Torr. Last updated 14-Sep-1999.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws