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Cahill Expressway

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The Cahill Expressway is the first true freeway constructed in Sydney, Australia.[1] It starts from the Eastern Distributor and Cross City Tunnel in Woolloomooloo, and runs through a series of sunken cuttings and tunnels between the Royal Botanical Gardens and The Domain. It then runs on an elevated section across the northern edge of the Sydney CBD at Circular Quay, and then across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to North Sydney. It connects there to the Warringah Freeway.

It is named after the then NSW Premier Joseph Cahill, who also approved construction of the Sydney Opera House. While being a vital link in the Sydney road system, it is generally not well loved by Sydneysiders, who dislike its ugly appearance and its division of the city from its waterfront.

History

The Cahill Expressway under construction in 1955

The expressway was first proposed in 1945 as part of an overall expressway plan for Sydney. Public opposition began when the proposal was first made public in 1948, with the Quay Planning Protest Committee being formed. Despite the opposition, construction on the elevated section of the expressway went ahead in 1955. Funding was provided by the Sydney Council and the NSW Government, and the elevated section was opened on 24 March 1958. Work on the sunken section commenced almost straight away after that, and the additional section was opened on 1 March 1962.[2]

The expressway forms a vital link between Sydney's eastern and northern suburbs, by connecting the Eastern Distributor to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel. It allows travel directly from the airport to the northern suburbs without traffic signals, and reduces pressure on alternate cross-city routes such as Bridge St, Park St and Bathurst St. The traffic on the elevated section was also reduced by half following the opening of the Sydney Harbour tunnel in 1992.

The elevated section is a double deck, with the top deck carrying cars, and the lower deck railway lines and Circular Quay railway station. The station provides easy access to the Sydney Opera House and the Royal Botanical Gardens. The westbound lanes dip underneath the Harbour Bridge approach road, before forming a large Spiral circling the Sydney Observatory to join to the Bridge in a confined space.

The expressway has a pedestrian walkway next to the traffic lanes, where great views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the CBD can be seen. It is accessible by stairs from Macquarie St, or an elevator near Circular Quay railway station. The walkway connects with the Sydney Harbour Bridge walkway. The NSW Roads and Traffic Authority offers tickets to view the New Years Eve fireworks from the Cahill Expressway deck through a competition.[3]

Criticism

The Cahill Expressway was controversial from when it was first proposed. Its elevated nature, proximity to the city and utilitarian appearance meant that when the design of the elevated section was first unveiled to the public, is was described as ridiculous, ugly, unsightly and a monstrosity. This was an early example of freeway revolt.

Sydney Morning Herald writer Elizabeth Farrelly describes the freeway as 'doggedly symmetrical, profoundly deadpan, severing the city from the water on a permanent basis'.[4] The sunken section of the expressway runs between the Royal Botanical Gardens and The Domain, key green spaces in Sydney. The Botanic Gardens Trust describes the expressway as destroying the spatial relationship between the two.[5]

Demolition of the expressway has been proposed in the past, most prominently by former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, who in 1994 offered federal funds in the amount of AU$150 million toward such a project.[6] The then NSW Premier, John Fahey, rejected the proposal however because of the cost and resultant traffic problems. In 2005, the cost of demolition was estimated at more than AU$1 billion, and the traffic problems resulting from the removal of the link would be severe, given the lack of alternate routes. However, it is not without precedent; for example, in San Francisco in 1985, the Board of Supervisors voted to demolish the elevated Embarcadero Freeway which similarly divided the city from its waterfront. It was subsequently demolished after being damaged in the 1989 earthquake.

Jeffrey Smart

One of Australian artist Jeffrey Smart's most famous works is Cahill Expressway (1962). The painting shows a stylised view of the Cahill Expressway tunnel and approach road, with a single man shown at the side of the image. The painting shows the alienation many feel when faced with the infrastructure of large freeways, especially when closely juxtaposed with pedestrian scale areas.[7]

Notes and References

  1. ^ "1998 Special Article - The State of New South Wales - Timeline of History". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  2. ^ "How to Build a Street". Sydney Streets. City of Sydney. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  3. ^ "New Year's Eve in your city". Today. Channel Nine. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  4. ^ "Opening up the Cahill Expressway won't be a dynamic change". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2002-12-03. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  5. ^ "History". Botanic Gardens Trust. NSW Department of Environment and Conservation. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  6. ^ "Cahill Expressway Demolition". Legislative Council Hansard (Extract). Parliament of New South Wales. 1994-09-15. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  7. ^ Corkery, Noel. "Re:Engineering The Landscape" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-01-28.


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