As a 16 year old from Wyong who gained a traineeship in Wollongong I started driving this route regularly in 64. I saw all of the earlier sections of this progressively take the load from a very much overpopulated Pacific Highway especially around the Hawkesbury. The new bridge plus the remarkable works at Jolls Bridge are something engraved in my memory. People who did not encounter the Pitt Street-like traffic around Hawkesbury on Sundays on the old road have nothing to whinge about today.
I was born in '66 in Gosford, we had a farm at Somersby. My father worked on the F3 freeway project in the '60's.He had a Powdermans licence ,explosives, and was one of the guys that planted the nitropyll in the long bore holes that you see in the rockface.
The amount of idiots with their poor manners and freeway overtaking lane ettiquet using this very costly piece of infrastructure is damning. Not capable of appreciation the animals. Great gem you posted here.
Only 35 years to build a highway from Sydney to Beresfield - impressive. But 35 or more years just to build grade separated dual carriageway from there to Raymond Terrace....? All those poor Sydney travellers stuck for hours in those queues...
Hours we could have spent bubbling away in our second house spa in avoca... sighs Sweetie lets just buy a place in Noosa like Mckenzies from next door. We shall get a charter plane and do away with this traffic Honey for the last time im a chartered accountant from wahroonga not a drug dealer from palm beach quit that accent and make me a cucumber sandwich at once - oh great now im doing it
Clearly you never experienced the traffic jams that occurred prior to the section of the F3 leading to Central Coast towns was built. It would be an absolute nightmare on the sometimes double lane Pacific Highway. That was in the 60's when Sydney's population was less than 3 million and there were proportionally fewer faamilies with multiple vehicles.
My grandmother Doreen's father used to own coast of Lake Munmorah where the power station is. He was forced to sell at "market value" by the government. Thankfully, the future proved that land to be "worthless", so our family's investment wasn't stolen, and no-one really benefited from the theft.
2:34 "Cost $80 million dollars" Nowadays $80 million wouldn't even cover the planning, environmental & cultural studies and all the associated red tape
It wasn't a freeway to start with. A toll was paid at Berowra . The toll booths can be seen at the opening day. It used to take 3 to 3.5 hours on the old Pacific Highway. Only 1.5 hrs now. Was quicker to take the steam train 2.5 hours.
Yes that's right but the very first toll both were built on the north side of the Hawsbury River Bridge. The office for that tolling station ( as seen in this video ) are still there and are used as an ambulance station and accident emergency vehicle station. It's the brown brick building on the left side after the bridge heading north. Of course the toll booths were demolished. New booths and a tolling station were built at Berowra as you rightly stated.
@@markdrennan5723 I wouldn't have thought there would be tolls there. That part of the free way was built later. The original toll road is parallel to that part of the freeway (old Pacific Highway). Used to be a service station at the top of the hill where Pie in the Sky is now.
The F3 will always be a part of us and has done so much. I always felt we got one thing wrong with the F3 and that's how it stops short of both Newcastle and Sydney itself and I'm not talking about the current section being built to Raymond Terrace but no decent road into Newcastle from the F3 and of course the Sydney end stopping well short creating traffic issues onto other roads. The connection to the M2 is a band aid and really only suits west and towards Canberra. Now onto another topic. The current "F3" has served a wonderful purpose but we really need more than one road that connects Sydney one of Australia's two largest cities to Newcastle the states 2nd biggest city & Australia's 7th biggest city, the Central Coast the 11th biggest city (technically CC is 10th but if you incorporate Wollongong to Nowra as 1 population CC is 11th) and also a main through road to Northern NSW & Queensland via New England or Pacific Coast. So how to we grow on the "F3" legacy and what they done with such projects like Jolls Bridge, Mooney Mooney Creek, Hawkesbury River and the like? Starting off the ultimate M1 would see it joined as a full scale motorway from Wahronga to Waterfall as it should have been from day dot. Now onto some other projects: M7 - one of the original proposals for the M7 was for it to join at Mt White I still believe we can achieve this. The slowest part of the "F3" is the Hawkesbury River to Mt White and the section that seems to attract so many accidents is between Mooney Mooney and Wahronga so a lot of traffic heading towards the new airport, Canberra and the western suburbs would end up on the M7. M11 - to ensure the M11 isn't a white elephant it should be extended Silverwater Rd this would bypass the bottleneck of Carlingford and there's only one set of lights after Parramatta River on Silverwater Rd this can be easily fixed meaning virtual motorway to the Olympic Stadium turn off and only 1-2km short of the M4 interchange. M9 - currently the planned Outer Western Motorway is between the M5 and Windsor - this should be pushed up to the M15 (and to the M1 near Wollongong). This would be the most epic airport motorway and really open up Singleton, the wine region and the New England like no tomorrow. M15 - this motorway somehow needs to connect with the Inner City Bypass and be a link to the M9 as listed above including motorway like roads for John Renshaw Dr between M1/M15 and Golden Highway the start of the M9 and the link to Singleton. I believe Singleton is getting a Bypass. Newcastle Inner City Bypass should have been done decades ago and needs to be a true M1 to M1 link. When I drive on the Hume and Federal Highways it's known as the Sydney to Canberra Remembrance Drive I hope the Berowra to M15 section of the M1 can be a "Sydney to Newcastle F3 Tribute" or something like that as an honour to those who put this first major project together. As for tolls I bring in a one uniform system rather than separate tolls with a daily/weekly max amounts. Can be easily done via eTag. Add more motorway ideas and send them to our leaders.
China has better roads. It's a piece of shit now with roads that look like something from Africa. Granted it's nice where it is, but past Swansea it's a disgrace. China has perfect roads, and Australia gets bumpy rollercoasters and loud road noise.
Since covid people doing 130kph in the right lane has almost become the norm. They should make it 120kph at least. And fine people in the right lane for doing any less.
that should be a rule on every major freeway in Sydney. I remember I was Dubai...they have a designated 'express lane' on thier freeways so people dont hold up in that inner lane...some people still dont get the right over taking lane smh
As a 16 year old from Wyong who gained a traineeship in Wollongong I started driving this route regularly in 64. I saw all of the earlier sections of this progressively take the load from a very much overpopulated Pacific Highway especially around the Hawkesbury. The new bridge plus the remarkable works at Jolls Bridge are something engraved in my memory. People who did not encounter the Pitt Street-like traffic around Hawkesbury on Sundays on the old road have nothing to whinge about today.
I was born in '66 in Gosford, we had a farm at Somersby. My father worked on the F3 freeway project in the '60's.He had a Powdermans licence ,explosives, and was one of the guys that planted the nitropyll in the long bore holes that you see in the rockface.
Great vid! Now they need to finish it from Beresfield to Raymond Terrace!
That's in the planning, although it's planned on opening towards the end of this decade.
We're building it right now
god damn that beginning music is FIRE
needs a remix for sure
We are going to RAVE
The amount of idiots with their poor manners and freeway overtaking lane ettiquet using this very costly piece of infrastructure is damning.
Not capable of appreciation the animals.
Great gem you posted here.
Thank you for sharing your details video
30 years later and they still haven't even started on the section that skips those traffic lights at Beresfield
Very good. I enjoyed this.
Only 35 years to build a highway from Sydney to Beresfield - impressive. But 35 or more years just to build grade separated dual carriageway from there to Raymond Terrace....? All those poor Sydney travellers stuck for hours in those queues...
Hours we could have spent bubbling away in our second house spa in avoca... sighs
Sweetie lets just buy a place in Noosa like Mckenzies from next door.
We shall get a charter plane and do away with this traffic
Honey for the last time im a chartered accountant from wahroonga not a drug dealer from palm beach quit that accent and make me a cucumber sandwich at once - oh great now im doing it
Clearly you never experienced the traffic jams that occurred prior to the section of the F3 leading to Central Coast towns was built. It would be an absolute nightmare on the sometimes double lane Pacific Highway. That was in the 60's when Sydney's population was less than 3 million and there were proportionally fewer faamilies with multiple vehicles.
My grandmother Doreen's father used to own coast of Lake Munmorah where the power station is. He was forced to sell at "market value" by the government. Thankfully, the future proved that land to be "worthless", so our family's investment wasn't stolen, and no-one really benefited from the theft.
2:34 "Cost $80 million dollars"
Nowadays $80 million wouldn't even cover the planning, environmental & cultural studies and all the associated red tape
Some things have certainly changed since design work started around 70 years ago.
It wasn't a freeway to start with. A toll was paid at Berowra . The toll booths can be seen at the opening day. It used to take 3 to 3.5 hours on the old Pacific Highway. Only 1.5 hrs now. Was quicker to take the steam train 2.5 hours.
Yes that's right but the very first toll both were built on the north side of the Hawsbury River Bridge. The office for that tolling station ( as seen in this video ) are still there and are used as an ambulance station and accident emergency vehicle station. It's the brown brick building on the left side after the bridge heading north. Of course the toll booths were demolished. New booths and a tolling station were built at Berowra as you rightly stated.
@@markdrennan5723 I wouldn't have thought there would be tolls there. That part of the free way was built later. The original toll road is parallel to that part of the freeway (old Pacific Highway). Used to be a service station at the top of the hill where Pie in the Sky is now.
It's was the first section of road built.
There were toll booths there ( as in the video.)
The first section on the (then F3) was the Hawsbury River to Mt White.
Yep, 20c toll if I remember correctly.
The F3 will always be a part of us and has done so much. I always felt we got one thing wrong with the F3 and that's how it stops short of both Newcastle and Sydney itself and I'm not talking about the current section being built to Raymond Terrace but no decent road into Newcastle from the F3 and of course the Sydney end stopping well short creating traffic issues onto other roads. The connection to the M2 is a band aid and really only suits west and towards Canberra.
Now onto another topic. The current "F3" has served a wonderful purpose but we really need more than one road that connects Sydney one of Australia's two largest cities to Newcastle the states 2nd biggest city & Australia's 7th biggest city, the Central Coast the 11th biggest city (technically CC is 10th but if you incorporate Wollongong to Nowra as 1 population CC is 11th) and also a main through road to Northern NSW & Queensland via New England or Pacific Coast. So how to we grow on the "F3" legacy and what they done with such projects like Jolls Bridge, Mooney Mooney Creek, Hawkesbury River and the like?
Starting off the ultimate M1 would see it joined as a full scale motorway from Wahronga to Waterfall as it should have been from day dot.
Now onto some other projects:
M7 - one of the original proposals for the M7 was for it to join at Mt White I still believe we can achieve this. The slowest part of the "F3" is the Hawkesbury River to Mt White and the section that seems to attract so many accidents is between Mooney Mooney and Wahronga so a lot of traffic heading towards the new airport, Canberra and the western suburbs would end up on the M7.
M11 - to ensure the M11 isn't a white elephant it should be extended Silverwater Rd this would bypass the bottleneck of Carlingford and there's only one set of lights after Parramatta River on Silverwater Rd this can be easily fixed meaning virtual motorway to the Olympic Stadium turn off and only 1-2km short of the M4 interchange.
M9 - currently the planned Outer Western Motorway is between the M5 and Windsor - this should be pushed up to the M15 (and to the M1 near Wollongong). This would be the most epic airport motorway and really open up Singleton, the wine region and the New England like no tomorrow.
M15 - this motorway somehow needs to connect with the Inner City Bypass and be a link to the M9 as listed above including motorway like roads for John Renshaw Dr between M1/M15 and Golden Highway the start of the M9 and the link to Singleton. I believe Singleton is getting a Bypass.
Newcastle Inner City Bypass should have been done decades ago and needs to be a true M1 to M1 link.
When I drive on the Hume and Federal Highways it's known as the Sydney to Canberra Remembrance Drive I hope the Berowra to M15 section of the M1 can be a "Sydney to Newcastle F3 Tribute" or something like that as an honour to those who put this first major project together.
As for tolls I bring in a one uniform system rather than separate tolls with a daily/weekly max amounts. Can be easily done via eTag.
Add more motorway ideas and send them to our leaders.
Nice!:)
Sure beats the F5 freeway which always requires a refresh
4:31
Tangara
Terrible driving on that road , so bad
In our politically correct 21st century Australia, we need to ask, would this project been worthy of the 🌈✔ ? 🤔
Bullshit 😂glorified goat track
China has better roads. It's a piece of shit now with roads that look like something from Africa. Granted it's nice where it is, but past Swansea it's a disgrace. China has perfect roads, and Australia gets bumpy rollercoasters and loud road noise.
China has some good roads. But drivers are appalling. Frightening
it m1 i live in wahroonga
Yes, that is correct for today but it was changed to M1 Pacific Motorway in 1983. Prior to that it was the F3.
Since covid people doing 130kph in the right lane has almost become the norm. They should make it 120kph at least. And fine people in the right lane for doing any less.
The Mount of incidents on that road I doubt that will ever happen 😆😆. Every day I see a traffic alert of a 5km traffic jam of the F3
that should be a rule on every major freeway in Sydney. I remember I was Dubai...they have a designated 'express lane' on thier freeways so people dont hold up in that inner lane...some people still dont get the right over taking lane smh