Southern Freeway

Southern Freeway
The Southern Freeway is often referred to as the F6 freeway.
General direction	North-South
From	Princes Highway, Waterfall, New South Wales
via	Wollongong
To	Princes Highway, Yallah, New South Wales
Established	1975
Major Junctions	Princes Highway Lawrence Hargraves Drive Appin Road Mt Ousley Road Northern Distributor Princes Highway Masters Road Five Islands Road Northcliffe Drive Kanahooka Road Fowlers Road Princes Highway

view south from Waterfall onramp

Southern Freeway is a freeway linking Sydney to Wollongong. It currently is designated as part of National Route 1, however was formerly signposted as F6 (Freeway Route 6) under a former route numbering system, and is commonly known by this latter name. The freeway will be designated as M1 when alpha-numeric route marking is introduced. The Southern Freeway is comprised of two sections: the northern section between Waterfall and Bulli Tops interchange and the southern section between Wollongong suburb of Gwynweville to Yallah, where it rejoins with Princes Highway. Mount Ousley Road connects these two sections together. As Wollongong and Port Kembla are important industrial centres, freight traffic is heavy. Despite the current decline of the local steel industry, emergence of Wollongong as a commuter city of Sydney has kept the freeway busy.

Track

At the north, it starts at Waterfall, taking more or less a parallel route with Princes Highway until the sprawling Bulli Tops interchange (with Appin Road (State Route 69) and Princes Highway). There it continues downhill, avoiding the steep Bulli Pass, as Mount Ousley Road (dual carriageway) and bypasses the city of Wollongong CBD. The F6 re-emerges at Gwyneville and continues for 20km until Yallah where it rejoins the Princes Highway.

Interchanges

Northern section:

• Princes Highway, Waterfall
• Princes Highway/Lawrence Hargrave Dr, Helenburgh
• Appin Rd/Princes Highway, Bulli Tops
• Mt Ousley Rd, Bulli Tops

Southern Section:

• Mount Ousley Rd, Mt Ousley
• Northern Distributor (Wollongong CBD spur), Gwyneville
• Princes Highway, West Wollongong
• Masters Rd, Mt St Thomas
• Five Islands Rd, Unanderra
• Northcliffe Dr, Unanderra
• Kanahooka Rd, Dapto
• Fowlers Rd, Dapto
• Princes Highway, Yallah

F6 Tollwork

From its opening on 24 July 1975 the Waterfall to Bulli Tops section of the F6 Southern Freeway incurred a Toll. This part of the Freeway did not feature the Helensburgh Interchange (which subsequently opened in February 2000). The Toll operated for 20 years, which was 10 years short of its intended operating length. The main reason for this was local residents complaining that the F3 (Newcastle-Sydney Freeway) had their toll dropped in 1988, which was at the time it was intended to be dropped as its loans had been fully paid off unlike those of the F6. After much pressure the Toll for the F6 freeway was removed on the 30 July, 1995. Remnants of the Tollbooths are still able to be seen at the old Toll Plaza at Waterfall. One of the Lanes and very faint markings are still intact. Heading Southbound one set of Warning Lights to slow down for the Toll Plaza are also still intact minus signage. There is also signage on Bulli Pass and Appin Road which are now coverplating the words "TOLLWAY F6 2km" and "TOLLWAY 1 1km".