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82-713: M2 Hills Motorway is a 19.3-kilometre (12.0 mi) tolled urban motorway in Sydney , New South Wales that is part of the Sydney Orbital Network and the National Highway west of Pennant Hills Road . Owned by toll road operator Transurban , it forms majority of Sydney's M2 route, with the Lane Cove Tunnel constituting the rest of the M2 route. M2 Hills Motorway connects directly with

164-650: A takeover bid of Hills Motorway for $ 1.8 billion. The takeover bid was successful and finalised in May 2005. Separate to ownership, in January 2006, Transurban acquired Tollaust, which managed the tolls and operated and maintained the motorway. Tollaust was also owned by Abigroup. The acquisition was completed in February 2006. The concessional tolling period ends in June 2048. It was originally planned to end in 2042, before it

246-437: A "celebrity drive-through" featuring swimmer Susie Maroney, was disrupted by sound systems mounted high in gum trees, playing the sound of car crashes, ambulance sirens and jack-hammers. After the motorway opened, cyclists also protested the toll which the operators charged cyclists by occupying the toll plaza. This protest was successful, and the toll was subsequently dropped. The project was opened on 26 May 1997. After opening,

328-488: A cashless tolling system, where tolls are charged on the basis of vehicles being either Class A (which includes most private vehicles) or Class B (vehicles with two axles and are over 2.8 metres high, or vehicles with three axles which are over 2 metres high, or vehicles with more than three axles). Toll prices are updated four times a year. At opening, the motorway was owned by the Hills Motorway Group, which

410-602: A flat fee either when they enter or when they exit the toll road. In a variant of the closed toll system, mainline barriers are present at the two endpoints of the toll road, and each interchange has a ramp toll that is paid upon exit or entry. In this case, a motorist pays a flat fee at the ramp toll and another flat fee at the end of the toll road; no ticket is necessary. In addition, with most systems, motorists may pay tolls only with cash or change; debit and credit cards are not accepted. However, some toll roads may have travel plazas with ATMs so motorists can stop and withdraw cash for

492-503: A future conversion to light rail. Grade-separated interchanges would be built at Delhi Road, Lane Cove Road , Balaclava Road (now Christie Road) and Beecroft Road. The eastern section will connect to the western section at the grade-separated Pennant Hills Road interchange. In May 1993, the government announced that the road would be constructed with private funds using a Build Own Operate Transfer . The government then entered into an agreement with Hills Motorway Limited to build and operate

574-464: A general fund by local governments, not being earmarked for transport facilities. This is sometimes limited or prohibited by central government legislation. Also, road congestion pricing schemes have been implemented in a limited number of urban areas as a transportation demand management tool to try to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution . Toll roads have existed for at least the last 2,700 years, as tolls had to be paid by travellers using

656-442: A specific infrastructure (e.g. roads, bridges). These concepts were widely used until the last century. However, the evolution in technology made it possible to implement road tolling policies based on different concepts. The different charging concepts are designed to suit different requirements regarding purpose of the charge, charging policy, the network to the charge, tariff class differentiation, et cetera: Some toll roads charge

738-604: A toll in only one direction. Examples include the Sydney Harbour Bridge , Sydney Harbour Tunnel , and Eastern Distributor (these all charge tolls city-bound) in Australia, in the United States, crossings between Pennsylvania and New Jersey operated by Delaware River Port Authority and crossings between New Jersey and New York operated by Port Authority of New York and New Jersey . This technique

820-697: Is a minister in the Government of New South Wales who has responsibilities which includes the development of road infrastructure and road pricing, and taxi and hire car policy and regulation. With the election of Chris Minns as Premier of New South Wales , John Graham was appointed as Minister for Roads. The following individuals have been appointed as Ministers for highways or roads. The following individuals have been appointed as Ministers for Regional Transport and Roads, or any precedent title. The following individuals have been appointed as Assistant Ministers with responsibility for assisting or advising

902-603: Is practical where the detour to avoid the toll is large or the toll differences are small. Traditionally, tolls were paid by hand at a toll gate. Although payments may still be made in cash, it is more common now to pay using an electronic toll collection system. In some places, payment is made using transponders which are affixed to the windscreen. Three systems of toll roads exist: open (with mainline barrier toll plazas ); closed (with entry/exit tolls); and open road (no toll booths, only electronic toll collection gantries at entrances and exits or at strategic locations on

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984-564: Is the largest ETC system in the U.S., and is used for both fully tolled highways and tolled express lanes. Maryland Route 200 and the Triangle Expressway in North Carolina were the first toll roads built without toll booths, with drivers charged via ETC or by optical license plate recognition and are billed by mail. In addition, many older toll roads are also being upgraded to an all-electronic tolling system, abandoning

1066-975: The Maine Turnpike in 1947, the Blue Star Turnpike in 1950, the New Jersey Turnpike in 1951, the Garden State Parkway in 1952, the West Virginia Turnpike and New York State Thruway in 1954, the Massachusetts Turnpike in 1957, and the Chicago Skyway and Indiana Toll Road in 1958. Other toll roads were also established around this time. With the establishment of the Interstate Highway System in

1148-695: The Susa – Babylon highway under the regime of Ashurbanipal , who reigned in the seventh century BC. Aristotle and Pliny refer to tolls in Arabia and other parts of Asia. In India, before the fourth century BC, the Arthashastra notes the use of tolls. Germanic tribes charged tolls to travellers across mountain passes . Most roads were not freely open to travel on in Europe during the Middle Ages, and

1230-411: The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney central business district . Environmental impact assessments were done separately for the section between Old Windsor Road and Pennant Hills Road (western section) and the section between Pennant Hills Road and Epping Road (eastern section), by SMEC and Maunsell respectively. However, the two assessments were to be done in cooperation to ensure integration of

1312-591: The West African kingdom of Dahomey , toll booths were also established with the function of collecting yearly taxes based on the goods carried by the people of Dahomey and their occupation. In some cases, officials imposed fines for public nuisance before allowing people to pass. Industrialisation in Europe needed major improvements to the transport infrastructure which included many new or substantially improved roads, financed from tolls. The A5 road in Britain

1394-598: The Westlink M7 in Seven Hills and heads southeast as a four-lane dual-carriageway road through Baulkham Hills , widening to six lanes past the interchange with Windsor Road, and then in an easterly direction to Beecroft , where it meets an interchange with both Pennant Hills Road and the NorthConnex tunnel. It continues south-east past Epping and through Macquarie Park , narrowing back to four lanes past

1476-503: The toll was one of many feudal fees paid for rights of usage in everyday life. Some major European "highways", such as the Via Regia and Via Imperii , offered protection to travelers in exchange for paying the royal toll. Many modern European roads were originally constructed as toll roads in order to recoup the costs of construction and maintenance, and to generate revenue from passing travelers. In 14th-century England, some of

1558-416: The "closed motorway system" (km travelled) or through the "open motorway system" (flat-rate toll). Given the multiplicity of operators, the toll is only requested when exiting the motorway and not when the motorway operator changes. This system was made possible following article 14 of law 531 of 12 August 1982. From a technical point of view, however, the mixed barrier/free-flow system is active where, at

1640-474: The 19th century. Roads radiating from Toronto required users to pay at toll gates along the street ( Yonge Street , Bloor Street , Davenport Road , Kingston Road ) but the toll gates disappeared after 1895. In the eastern United States of the 18th and 19th century, hundreds of private turnpikes were created to facilitate travel between towns and cities, typically outside built-up areas. 19th-century plank roads were usually operated as toll roads. One of

1722-529: The BOT arrangement, a few of the older toll roads in these states are still operated by public authorities. In France, some toll roads are operated by private or public companies, with specific taxes collected by the state. Minister for Roads (New South Wales) The Minister for Roads (previously known as the Minister for Highways , Minister for Roads and Freight and Minister for Metropolitan Roads )

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1804-528: The BOT methodology for future highway projects. The more traditional means of managing toll roads in the United States is through semi-autonomous public authorities . Kansas , Maryland , Massachusetts , New Hampshire , New Jersey , New York , North Carolina , Ohio , Oklahoma , Pennsylvania , and West Virginia manage their toll roads in this manner. While most of the toll roads in California, Delaware, Florida, Texas, and Virginia are operating under

1886-559: The Lane Cove Road and Beecroft Road interchanges which utilises a former cycling/breakdown lane opened in April 2007. This change was criticised by cyclists, who were required to use an alternative route as a result, and by some motorists who have said that the addition of a third lane will induce more traffic and would only shift the bottleneck further down the motorway as a result of assisting and maintaining free-flowing traffic from

1968-588: The Lane Cove Tunnel. A speed camera to enforce the 70 km/h limit was introduced on the westbound carriageway just before the Epping/Norfolk Road tunnel. Tolling became fully cashless with no toll booths 30 January 2012. Transurban had originally proposed that it would become cashless from December 2007. A major upgrade started in January 2011, with more on-and off-ramps being built, including off-ramps onto Windsor Road eastbound, which

2050-473: The M2 for 45 years, before ownership reverted to the government. A two-lane busway was built in the median between Windsor Road to Beecroft Road with a connection to Epping railway station . There were dedicated access ramps for buses, which were removed in 2012 during road works to widen the motorway. Mahers Road in Carlingford, running east–west along the southern boundary of Pennant Hills Golf Course,

2132-777: The M7 turns south away from the Castlereagh Freeway corridor towards the M5 South-West Motorway and Hume Motorway at Prestons . The unused but still-reserved corridor continues west and passes north of suburbs including Shalvey and Willmot , continuing west past Llandilo to stop abruptly near Londonderry at the foot of the Blue Mountains . The Lane Cove Tunnel , which linked the motorway directly to Gore Hill Freeway at Lane Cove , opened on 25 March 2007. A third traffic lane westbound between

2214-793: The South to the North. The road connects the southwest of the city, including the Sea Port area, with the Ring Road, Vasilievsky Island, Kurortny district and the Scandinavia motorway. The WHSD is divided into three sections: Southern, Central and Northern. The entire stretch of the WHSD was opened for traffic in 2016. There are 16 toll plazas on the WHSD. Paying toll by transponder is mostly recommended for frequent drivers. The Flow+ toll collection system

2296-464: The U.S. saw large road building projects in major urban areas. Electronic toll collection, first introduced in the 1980s, reduces operating costs by removing toll collectors from roads. Tolled express lanes, by which certain lanes of a freeway are designated "toll only", increases revenue by allowing a free-to-use highway to collect revenue by allowing drivers to bypass traffic jams by paying a toll. The E-ZPass system, compatible with many state systems,

2378-469: The air pollution from private motor vehicles would contribute to global warming. There were also fears the bus lanes might be removed in the future to provide additional capacity for private vehicles. "Freeway Busters" was one of the groups that organised protests, including two "Cyclestormings" of the construction site by hundreds of cyclists. The opening ceremony of the tollway in 1997, a champagne breakfast for conservative dignitaries including Alan Jones and

2460-497: The beltways around some larger cities ( tangenziali ) which are not part of a thoroughfare motorway, and the Autostrada A2 between Salerno and Reggio di Calabria which is operated by the government-owned ANAS . Both are toll free. On Italian motorways, the toll applies to almost all motorways not managed by Anas . The collection of motorway tolls, from a tariff point of view, is managed mainly in two ways: either through

2542-766: The brand I-Pass in Illinois ) is accepted on almost all toll roads. Similar systems include SunPass in Florida , FasTrak in California , Good to Go in Washington state , and ExpressToll in Colorado . The systems use a small radio transponder mounted in or on a customer's vehicle to deduct toll fares from a pre-paid account as the vehicle passes through the toll barrier. This reduces manpower at toll booths and increases traffic flow and fuel efficiency by reducing

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2624-461: The centre of the city tolled. In the United States, as states looked for ways to construct new freeways without federal funding again, to raise revenue for continued road maintenance, and to control congestion, new toll road construction saw significant increases during the first two decades of the 21st century. Spurred on by two innovations, the electronic toll collection system, and the advent of high-occupancy and express lane tolls , many areas of

2706-405: The city centre via Victoria Road and Western Freeway . Parramatta was bypassed in 1986, however peak hour traffic still clogged up Victoria Road and all western approaches to Sydney. Proposals for an F2 Castlereagh Freeway were released in 1968. The freeway would branch from the proposed Lane Cove Valley Expressway (F3) near Herring Road at North Ryde (now Macquarie Park), and head west towards

2788-529: The death of a pedestrian struck by a similarly human-supervised autonomous vehicle in Arizona . The NorthConnex tunnel opened on 31 October 2020, including motorway-to-motorway ramps to and from the M2 Hills Motorway west of Pennant Hills Road / Cumberland Highway ; connecting between NorthConnex and the eastern portion of the motorway is via ramps from Pennant Hills Road. M2 Hills Motorway uses

2870-410: The distance travelled. Motorway barriers are arranged along the route (however not at every junction), at which the user pays a fixed sum, depending only on the class of the vehicle. The user can therefore travel along sections of the motorway without paying any toll as the barriers may not be present on the section travelled. Road tolls were levied traditionally for a specific access (e.g. city) or for

2952-406: The entrance and exit from the motorways, there are lanes dedicated to the collection of a ticket (on entry) and the delivery of the ticket with simultaneous payment (on exit) and other lanes where, during transit without the need to stop, an electronic toll system present in the vehicles records the data and debits the toll, generally into the bank account previously communicated by the customer, to

3034-642: The event includes the first quarter collected at its toll booths. The first major deployment of an RFID electronic toll collection system in the United States was on the Dallas North Tollway in 1989 by Amtech (see TollTag ). The Amtech RFID technology used on the Dallas North Tollway was originally developed at Sandia Labs for use in tagging and tracking livestock. In the same year, the Telepass active transponder RFID system

3116-402: The expenses by introducing a toll. It was followed by Greece, which made users pay for the network of motorways around and between its cities in 1927. Later in the 1950s and 1960s, France, Spain, and Portugal started to build motorways largely with the aid of concessions, allowing rapid development of this infrastructure without massive state debts. Since then, road tolls have been introduced in

3198-427: The findings only applied to the 1989 proposal (i.e. east of Pennant Hills Road) and "should not be taken in any way to be a judgment on the construction of the roadway west of Pennant Hills Road". The commission also mentioned that if an expressway were to be built, North Epping residents had indicated that they would prefer a tunnel under the locality instead of a cut and fill which they deemed excessive. The commission

3280-549: The first US motor roads, the Long Island Motor Parkway (which opened on October 10, 1908) was built by William Kissam Vanderbilt II, the great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt . The road was closed in 1938 when it was taken over by the state of New York in lieu of back taxes. The first toll road in St. Petersburg appeared in the 2000s. The Western High-Speed Diameter (WHSD) is a multilane motorway running from

3362-513: The first built in the world, connecting Milan to Lake Como and Lake Maggiore , and now parts of the Autostrada A8 and Autostrada A9 , was devised by Piero Puricelli and was inaugurated in 1924. Piero Puricelli, a civil engineer and entrepreneur, received the first authorization to build a public-utility fast road in 1921, and completed the construction (one lane in each direction) between 1924 and 1926. Piero Puricelli decided to cover

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3444-467: The highway the first all-automated toll highway in the world. A bill is mailed monthly for usage of the 407. Lower charges are levied on frequent 407 users who carry electronic transponders in their vehicles. The approach has not been without controversy: In 2003 the 407 ETR settled a class action with a refund to users. Throughout most of the East Coast of the United States, E-ZPass (operated under

3526-405: The highway. In some cases, the ticket displays the toll to be paid on exit. Upon exit, the driver must pay the amount listed for the given exit. Should the ticket be lost, a driver must typically pay the maximum amount possible for travel on that highway. Short toll roads with no intermediate entries or exits may have only one toll plaza at one end, with motorists travelling in either direction paying

3608-732: The hybrid systems they adopted during the late 20th century. These include the Massachusetts Turnpike , one of the oldest American toll roads, which went all-electronic in 2016, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike , America's oldest toll freeway, which went all-electronic in 2020, along with the Illinois Tollway , which both accelerated their transitions to such due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Turnpike trusts were established in England and Wales from about 1706 in response to

3690-702: The interchange with Lane Cove Road , to eventually dive under Epping Road and cross the Lane Cove River in North Ryde , where it connects directly to the Lane Cove Tunnel . The motorway runs underneath the suburb of North Epping via 460-metre (1,510 ft) twin tunnels known as the Epping/Norfolk tunnels. The M2 cycleway is located on the breakdown lanes of the M2 Hills Motorway. Road approaches from Sydney's western suburbs were originally slow and traffic passed through Parramatta and to

3772-558: The interchange with the Epping Road in North Ryde , on 28 June 1993, nearly four years before it had officially opened; the tollway today still retains this declaration. In May 2024, the NSW Government Gazette revoked the declaration of the tollway on one parcel of land. The Westlink M7 , opened on 16 December 2005, continues along the original Castlereagh Freeway alignment from Seven Hills to Dean Park , where

3854-467: The late 1950s, toll road construction in the U.S. slowed down considerably, as the federal government now provided the bulk of funding to construct new freeways, and regulations required that such Interstate highways be free from tolls. Many older toll roads were added to the Interstate System under a grandfather clause that allowed tolls to continue to be collected on toll roads that predated

3936-400: The mainline toll plazas (toll barriers). It is also possible for motorists to enter an 'open toll road' after one toll barrier and exit before the next one, thus travelling on the toll road toll-free. Most open toll roads have ramp tolls or partial access junctions to prevent this practice, known in the U.S. as " shunpiking ". With a closed toll system, vehicles collect a ticket when entering

4018-523: The maintenance and improvement of most of the main roads in England and Wales, which were used to distribute agricultural and industrial goods economically. The tolls were a source of revenue for road building and maintenance, paid for by road users and not from general taxation. The turnpike trusts were gradually abolished from the 1870s. Most trusts improved existing roads, but some new roads, usually only short stretches, were also built. Thomas Telford 's Holyhead road followed Watling Street from London but

4100-542: The majority of the EU member states. In the United States, prior to the introduction of the Interstate Highway System and the large federal grants supplied to states to build it, many states constructed their first freeways by floating bonds backed by toll revenues. The first major fully grade separated toll road was the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 1940. This was followed up by other toll roads, such as

4182-461: The manager of his device. In Italy, this occurs through the Autostrade per l'Italia interchange system. The Autostrada A36 , Autostrada A59 and Autostrada A60 are exclusively free-flow. On these motorways, those who do not have the electronic toll device on board must proceed with the payment by subsequently communicating the data to the motorway manager (by telephone, online or by going to

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4264-409: The median of the road). Some toll roads use a combination of the three systems. On an open toll system, all vehicles stop at various locations along the highway to pay a toll. (This is different from "open road tolling", where no vehicles stop to pay a toll.) While this may save money from the lack of need to construct toll booths at every exit, it can cause traffic congestion while traffic queues at

4346-473: The most heavily used roads were repaired with money raised from tolls by pavage grants. Widespread toll roads sometimes restricted traffic so much, by their high tolls, that they interfered with trade and cheap transportation needed to alleviate local famines or shortages. Tolls were used in the Holy Roman Empire in the 14th and 15th centuries. After significant road construction undertaken by

4428-618: The motorway towards Sydney, eliminating the need to travel through the busy Macquarie Park area to enter the motorway through the Epping Road or Macquarie Park on-ramps, opened in July 2014. There was no provision for northbound traffic from Lane Cove Road to enter the motorway eastbound, nor for westbound motorway traffic to exit at Lane Cove Road. On 20 March 2018, the Government of New South Wales and Transurban started testing driverless cars on M2 Hills Motorway. The launch coincided with

4510-423: The motorways subject to toll payment must only proceed at a maximum speed of 30 kilometres per hour (20 mph) without the need to stop. The amount is directly proportional to the distance travelled by the vehicle, the coefficient of its class and a variable coefficient from motorway to motorway, called the kilometre rate. Unlike the closed motorway system, in the open system, the road user does not pay based on

4592-549: The need for better roads than the few and poorly-maintained tracks then available. Turnpike trusts were set up by individual Acts of Parliament , with powers to collect road tolls to repay loans for building, improving, and maintaining the principal roads in Britain . At their peak, in the 1830s, over 1,000 trusts administered around 30,000 miles (48,000 km) of turnpike road in England and Wales, taking tolls at almost 8,000 toll-gates. The trusts were ultimately responsible for

4674-409: The need for complete stops to pay tolls at these locations. By designing a toll gate specifically for electronic collection, it is possible to carry out open-road tolling, where the customer does not need to slow at all when passing through the toll gate. The U.S. state of Texas is using a system that has no toll booths. Drivers without a TollTag have their license plate photographed automatically and

4756-643: The northeastern United States, the InterCounty Connector ( Maryland Route 200 ) was partially opened to traffic in February 2011, and the final segment was completed in November 2014. The first section of another all-electronic toll road, the Triangle Expressway , opened at the beginning of 2012 in North Carolina. Some toll roads are managed under such systems as the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) system. Private companies build

4838-399: The offices dedicated to payment). The closed motorway system is applied to most Italian motorways. It requires the driver of the vehicle to collect a special ticket at the entrance to the motorway and pay the amount due upon exit. If equipped with an electronic toll system the two procedures are completely automatic and the driver on the detection lanes located at the entrances and exits from

4920-507: The original interstate system funding. Houston's outer beltway of interconnected toll roads began in 1983, and many states followed over the last two decades of the 20th century adding new toll roads, including the tollway system around Orlando, Florida , Colorado's E-470 , and Georgia State Route 400 . London, in an effort to reduce traffic within the city, instituted the London congestion charge in 2003, effectively making all roads within

5002-467: The proposal, the link to Epping Road at Marsfield, and the link to Fig Tree Bridge at Hunters Hill were abandoned. Subsequently, a Commission of Inquiry on the 1989 proposal was set up and chaired by the commissioner John Woodward . In July 1990, the commissioner released a report recommending that the freeway should not be built, but instead upgrade the east–west road system between Pennant Hills Road and Epping Road at North Ryde. The report stressed that

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5084-446: The proposal. There were three shortlisted options for utilising the Castlereagh Freeway reserve between Old Windsor Road and Pennant Hills Road in the western section: Option 3 was evaluated to have the least environmental impact but have the worst transport efficiency and safety out of the three; it also received little support from the community. As such, Option 3 was eliminated from further evaluation and detailed assessment. Option 1

5166-576: The registered owner will receive a monthly bill, at a higher rate than those vehicles with TollTags. A similar variation of automatic collection is the Toll Roads in Orange County, CA, US, wherein all entry or collection points are equipped with high-speed cameras which read license plates and users will have 7 calendar days to pay online using their plate number or else set up an account for automatic debits. The first all-electronic toll road in

5248-721: The road's usage had been nearly 30% below forecasts in a 1994 prospectus, however, morning peak traffic had sometimes exceeded those same forecasts for short bursts. The passing of the Roads Act of 1993 updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, the Roads & Traffic Authority (later Transport for NSW ) declared the Hills Motorway as Tollway 6002, from its interchange with Old Windsor Road in Seven Hills to

5330-647: The roads and are given a limited franchise. Ownership is transferred to the government when the franchise expires. This type of arrangement is prevalent in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines . The BOT system is a fairly new concept that is becoming more popular in the United States, with California , Delaware , Florida , Illinois , Indiana , Mississippi , Texas , and Virginia already building and operating toll roads under this scheme. Pennsylvania , Massachusetts , New Jersey , and Tennessee are also considering

5412-569: The system. Some of these such as the Connecticut Turnpike and the Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike later removed their tolls when the initial bonds were paid off. Many states, however, have maintained the tolling of these roads as a consistent source of revenue. As the Interstate Highway System approached completion during the 1980s, states began constructing toll roads again to provide new freeways which were not part of

5494-515: The toll, and the cost of the toll booth operators—up to about one-third of revenue in some cases. Automated toll-paying systems help minimise both of these. Others object to paying "twice" for the same road, namely in fuel taxes and in tolls. In addition to toll roads, toll bridges and toll tunnels are also used by public authorities to generate funds to repay the cost of building the structures. Some tolls are set aside to pay for future maintenance or enhancement of infrastructure, or are applied as

5576-597: The tolls. The toll is calculated by the distance travelled on the toll road or the specific exit chosen. In the United States, for instance, the Kansas Turnpike , Ohio Turnpike , New Jersey Turnpike , most of the Indiana Toll Road , New York State Thruway , and Florida's Turnpike currently implement closed systems. The Union Toll Plaza on the Garden State Parkway was the first ever to use an automated toll collection machine. A plaque commemorating

5658-425: The user deposits money in a machine which opens the gate once the correct toll has been paid. To cut costs and minimise time delay, many tolls are collected with electronic toll collection equipment which automatically communicates with a toll payer's transponder or uses automatic number-plate recognition to charge drivers by debiting their accounts. Criticisms of toll roads include the time taken to stop and pay

5740-421: The western suburbs as far as Londonderry at the foot of the Blue Mountains . Protests in 1974 led to suspension of works and cancellation of Lane Cove Valley Expressway in 1977. The Castlereagh Freeway proposal was thus extended eastwards over the Lane Cove Valley Expressway corridor to the junction of Epping Road and Pittwater Road near the Channel 10 North Ryde site. A possible connection to Fig Tree Bridge

5822-478: Was also considered. Land for the F2 freeway was purchased by NSW Government in 1988 and the road from Gladesville Bridge to Hunters Hill ( Fig Tree Bridge ) was built to freeway-style standards. Between June and July 1989, the newly formed Roads & Traffic Authority (RTA) exhibited the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that proposed a 11.5 km four-lane Castlereagh Freeway between Pennant Hills Road and Lane Cove River at North Ryde, known as F2 Stage 1. In

5904-869: Was also in support of a tunnel if the expressway was to be built. The tunnel was incorporated in later design proposals and was eventually built as the Epping/Norfolk Tunnel. In September 1990, the Minister of Roads Wal Murray announced a preparation of a new EIS for a transport link for Sydney's North West region, later known as the North West Transport Link . The transport link was proposed to connect Old Windsor Road in Seven Hills to Epping Road in North Ryde , bypassing Carlingford and Epping Roads. The proposed link would continue eastwards onto Epping Road, then would connect with Gore Hill Freeway at Artarmon , which led to Warringah Freeway at North Sydney and Bradfield Highway ,

5986-457: Was built to provide a robust transport link between Britain and Ireland and had a toll house every few miles. In the 20th century, road tolls were introduced in Europe to finance the construction of motorway networks and specific transport infrastructure such as bridges and tunnels. Italy was the first country in the world to build motorways reserved for fast traffic and for motor vehicles only. The Autostrada dei Laghi ("Lakes Motorway"),

6068-423: Was completed in July 2012, and a westbound off-ramp and eastbound on-ramp at Macquarie Park, which were completed in January 2013. During the upgrade, the fixed speed camera installed before the Epping/Norfolk Road tunnel was removed in mid-2013, and by November 2014 the speed limit was lifted to 100 km/h limit along the length of the motorway. With its opening, Metroad 2 between North Ryde and Baulkham Hills

6150-450: Was eventually chosen as the design of the expressway. During the assessment, the 1989 proposal was not considered. One busway lane in each direction would be in the centre of the expressway between Pennant Hills Road and Beecroft Road, continuing from the proposed busway in the western section. The busway would leave the expressway and would lead via Beecroft Road to a bus interchange at Epping Station . It would be constructed to allow for

6232-809: Was exceptional in creating a largely new route beyond Shrewsbury , and especially beyond Llangollen . Built in the early 19th century, with many toll booths along its length, most of it is now the A5 . In the modern day, one major toll road is the M6 Toll , relieving traffic congestion on the M6 in Birmingham. A few notable bridges and tunnels continue as toll roads including the Dartford Crossing and Mersey Gateway bridge. Some cities in Canada had toll roads in

6314-620: Was extended to May 2046. Toll road Toll roads have existed in some form since antiquity , with tolls levied on passing travelers on foot, wagon, or horseback; a practice that continued with the automobile, and many modern tollways charge fees for motor vehicles exclusively. The amount of the toll usually varies by vehicle type, weight, or number of axles , with freight trucks often charged higher rates than cars. Tolls are often collected at toll plazas, toll booths , toll houses , toll stations, toll bars, toll barriers, or toll gates. Some toll collection points are automatic, and

6396-451: Was implemented on the WHSD. The system was designed for automatic calculation of the driving distance of a vehicle equipped with a transponder. The system does not require constructing toll plazas at each entrance to or exit from the highway. Transponders mounted on vehicles are read by signal receivers installed at the entrance and exit ramps. In Italy the only toll roads are the autostrade (Italian for motorways ). Major exceptions are

6478-416: Was introduced across Italy. Several US states now use mobile tolling platforms to facilitate use of payment via smartphones. Highway 407 in the province of Ontario , Canada, has no toll booths, and instead reads a transponder mounted on the windshields of each vehicle using the road (the rear licence plates of vehicles lacking a transponder are photographed when they enter and exit the highway). This made

6560-425: Was owned by Colonial First State (26.7%), Abigroup (8.1%), Obayashi Corporation (8.1%), Mercantile Mutual , Portfolio Partners and AMP Limited . Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG) later purchased Obayashi's 8.1% share. In 2000, MIG planned to take over Hills Motorway Group but this did not eventuate. In April 2004, Transurban acquired Abigroup's 8.1% stake of the motorway. In February 2005, Transurban mounted

6642-614: Was re-routed from arterial roads through Epping and Castle Hill to the motorway. With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, Metroad 2 was replaced by route M2. After initially refusing to include construction of east-facing ramps to Lane Cove Road as a part of the M2 Upgrade Project, Transurban and the NSW Government reached agreement to construct a new on-ramp in February 2013. The tolled ramp, which allows southbound traffic from Lane Cove Road to enter

6724-533: Was subsumed into the new expressway. Pennant Hills Road was also realigned near Mahers Road, with the old section of the road now known as Mahers Close. There was strong community opposition to the construction of the motorway by local residents and environment groups including the Nature Conservation Council, as the route would destroy a vast area of valuable urban bushland, the money would be better spent on public transport infrastructure and

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