The Western Distributor came to be out of the realisation in the early 1960s that the existing roads that supported the Harbour Bridge would not cope with contemporary and projected traffic volumes. Due to existing infrastructure and buildings in the area, it was decided to build a viaduct to carry traffic above the city streets. The government decided in principle to proceed with the Western Distributor (from "near city markets area" to Ultimo) during the year ended Jun 1960. The southbound carriageway from the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Day Street opened 2 September 1972, the northbound carriageway on 30 September 1972, with the final stage connecting ramp from Pyrmont Bridge to the distributor’s northbound carriageway via Day Street opened 20 December 1972. On 24 May 1980, the westbound Day Street to
Harris Street section over the
Darling Harbour Yard opened bypassing the
Pyrmont Bridge. The eastbound section between Harris and
Sussex streets opened on 7 August 19881 with the Pyrmont Bridge closed. On 8 November 1981 the interim westbound route via Sussex Street and Day Place was replaced by a ramp from
Market Street > The final stage opened in December 1995 with the
Anzac Bridge replacing the
Glebe Island Bridge. The north-eastbound viaduct ramps leading towards Bradfield Highway, designed in 1967, was widened from to accommodate a deck with a variable width from and consists of a steel structure supported on reinforced concrete
corbels. The
Roads & Traffic Authority re-aligned the eastern end of Main Road 165 from its old route from Pyrmont, to the southern toll plaza of the Sydney Harbour Bridge at
Millers Point to the interchange with Pyrmont Bridge Road and Bank Street in
Pyrmont (and continuing west across Bank Street and Glebe Island Bridge to
Rozelle and along
Victoria Road to
Parramatta) on 22 January 1993, Despite its role as a grade-separated motorway, the road is not officially gazetted as one by
Transport for NSW classification, and is still considered today to be a main road. 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, Western Distributor retains its declaration as part of Main Road 165. With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, State Route 40 was removed and Metroad 4 was replaced by route A4.
Western end When it was built, it was described as the southern end of the
F3 Freeway, as that was where the
North West Freeway was intended to finish, however due to protests from inner city residents, this plan never came to fruition. Western Distributor ends west of the Anzac Bridge western ramp and east of the junction between Victoria Road and
City West Link,
"Western Distributor Smart Motorway" Upgrade In 2024, the Federal and New South Wales Governments invested $179 million to build 19 new gantries and upgrade four existing gantries with incident detection technology, CCTV coverage and electronic signage. Speed limits are electronically controlled. On 9 December 2024 the technology was switched on.
Western Distributor Road Network Improvements project After "analysis of traffic patterns and further stakeholder engagement", in March 2026
Transport for NSW refined the Western Distributor Road Network Improvements project (WDRNI). The "Darling Harbour weave ramp" was cancelled. Plans to provide three eastbound lanes on Allen Street were retained, with construction expected to begin in late 2026 for two right-turn lanes onto the
Southern Arterial Route. "The Western Distributor Network" project page was deleted. This page linked to the Harris Street Bus Relocation 'Have Your Say' Project Notification (and map), which is no longer accessible on the new project page. and are not shown on the current page. ==Exits and interchanges==