Editing West Gate Freeway (section)

{{Short description|Freeway in Melbourne, Australia}}
{{see also|Princes Freeway|CityLink|Monash Freeway}}
{{see also|West Gate Bridge|West Gate Tunnel}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=May 2011}}
{{Infobox Australian road
| type=freeway
| state=vic
| road_name = West Gate Freeway
| image =Melbourne West Gate Bridge (3306241892).jpg
| caption =West Gate Bridge looking towards Melbourne CBD
| length = 13.7
| length_ref = <ref name="gmaps">{{google maps |url=https://www.google.com.au/maps/dir/-37.8282319,144.8164283/-37.8268906,144.9639288/@-37.8247688,144.8517607,13z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0 |title=West Gate Freeway |access-date=19 December 2021 }}</ref>
| direction_a = West
| direction_b = East
| end_a = {{AUshield|VIC|M1|T|21}} '''[[Princes Freeway]]'''<br />{{small|[[Laverton North, Victoria|Laverton North, Melbourne]]}}
| end_b = {{AUshield|Toll|M1}} '''[[CityLink]]'''<br />{{small|[[Southbank, Victoria|Southbank, Melbourne]]}}
| est = 1971–1988
| route = {{AUshield|VIC|M1}} M1 {{small|(1996–present)}}
| tourist = {{AUshield|T|2}} Tourist Drive 2 {{small|(1989–present)<br />(Spotswood–Southbank)}}
| former = {{plainlist|
* {{AUshield|NR|1}} National Route 1 {{small|(1978–1996)}}
* {{AUshield|Mel|F82}} Freeway Route 82 {{small|(1971–1988)}}
}}
| exits = {{plainlist|
*{{AUshield|VIC|M80|T|21}} [[Western Ring Road, Melbourne|Western Ring Road]]
*{{AUshield|S|39}} Grieve Parade
*{{AUshield|S|41}} Millers Road
*{{AUshield|S|37|T|2}} Williamstown Road
*{{AUshield|Toll|M2}} [[CityLink]]
*{{AUshield|S|30|S|55|T|2}} [[Docklands Highway|Montague Street]]
*{{AUshield|R|ALT1}} [[Princes Highway|Kings Way]]
*[[Yarra Bank Highway|Power Street]]}}
| coordinates_a = {{coord|-37.827632|144.817209|type:landmark_region:AU-VIC|display=inline}}
| coordinates_b = {{coord|-37.826840|144.964082|type:landmark_region:AU-VIC|display=inline}}
| pushpin_label_position_a = left
| pushpin_label_position_b = right
| lga = {{plainlist|
*[[City of Melbourne]]
*[[City of Hobsons Bay]]}}
| through = [[Altona North, Victoria|Altona North]], [[Spotswood, Victoria|Spotswood]], [[Port Melbourne, Victoria|Port Melbourne]]
| alternative_location_map=Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne
}}

The '''West Gate Freeway''' is a major freeway in [[Melbourne]], the busiest urban freeway and the busiest road in [[Australia]]{{cn|date=December 2024}}, carrying upwards of 200,000 vehicles per day. It links [[Geelong]] (via the [[Princes Freeway]]) and Melbourne's western suburbs to [[Melbourne city centre|central Melbourne]] and beyond. It is also a link between Melbourne and the west and linking industrial and residential areas west of the [[Yarra River]] with the city and port areas. The [[West Gate Bridge]] is a part of the freeway.

It is a fully managed freeway with a complete 'Freeway Management System' that is dynamically linked and adaptive to the entire M1 corridor. This includes the 2008 re-design of a substantial section. Overall, the freeway has between 4-6 lanes in each direction, with a maximum of 12 lanes at one point in its width.