M - Motorway: Grade separated intersections and a divided carriageway. No traffic lights except for on the slip roads.
A - A Road: Principle main routes. Usually divided carriageways though in built up areas the median strip is likely to be only a concrete kerb.
B - B Road: Local trunk roads. Generally the lowest class of road to commonly bear traffic lights.
C - C Road: Usually only applied to long rural roads of import but less than a B.
Having been to Britain and driven the roads for myself, I can vouch for the sheer logic of numbering roads. I note that the photos for the Cross City tunnel printed in the SMH (who don't let me show them) already bear the designation M1 and I hope that we follow Victoria and Britain on this as it makes quite a lot of sense.
The main roads are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. M designations should only be afforded to those sections that have full motorway status and conditions. M3, M6, M9 and M10 in Sydney are not Motorways and as such do not deserve M. To wit:M2 runs from the Sydney Harbour Bridge, up the Warringah Expressway, through the soon to be built tunnel and onto the Hills Motorway. From Old Windsor Rd it would cease to be the M2 and become the A2 from that point onwards. Thus M10 which is a series of roads up past the northern beaches would be in reality A10.
The next series of numbers are all of the spur roads. These are numbered off via as follows:
1. The first spur off of the M1 (or A1 if not a motorway) is called the A11. The second is called the A12 etc.
2. Connecting roads are given connecting numbers. Thus James Ruse Drive which currently connects M4 to M7 can also be given A47 of A74 depending on what's been used.
3. Spurs off of spurs are also numbered off. Kissing Point Rd which leaves the A47 would become the A471.
4. B Roads are 4 digits. Because there are so many of these it makes no sense at the outset to render something as B42. Hassal St, Parramatta is the first B road to leave the A47. Thus it would become the B4701. C Roads are in effect the same as B Roads but due to the roads' conditions, C is more of a warning than a road location indicator.
In the UK all Motorway and some A Road junctions are numbered. This is especially useful if you happen to be looking for your turnoff as you simply count the numbers off - finding Junction 18 on the M1 North (to Newcastle) would be simpler than remembering the road sequences and names beforehand. I can see no reason why similar should not be done here.
On the M4 Concord Rd is the first Junction (Well Actually J1a since it's virtually the same junction as the end of the motorway) so would be called Junction 1. The A3 (Homebush Bay Drive) is the next one so would be Junction 2 etc. By bizarre fluke, M4 meets M7 at Junction 10 which is also the 10th Junction from the intersection with the M2 (which seeing as that's the start point would be Junction 1)
These would be denoted by a black square in the bottom right of all info signs. Or with mile listings, every Junction is listed. If I'm heading eastbound on the M4 of a morning and I hear that traffic is backed up from Junctions 6 to 11, I know that if I get off at 12 I can avoid them rather than joining the end of the queue (That's Church St, Parra - Roper Rd, St Mary's - which in the mornings is usual).
The system has been working in Britain since the 30's (before the inception of motorways), in Victoria since the late 80's and throughout Europe since the 70's. Why is NSW so slow on the uptake of such an obvious system?
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