Epping Road is a is a major arterial road linking the lower North Shore and

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...

to the north western suburbs of the upper North Shore and Hills District of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, being a major access road to the commercial, industrial and university areas of and .

Route

Epping Road commences at the intersection with Blaxland and Beecroft Roads in Epping and runs in a south-easterly direction as a four-lane, single carriageway road, widening into a dual-carriageway road after crossing Terrys Creek into

Marsfield Marsfield is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marsfield is located 16 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is in the local government area of the City of R ...

. It crosses over Lane Cove Road at an interchange in

North Ryde North Ryde is a suburb located in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. North Ryde is located 15 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Ryde. One of ...

, then straddles the

M2 Hills Motorway M2 Hills Motorway is a 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 ...

on either side before crossing the

Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river winds through a bushland valley and joins Parramatt ...

shortly afterwards, where the motorway continues underground into the

Lane Cove Tunnel The Lane Cove Tunnel is a twin-tunnel tollway in Sydney, Australia that is part of the Sydney Orbital Network. Owned by Transurban, It connects the M2 Motorway at North Ryde with the Gore Hill Freeway at Artarmon and forms part of Sydney's ...

. The road continues at surface level in a south-easterly direction through Lane Cove West, before eventually terminating at an intersection with Longueville Road in Lane Cove, about west from the junction of Longueville Road with Pacific Highway and Gore Hill Freeway.

History

Epping Road was originally constructed in the late 1930s as an entirely-new road, in contrast to most other main roads in Sydney, which had routes originally established in the early 19th century. The passing of the ''Main Roads Act of 1924'' through the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wa ...

provided for the declaration of Main Roads, roads partially funded by the State government through the

Main Roads Board The Main Roads Board was an agency of the Government of New South Wales, responsible for planning, constructing and maintaining road infrastructure in New South Wales, Australia. History The Main Roads Board (MRB) was founded on 1 January 1925 ...

(later

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is a Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government transport services and roads List of New South Wales government agencies, agency established on 1 November 2011. The agency is a different entity to the NSW ...

). With the subsequent passing of the ''Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929'' to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, the Department of Main Roads (having succeeded the MRB in 1932) declared Main Road 373 from Terrys Creek along Sebastopol Road to the intersection with Lane Cove Road, and from the intersection with Delhi Road along Lucknow Road and Moore Street to the intersection with Longueville Road in Lane Cove on 16 March 1938; this was successively extended further west along Laurel Avenue to Epping on 21 June 1938, then along Carlingford Road to Carlingford on 17 April 1940. The full length of the route, between Blaxland Road in Epping and Longueville Road in Lane Cove, was officially named Epping Road on 9 September 1959. Main Road 373 was extended one last time, with its eastern end running along Longueville Road to terminate at Pacific Highway, on 22 February 1967. In the 1960s and 1970s, Epping Road was further reconstructed as a mostly six lane arterial road, a major road project which lasted more than 10 years and involved the widening of the bridges at Lane Cove River and Stringybark Creek to six lanes. As vehicle use increased traffic congestion increased. 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, Epping Road retains its declaration as part of Main Road 373. The route was allocated part of State Route 28 in 1974, before it was replaced as part of Metroad 2 in 1993. When Hills Motorway opened in 1997, the western half of Metroad 2 was reallocated along it, leaving Epping Road west of North Ryde unallocated. The remaining stretch of Metroad 2 remaining along Epping Road was eventually reallocated along the Lane Cove Tunnel when it opened in 2007. Hills Motorway opened in May 1997, diverging from Epping Road north-west of the Lane Cove River, and bypassing North Ryde and Epping. The

opened in March 2007, joining with the motorway to run underneath Epping Road and bypassing Lane Cove. Some months after the opening of the tunnel and regaining traffic capacity, Epping Road was reconstructed to introduce dedicated bus lanes, a continuous cycleway on the southern side of the road, and right-turn lanes reinstated for westbound traffic at Parklands Avenue and Centennial Avenue, amongst other changes. These changes were part of the contractual agreement between the state government and the developers of the

, prior to the tunnel's construction. In mid-2011, work commenced on removing the entire median strip, wire barrier system, and native bushes from the section between Wicks Road and Delhi Road.

Major intersections

References

{{Streets of Sydney Australia Streets in Sydney

Route

History

Major intersections

See also

References