James Ruse Drive is a limited-access urban highway located to the east and north of

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

, in

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

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. Originally a series of disconnected urban streets, it was later upgraded to act as a bypass of central Parramatta.

Route

James Ruse Drive commences at the intersection with

Parramatta Road Parramatta Road is the major historical east-west artery of metropolitan Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, connecting the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD with Parramatta. It is the easternmost part of the Great Western Highway. S ...

in Clyde and heads as in a northerly direction as a dual-carriageway, 6-lane highway, crossing under

M4 Motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest motorway in the United Kingdom, running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh ele ...

and then nearly immediately over the

Parramatta Light Rail The Parramatta Light Rail is a Standard-gauge railway, standard gauge Light rail in Sydney, light rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The first stage of the line runs from Westmead, New South Wales, Westmead to Carlingford, New S ...

. It then crosses over the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, Ria, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average Altitude, height, and depth, depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour ...

, through an interchange with Victoria Road and another interchange with Kissing Point Road and Pennant Street, where it narrows to a four-lane road, and continues in a north-westerly direction to the interchange with

Pennant Hills Road Pennant Hills Road is a arterial road located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The road links the suburb of Wahroonga in the northeast, to the major central business district of Parramatta in the southwest. Apart from a small section at ...

, where it widens again to a six-lane road and becomes part of

Cumberland Highway Cumberland Highway is a long urban highway located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The highway links Pacific Highway (Australia), Pacific Highway and Pacific Motorway (Sydney–Newcastle), Pacific Motorway (Highway 1 (New South Wales), ...

. It continues in a westerly direction to end at the interchange with

Windsor Road Windsor Road is a notable road in the Hills District, New South Wales, Hills District of Sydney, linking Windsor, New South Wales, Windsor and North Parramatta, New South Wales, North Parramatta in Sydney's west. It is a constituent part of ro ...

Northmead Northmead is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Northmead is located 26 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. Northmead is ...

; the road continues west as Briens Road, part of Cumberland Highway.

History

The road was named in honour of

James Ruse James Ruse (9 August 17595 September 1837) was a Cornish farmer who, at age 23, was convicted of burglary and was sentenced to seven years' transportation. He arrived at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, on the First Fleet with 18 months of ...

, a convict who was given land in the Parramatta district, which he successfully developed into the colony's first sustainable farm. The original

Experiment Farm Cottage Experiment Farm Cottage is a heritage-listed former farm and residence and now house museum at 9 Ruse Street, Harris Park, City of Parramatta, Sydney, Australia. It is one of Australia's oldest standing residences, being built in . It is locate ...

still exists on Ruse Street, Parramatta. In the early 20th century, only suburban streets existed along today's route. Starting at Parramatta Road, it headed north as Berry Street, crossed the Carlingford railway line and changed name to Aston Street, and continued north until reaching the Parramatta River. On the other side, Rydalmere Avenue headed north until terminating at Kissing Point Road. 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 ...

(MRB). Main Road No. 309 was declared on 8 August 1928, from the intersection with Parramatta Road in Clyde along Berry and Aston Streets until it reached the Carlingford railway line; with the passing of the ''Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929'' to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, this was amended to Main Road 309 on 8 April 1929. A pre-stressed concrete bridge was built over the Parramatta River to link Aston Street and Rydalmere Avenue, completed in 1966. Main Road 309 was extended north along the full length of Aston Street over the new bridge and along Rydalmere Avenue to end at Kissing Point Road on 22 February 1967. The Parramatta Bypass project was constructed in stages. The first 1.5 kilometre section extending Rydalmere Avenue from Victoria Road to a new interchange with Pennant Hills Road opened on 6 June 1977. The next 1.6 kilometre section extending Rydalmere Avenue from Pennant Hills Road to a new interchange with Windsor Road opened on 10 September 1979. Stage 3 along Briens Road from Windsor Road to Kleins Road opened 19 September 1980, followed by Stage 4 along Briens Road to Old Windsor Road on 21 December 1980. The eastern half of the Parramatta Bypass (along Berry and Aston Streets, and Rydalmere Avenue and its new extensions to Windsor Road) was named as James Ruse Drive on 2 February 1981. The elimination of the railway crossing with an overpass where it crosses A'Becketts Creek was finished in May 1984. With the declaration of Cumberland Highway on 26 August 1988, State Highway 13 was altered to use the new route from its northwestern end at the interchange with Windsor Road to the interchange with Pennant Hills Road at North Parramatta; the northern end of Main Road 309 was extended north along James Ruse Drive to meet State Highway 13 at the same interchange. In July 1994, as part of a

grade separation In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights ( grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...

project, a bridge was built over James Ruse Drive at

Rydalmere Rydalmere (formerly Field of Mars) is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rydalmere is approximately 21 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. ...

to eliminate the intersection with Victoria Road. The passing of the ''Roads Act of 1993'' through the

updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, James Ruse Drive today retains its declaration as Highway 13 from the interchange with Windsor Road in Northmead to the interchange with Pennant Hills Road at North Parramatta, and as Main Road 309 from Pennant Hills Road to the intersection with Parramatta Road at Clyde. It has been allocated several route numbers, as follows: State Route 53 (entire length from 1977–88), State Route 77 (as part of Cumberland Highway, 1988–93), State Route 55 (south of Cumberland Highway from 1988–2004), Metroad 7 (replaced State Route 77, from 1993–2005) and State Route 40 (north of Victoria Road 2007–13). With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, State Route 40 was replaced by route A40, and the sections gazetted as Cumberland Highway were also re-allocated as part of route A28.

Former route allocations

''Clyde – Parramatta:'' * State Route 53 Former NSW State Route 53
''Ozroads'', Retrieved on 9 June 2013. * State Route 55 *unallocated ''Parramatta – North Parramatta:'' * State Route 53 * State Route 55 *unallocated * State Route 40 * A40 ''North Parramatta – Northmead:'' * State Route 53 * State Route 77 * Metroad 7
''Ozroads'', Retrieved on 9 June 2013. *unallocated * State Route 40 * A28 * A40

Exits and interchanges

James Ruse Drive is entirely contained within the

City of Parramatta The City of Parramatta, also known as Parramatta Council, is a Local government in Australia, local government area located to the west and north-west of Sydney CBD in the Greater Western Sydney region. Parramatta Council is situated between th ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

References

External links