Epping Road is a arterial road located on the North Shore of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Epping Road is a major route 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 c ...

to the north western suburbs of the upper North Shore and Hills District of metropolitan Sydney, being a major access road to the commercial, industrial and university areas of and .

Route

Epping Road begins at Longueville Road near the centre of the suburb of

Lane Cove Lane Cove is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lane Cove is nine kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governmen ...

, about west from the junction of Longueville Road with the Pacific Highway, then runs north-west from Lane Cove, 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 is a tributary of the Parramatta River, winding throu ...

, and running through North Ryde, Macquarie Park and

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 in the local government area of the City of Ryde. T ...

, crosses Terry's Creek and ends at its junction with Blaxland Road, adjacent to Epping Railway Station at

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

where it connects with both Beecroft Road and Carlingford Road.

History

Epping Road was originally constructed in the 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 road was divided by a beautiful centre strip that was so wide that people would park and picnic there. It was designated as State Route 28 from 1974 to 1993 and then Metroad 2 from November 1993 until May 1997, when Metroad 2 was moved onto the M2 motorway. A short stretch of Metroad 2 remained on Epping Road in the Lane Cove area until March 2007, when the Lane Cove Tunnel opened. 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. North-west of the Lane Cove River, the

M2 Hills Motorway The Hills Motorway (also known as the Hills M2 Motorway, M2 Motorway or simply M2) is a tollway in north-western Sydney, Australia, owned by toll road operator Transurban. It forms majority of Sydney's M2 route and part of the 110 km Sydn ...

, a

tollway A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...

which opened in May 1997 and diverges from Epping Road, bypassing North Ryde and Epping. It is part of the Sydney Orbital Network and carries most long-distance road traffic which previously used Epping Road. However Epping Road remains a busy road. South-east of the Lane Cove River, the

Lane Cove Tunnel The Lane Cove Tunnel is an A$1.1 billion, 3.6 km twin-tunnel tollway in Sydney, Australia, which connects the M2 Motorway at North Ryde with the Gore Hill Freeway at Artarmon. It is owned by toll road operator Transurban and forms part ...

, a cashless tollway, opened in March 2007 runs beneath Epping Road, bypassing Lane Cove suburb and reducing congestion. After the opening of the Lane Cove Tunnel, Epping Road, near Lane Cove and Longueville was left intact for a period of 5 months. Then over 7 months that section of road was reconfigured to be: * Dedicated 24-hour bus lanes in each direction (may also be used by taxis, motor bikes and bicycles) * A single lane for cars in each direction between Centennial Avenue and Orion Rd both directions, the 2nd lane lost to the aforementioned dedicated bus lane. * A new bus interchange and pedestrian overbridge on the corner of Longueville Road and Parklands Avenue at Lane Cove * Right turn lanes reinstated for westbound traffic at Parklands Avenue and Centennial Avenue * A continuous

cycleway Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except w ...

on the southern side of Epping Rd See Changes to Epping Road for more details These changes were part of the contractual agreement reached between the NSW state government and the developers of the

, prior to the start of 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.

References

{{Streets of Sydney Australia Streets in Sydney

Route

History

See also

References