The Sir Roden Cutler VC Memorial Interchange, often shortened to Roden Cutler Interchange and sign-posted as Cutler VC Interchange, is a three-level

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

interchange located in Prestons in South-West

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 ...

. The interchange forms the junction of the

Westlink M7 The Westlink M7 or M7 Motorway, formerly Western Sydney Orbital, is a tolled urban motorway in Sydney and is a part of the Sydney Orbital Network. Owned by the NorthWestern Roads (NWR) Group, it connects three motorways: M5 South-West Motorwa ...

, M5 South-West and M31 Hume Motorways, opening to traffic in December 2005 along with the Westlink M7. It is a major urban feature of the National Highway network with roads linking Sydney south to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and north to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

converging at the interchange. As with many features of the Remembrance Driveway between Sydney and Canberra, the interchange is named in honour of an Australian

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

recipient. Sir Roden Cutler received the medal for gallantry in the face of the enemy while serving with the

Royal Australian Artillery The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, normally referred to as the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), is a Regiment of the Australian Army descended from the original colonial artillery units prior to Australia's federation. Australia's first ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He would later hold the office of

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...

Design

Following a

request for tender An invitation to tender (ITT, otherwise known as a call for bids or a request for tenders) is a formal, structured procedure for generating competing offers from different potential suppliers or contractors looking to obtain an award of business ...

in 2001, a joint venture between engineering firms

Leighton Contractors CIMIC Group Limited (formerly Leighton Holdings) is an Australian construction contractor. It is active in the telecommunications, engineering and infrastructure, building and property, mining and resources, and environmental services industries ...

and

Abigroup Abigroup was an Australian construction company. History Abigroup was established as Graham Evans & Co in 1957 as a civil engineering company within New South Wales, being renamed Abignano in 1961. In 1981 it was listed on the Australian Securiti ...

were awarded the contract in 2003 to design and construct the

motorway and interchanges. The interchange is a hybrid of the semidirectional T interchange configuration, with added complexity through the retention and modification of the

Camden Valley Way The Camden Valley Way is a arterial road between Sydney and the historic town of Camden. The road follows the Old Hume Highway alignment between the localities of and Camden. The northeastern terminus is from , while its southwestern termin ...

partial

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...

over the Hume Motorway. Slip roads allow access to both the M5 eastbound and M7 northbound, as well as exit from the Hume Motorway onto Camden Valley Way. Access is also provided to the suburban street network at Beech Road from the westbound lanes of the M5, necessitating three levels of ramps.

Landscaping

The interchange surrounds a landmark high grass-covered

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

made from compacted soil excavated during construction of the M7. The pyramid is illuminated at night by blue

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...

lighting. Complementing the pyramid, forty-five timber poles line the edges of the interchange, symbolic of the native woodlands depleted by urban development in the area. On 15 November 2010, the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

Memorial Plantation was dedicated. Consisting of 45,000 native trees and shrubs, the plantation lines along the Hume Motorway reservation approaching the Roden Cutler Interchange from the

Mount Annan Botanic Garden The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan is a botanical garden located in a hilly area of the southwestern Sydney suburb of , between Campbelltown and Camden, New South Wales. It is the largest botanical garden in Australia, specializing in ...

, a distance of .

References

{{Road infrastructure in Sydney, state=collapsed Military memorials in New South Wales Road interchanges in Australia Transport infrastructure completed in 2005 2005 establishments in Australia