Epping Road

Epping Road is an important arterial road in suburban Sydney. Epping Road is 9 kilometres long, and is a major route linking the lower North Shore and Sydney CBD to the north western suburbs and Hills District of metropolitan Sydney. In particular, it is a major access road to the commercial/industrial/university area of North Ryde and Macquarie Park.

Epping Road commences from Longueville Road near the centre of the suburb of Lane Cove, about 400 meters west from the junction of Longueville Road with the Pacific Highway.

Epping Road runs north-west from Lane Cove, crossing the Lane Cove River, and running through North Ryde, Macquarie Park and Marsfield, crosses Terry's Creek and ends at its junction with Blaxland Road adjacent to Epping Railway Station at Epping.

History

Epping Road was originally constructed in the 1930s as an entirely new road, in contrast to most of the other main roads in Sydney which had routes originally established in the early 1800s. The road was divided by a beautiful centre strip so wide people used to park and picnic there.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Epping Road was further reconstructed as a mostly 6 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 was not eliminated.

North-west of the Lane Cove River, the M2 Hills Motorway, a tollway which opened in May 1997 and diverges from Epping Road, bypassing North Ryde and Epping. It is part of the Sydney Orbital Route 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, a cashless tollway, opened in March 2007 runs beneath Epping Road, bypassing Lane Cove suburb and reducing congestion.

Since the opening of the Lane Cove Tunnel, Epping Road was left intact for a period of 5 months. This was followed by a 7 month construction period to reconfigure Epping Road. The final configuration commenced operation on 10 March 2008 and consists of:

* 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
* 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 on the southern side of Epping Rd (originally due for completion in May 2008).

See changes to Epping Road and project background [cite web
url=http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/constructionmaintenance/majorconstructionprojectssydney/lanecovetunnel/background.html
title=Project background
publisher=www.rta.nsw.gov.au
accessdate=2008-03-16] for more details

These changes were part of the contractual agreement reached between the NSW state government and the developers of the Lane Cove Tunnel, prior to the start of the tunnel's construction.

References