Metroad 7
Metroad 7 is a
Metroad in
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Metroad 7 links the
Hume Highway (National Highway 31) at
Casula with the F3
Sydney-Newcastle Freeway (National Highway 1) at
Wahroonga.
The roads forming the original Metroad 7 route were dual-named with
Cumberland Highway in addition to their existing name. This dual-naming system has been retained even after the reassignment of most of the length of Metroad 7 to the
Westlink M7 motorway.
The original western Sydney bypass was Ring Road 5, which busiest section (Pennant Hills Rd and Woodville Rd) is between Pacific Highway and Hume Highway with
Parramatta in between. In the 1980s, Ring Road 5 was superseded by State Route 55. The growth of Sydney's west had instead turned it into a primary arterial with huge increase in freight traffic.
In 1994, Cumberland Highway was upgraded and replaces Woodville Rd for the Liverpool-Parramatta stretch. Pennant Hills Rd was widened and retained for the Parramattaâ€"Wahroonga stretch. This Liverpoolâ€"Wahroonga route was initially State Route 77, later signed as Metroad 7 and was designated by the Federal Government as an interim National Highway until the completion of
Westlink M7.
The
Westlink M7 motorway was completed in December 2005, and now connects the M5 from the south-west, the M4, and the M2 to the north-west.
With the opening of
Westlink M7 in December
2005, Metroad 7 between Liverpool and Beecroft was reassigned to the new motorway. Much of the former Metroad 7 traffic has switched from the Cumberland Highway route onto the Westlink M7 motorway, which is electronically tolled according to distance travelled. The Westlink sports the new alphanumeric
M7 square shield rather than the hexagon Metroad shield.
Prior to the completion of the Westlink M7, Metroad 7 commenced at
Hume Highway in
Casula, through to
Liverpool via Cross Roads
M5 South Western Motorway (
Metroad 5) interchange. From then on it followed the Cumberland Highway crossing the
M4 Western Motorway (
Metroad 4) interchange and
Great Western Highway at Wentworthville, bypassing Parramatta until Briens Rd and James Ruse Drive. From there it followed Pennant Hills Rd via the
M2 Hills Motorway (
Metroad 2) interchange until it ended at the Pacific Highway/Sydney-Newcastle Freeway interchange at Wahroonga. This route had numerous sets of
traffic lights and did not have any major freeway grade stretches (except James Ruse Drive) â€" with the industrial growth of the western suburbs traffic was extremely heavy around the clock.
Following the completion of the Westlink M7 motorway, Metroad 7 commences at the
M5 South Western Motorway interchange in
Prestons. It follows the route of the Westlink M7 motorway until the
M2 Hills Motorway at
Baulkham Hills. The M2 Hill Motorway is co-designated
Metroad 2 and Metroad 7 between Baulkham Hills and Pennant Hills Road (Metroad 2/
Metroad 6/Metroad 7 interchange). Metroad 7 then follows the former path along Pennant Hills Road to Wahroonga.
*
Westlink M7
