Old Windsor Road
Old Windsor Road is a notable and historic road in Sydney, Australia. It starts from Kellyville, New South Wales and ends at Northmead, New South Wales, just north of Parramatta, and acts as part of a main arterial between Parramatta and Windsor. A section at its southeastern end is a constituent part of Cumberland Highway.
Old Windsor Road Cumberland Highway | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Old Windsor Road circa 1913 | |
  Northwest end Southeast end | |
| Coordinates |
|
| General information | |
| Type | Road |
| Length | 11.8 km (7.3 mi)[1] |
| Opened | 1794 |
| Gazetted | August 1928 (as Main Road 180)[2] August 1988 (as State Highway 13, Cumberland Highway)[3] |
| Route number(s) |
|
| Former route number |
|
| Major junctions | |
| Northwest end |  Windsor RoadKellyville, Sydney |
| |
| Southeast end |   Briens RoadNorthmead, Sydney |
Route
Old Windsor Road commences at the intersection with Windsor Road in Kellyville, and runs in a southeasterly direction as a dual-carriageway, 4-lane road, widening to 6 lanes at the intersection with Seven Hills Road, narrowing back to 4 lanes at the intersection with Abbott Road and the southbound ramps to M2 Hills Motorway, then widening again to 6 lanes at Fitzwilliam Road. It meets Cumberland Highway at the intersection of Hart Drive in Constitution Hill and continues in a southeasterly direction as part of Cumberland Highway, before meeting and merging into Briens Road at an intersection in Northmead; Cumberland Highway continues east along Briens Road.
The North-West T-way runs alongside the entire length of Old Windsor Road. Windsor is connected to Parramatta via the 31-kilometre-long (19 mi) Windsor Road cycleway, with much of its route via the North-West T-way, adjacent to the Old Windsor Road.
History
Old Windsor Road was part of the original Windsor Road, which opened in 1794.[4] This was the second main road built for the colony of Sydney to connect Parramatta and Windsor—a distance of 23 miles and 16 chains (37.33 km).[5] The northern section of Windsor Road and Old Windsor Road used to be continuous until 1812, when a new alignment of Windsor Road from Kellyville to Northmead was completed. As a result, the southern section of the original Windsor Road was renamed Old Windsor Road, meeting the new alignment of Windsor Road at a T-junction.
The passing of the Main Roads Act of 1924[6] through the Parliament of New South Wales provided for the declaration of Main Roads, roads partially funded by the State government through the Main Roads Board (later the Department of Main Roads, and eventually Transport for NSW). Main Road No. 180 was declared along this road on 8 August 1928, from the intersection with Great Western Highway just west of Parramatta, to the intersection with (New) Windsor Road at Kellyville.[2] However this was quickly revoked, when it the northern end was truncated to end at the boundary of the old City of Holroyd local government area on 8 May 1929,[7] and then abolished completely in 1930.
The construction of Stage 4 of the Parramatta Bypass (completed in December 1981) realigned the Westmead section of Old Windsor Road to feed it directly into Briens Road; the previous alignment was downgraded into a number of residential streets (today Ferndale Close, Hart Drive, Fulton Avenue, Darcy Road, and Hawkesbury Road to end at Great Western Highway). The southeastern end of the road, from the intersection with Hart Drive in Constitution Hill to its terminus at the intersection with Briens Road at Northmead, was declared as part of Cumberland Highway on 26 August 1988; State Highway 13 (previously declared to run through Parramatta via Pennant Hills Road and Church Street) was altered to use this new route, with Main Road 635 declared along the section from Hart Drive to Seven Hills Road in Seven Hills;[3] Main Road 635 was extended further north along the remaining length of the road to meet Windsor Road in Kellyville on 15 February 1991.[8]
With the opening of M2 Hills Motorway in 1997, Metroad 2 was realigned to run along Old Windsor Road from the motorway terminus at Seven Hills to Kellyville (and continuing along Windsor Road to Windsor); the junction at Kellyville was reconstructed so that the northern section of Windsor Road became continuous with Old Windsor Road again at a T-junction.[9] In 2007, the intersection with Norwest Boulevard at Bella Vista was upgraded into an interchange to allow an underpass for Old Windsor Road.
The passing of the Roads Act of 1993[10] through the Parliament of New South Wales updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, Old Windsor Road today retains its declaration as Highway 13 from the intersection with Hart Drive in Constitution Hill to the intersection with Briens Road at Northmead, and as Main Road 635 Hart Drive to the intersection with Windsor Road at Kellyville.[11]
As part of Cumberland Highway, the section between Constitution Hill and its southeastern end at Northmead was allocated State Route 77 in 1988, replaced by Metroad 7 in 1993; Metroad 7 was removed when Westlink M7 opened in 2005. With the opening of M2 Hills Motorway in 1997, Metroad 2 was realigned to use the northern section of Old Windsor Road, between the motorway's exit ramps in Seven Hills and its northwestern end in Kellyville. State Route 40 was realigned in 2007 from Windsor Road to Old Windsor Road along its entire length. With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, Metroad 2 was replaced with route A2 from Kellyville to Seven Hills, State Route 40 was replaced with route A40 from Seven Hills to Northmead, and the section gazetted as Cumberland Highway was also re-allocated as part of route A28.[12]
Almost all of its original concrete markers have disappeared with the extensive road widening. One section has been restored to its original state as it passes Rouse Hill House and Rouse Hill Public School, with the traffic diverted onto a new section of road.[5]
Major intersections
| LGA | Location | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blacktown–The Hills boundary | Kellyville Ridge–Stanhope Gardens–Beaumont Hills–Kellyville quadripoint | 0.0 | 0.0 | Windsor Road (A2 north, unallocated east) – Windsor, Baulkham Hills | Northwestern terminus of road, route A2 continues north along Windsor Road |
| Glenwood–Bella Vista boundary | 4.4 | 2.7 | Norwest Boulevard – Glenwood, Norwest to  Westlink M7 (M7) – Rooty Hill, Prestons | Single-point urban interchange | |
| Glenwood–Bella Vista–Kings Langley tripoint | 5.8 | 3.6 | Westlink M7 (M7) – Beecroft, North Ryde | Half-diamond interchange, eastbound entrance and westbound exit only | |
| Bella Vista–Kings Langley–Seven Hills–Baulkham Hills quadripoint | 6.4 | 4.0 | Seven Hills Road – Seven Hills, Baulkham Hills | ||
| Seven Hills–Baulkham Hills boundary | 7.3 | 4.5 | Abbot Road (west) – Seven Hills | Northern terminus of route A40 | |
 M2 Hills Motorway (M2 east) – Beecroft, North Ryde | |||||
| Parramatta | Old Toongabbie–Constitution Hill boundary | 10.1 | 6.3 | Fitzwilliam Road – Toongabbie | |
| Constitution Hill–Northmead boundary | 11.3 | 7.0 | Hart Drive (Cumberland Highway) – Wentworthville, Smithfield, Liverpool | Western terminus of concurrency with route A28 | |
| Toongabbie Creek | 11.4 | 7.1 | Bridge (no known official name) | ||
| Parramatta | Northmead | 11.8 | 7.3 | Briens Road (Cumberland Highway) (A28/A40) – Wahroonga, Ryde, Clyde | Southeastern terminus of road Routes A28 and A40 continue east along Briens Road |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- Google (19 August 2022). "Old Windsor Road" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
- "Main Roads Act, 1924-1927". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 110. National Library of Australia. 17 August 1928. pp. 3814–20. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
- "State Roads Act". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 138. National Library of Australia. 26 August 1988. p. 4505. Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- Old Windsor Road and Windsor Road Heritage Precincts, Roads and Transport Authority, Published on 16 November 2010, Retrieved on 16 July 2013
- Crofts, Robert and Sandra (31 May 2013). "Parramatta to Windsor Series". Discovering Australia's Historical Milemarkers and Boundary Stones. Xlibris Corporation. pp. 86–89. ISBN 978-1483636917.
- State of New South Wales, An Act to provide for the better construction, maintenance, and financing of main roads; to provide for developmental roads; to constitute a Main Roads Board Archived 11 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine 10 November 1924
- "Main Roads Act, 1924-1929". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 68. National Library of Australia. 24 May 1929. p. 2138. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- "State Roads Act". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 31. National Library of Australia. 15 February 1991. pp. 1441–3. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- "Old Windsor Road & Windsor Road: History and Development". Ozroads. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
- State of New South Wales, An Act to make provision with respect to the roads of New South Wales; to repeal the State Roads Act 1986, the Crown and Other Roads Act 1990 and certain other enactments; and for other purposes. Archived 11 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine 10 November 1924
- Transport for NSW (August 2022). "Schedule of Classified Roads and Unclassified Regional Roads" (PDF). Government of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
- "Road number and name changes in NSW" (PDF). Roads & Maritime Services. Government of New South Wales. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.