A3 (Sydney)

A3 New South Wales


A3 (King Georges Rd) looking south at Roselands NSW
Type	Highway
Length	51.3 km (32 mi)
Opened	1950's
History	Superseded Metroad 3 in 2013 A3 Currently
Route number(s)	(A3) Entire length
Former route number	Metroad 3 (1993-2013) State Route 33 (1974-1993) Ring Road 3 (1964-1974) (Mona Vale-Rhodes) and (Wiley Park-Blakehurst) Metroad 3 (1993-2013) State Route 33 (1991-1993) (Rhodes-Wiley Park)
North end	Pittwater Road (A8) Mona Vale
	Forest Way Pacific Highway M2 Hills Motorway Epping Road Victoria Road Concord Road M4 Western Motorway Parramatta Road Hume Highway Punchbowl Road Canterbury Road M5 East / M5 Motorway Stoney Creek Road (D5) Forest Road
South end	Princes Highway (A1) Blakehurst
Region	Sydney
LGA(s)	City of Ryde City of Hurstville
Major suburbs	Mona Vale, Terrey Hills, St. Ives, Pymble, West Pymble, Macquarie Park, North Ryde, Ryde, Rhodes, Liberty Grove, Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush West, Chullora, Wiley Park, Beverly Hills, Hurstville, Blakehurst
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in New South Wales

The A3 is a major metropolitan arterial route in Sydney. It was formerly designated as Metroad 3. The A3 runs from its intersection with the A8 at Mona Vale at the north end, to the southerly of its two intersections with A1, the Princes Highway, at Blakehurst the south end. The highest speed limit on the (A3) is 90 km/h (56 mph) on Mona Vale Road.

It is a major connector between most of the major radial routes emanating from central Sydney, and a major link between the northern and southern parts of the Sydney tolled orbital freeway. It is the most direct, although not necessarily the quickest, route across Sydney between the South Coast and the North Coast.

Most of the route has been progressively upgraded to three lanes in each direction (although the kerbside lanes are often blocked by parking). Sections which are only two lanes in each direction remain, between Beverley Hills and South Hurstville, along Homebush Bay Drive, and between St Ives and Terry Hills. Between Mona Vale and Terry Hills, most of the eastern section of Mona Vale Road is only 1 lane in each direction. Much of the route becomes very congested in peak hour.

The name "A3" is the route allocation for the route as a whole, not a road name. The A3 route runs along a whole series of differently named roads. From north to south they are:

What is now called A3 was initially designated to become a major north-south metropolitan arterial route in 1964, when the route incorporating several existing local arterial roads was designated as 'Ring Road 3'. It was subsequently re-designated 'State Route 33' between 1974 and 1993, and then re-designated 'Metroad 3' after April 1993. It is the only one of Sydney's 'Metroad' routes that has not changed alignment since the Metroad system was adopted in 1993, although there were changes to the route prior to that. In August 2013, as part of the alphanumeric route scheme, Metroad 3 was decommissioned and was designated A3.

After 1964, upgrading projects were commenced, with the construction of new De Burghs Bridges over the Lane Cove River between Pymble and Ryde (1967), and the duplication of Ryde Bridge over the Parramatta River between Ryde and Rhodes (1988). Many projects have been undertaken over the ensuing decades to widen most of the route in stages to three lanes each way, although no proper freeway sections have ever been constructed.

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Wikipedia