PACIFIC HIGHWAY
Metroad 1 Section: Artarmon to Wahroonga

Typical view of Pacific Highway - this one is looking north at Lindfield. June 2004.

General Overview:

The Pacific Hwy is the major route from the Harbour Crossings and the Gore Hill Freeway to the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway at Wahroonga. The major traffic flow is commuter traffic and holiday-makers headed to the Central Coast and points further north, however, it is also the most straighforward route from Port Botany to the F3. The highway also represents on of only two east-west routes north of the Lane Cove River (the other being a combination of Mona Vale Rd & Burns Rd/Edgeworth David Ave) so carrries a fair amount of traffic that uses the highway for only a short amount of time.

Two tidal flow systems are in use along this section of highway to cope with the peak hour flows of traffic; one from Eddy Rd to Fullers Rd in Chatswood; and one from Kuringgai Ave to Duff St, Turramurra. The highway also doubles as the shopping strips for important local centres such as Turramurra, Gordon and Lidfield, increasing the conflict between loca and through traffic. Major bottlenecks include the SR29 duplex at Chatswood, Turramurra shops and Mowbray Rd. The worst bottleneck of them all was relieved in December 1988 with the opening of the Pymble Interchange - separating the north/south and east/west traffic flows at this major Metroad junction. Apart from this major improvement the road largely remains in its 1930 state - complete with 1930 concrete surface - the only other notable improvements since then were the introduction of the tidal flow systems and S-lanes in the early 1990s.

Notable events in the history of Pacific Hwy (Metroad 1 Section):

1928 - Proclaimed State Highway No.9 (Great Northern Hwy)
1930 - Concrete surfacing completed from North Sydney to Pearces Corner
May 1931 - Redeclared State Highway No. 10 and named Pacific Highway
1955 - National Route 1 signage erected
Dec 1988 - Pymble Interchange
Oct 1993 - Metroad 1 replaced NR1

Photos of Pacific Highway - Metroad 1 Section
	Old school RD sign heading east from the F3 Freeway. Oct 1993.
	Pacific Hwy looking west from the footbridge at Ada Ave, Wahroonga. June 2004.
	AD sign approaching Fox Valley Rd, Warrawee. The coverplate simply covers "Pymble/Sydney" - minus the airport symbol. June 2004.
	Pacific Highway, looking east from Fox Valley Road, Warrawee, showing typical morning peak traffic congestion. Source: Daniel Thornton, November 2006.
	Afternoon traffic looking west in Warrawee. June 2004.
	Looking west through Turramurra towards Kissing Point Rd. June 2004.
	Very old AD sign eastbound on Pacific Hwy approaching Bobbin Head Rd, Pymble. 1993.
	More old school signage with a Metroad 1 coverplate at Bobbin Head Rd. April 1994.
	More old school signage this time westbound at Bobbin Head Rd. 1993.
	Pacific Highway looking east to the four-lane orailway overbridge at Pymble, showing typical morning peak period traffic congestion. Source: Daniel Thornton, November 2006.
	Looking east from the Pymble railway overpass. June 2004.
	Very old faded and coverplated RD sign heading west from Pymble Interchange. April 1994.
	The sign that replaced the above one. June 2004.
	Eastbound AD sign for the Pymble Interchange. June 2004.
	This time approaching in the westbound lanes. June 2004.
	Typical advance street name signage on the Pacific Hwy between Gordon and Roseville. June 2004.
	Great view of Pacific Hwy through the leafy north shore suburb of Killara. June 2004.
	Metroad 1 trailblazer with distance to Sydney Airport, heading southeast from Grosvenor Rd at Lindfield. March 2006.
	RD sign northbound from Boundary St, Roseville. This sign has since been mounted on a cantilever structure on the opposite side of the road. Jan 1994.
	Southbound approaching Boundary St. March 2006.
	Approaching the highway from Boundary St (SR29). June 2006.
	Looking south from Boundary St along the SR29 duplex. April 2004.
	Northbound approaching Boundary St. April 2004.
	Southbound approaching Fullers Rd. April 2004.
	Newly-installed (late 2005) lane allocation AD sign southbound on Pacific Hwy approaching Fullers Rd, Chatswood. It surprises me that such a small (and thus inconspicuous) sign has been used and the route markers omitted. Feb 2006.
	Old style RD sign northbound near Fullers Rd. Feb 2006.
	AD sign for Pacific Hwy on Fullers Rd. Feb 2006.
	Looking south at the southern end of Chatswood's tidal flow system. Unfortunately I was unable to find a location to take a good photo of the tidal flow area itself. March 2004.
	Interesting diagrammatic AD sign for the Mowbray Rd right turn. March 2004.
	Approaching Pacific Hwy from Mowbray Rd, Lane Cove. March 2004.