Metroad 10 is a predominantly north-south radial route serving the North Shore and Manly/Warringah/Pittwater areas. However, due to acess arrangements to the Warringah Freeway, Metroad 10 becomes an east-west route, then turns to the north again, before meeting the Gore Hill Freeway at Artarmon. Almost the entire route is 4-6 lane divided carriageway, with short 4-lane undivided sections at Narrabeen Lagoon, Spit Bridge and along Falcon Street at Crows Nest.

The development of the route can be traced back to the late 1800's when the majority of Pittwater Rd was constructed, following the establishment of a ferry service across Middle Harbour at The Spit in 1850. In October 1923, a two lane timber opening bridge was opened, replacing the ferry service at The Spit. As part of the project the current southern approach was constructed, bypassing the old route of Parriwi Rd. The northern approach then consisted of Avona Crescent and Old Sydney Rd up to Seaforth. The bridge was tolled until March 1930.

During the late 1920's and 1930's the newly formed Main Roads Board undertook comprehensive reconstruction of the main road system. As part of this, Pittwater Rd and Condamine Street were reconstructed in cement concrete as far north as Narrabeen Lagoon during 1929. The northern approach to Spit Bridge was also reconstructed, with Old Sydney Rd/Avona Crescent becoming one-way southbound and Battle Bvd/Palmerston Place/Ponsonby Pde becoming one-way northbound. This work was completed in March 1932, in time for the extra road traffic generated by the opening fo the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

During the post war years the traffic grew at amazing levels and the existing 2-lane opening bridge became a major bottleneck. Traffic was often backed up as far as Spit Junction when the bridge opened. A new bridge and northern approach was required, and construction commenced in September 1951. The existing southern approach was widened to 6 lanes, with a new 6-lane cutting (Manly Rd) constructed to carry traffic to/from Sydney Rd and the Spit Bridge. The new four lane, opening bridge opened, toll-free, in November 1958.

During the 1960's Military and Spit Roads were widened to 6 lanes after the tram services were replaced by buses. In 1974, the route recieved its first route number, State Route 14. The exact route and details of its subsequent changes in alignment are detailed in the State Route 14 page under Decomissioned Routes.

By the late 1970's traffic on the route had increased remarkedly in the absence of any non-road based public transport to the area. The major bottleneck was through Balgowlah, where traffic from Manly Rd had to use Sydney Rd through Balgowlah shops and then the four-lane Condamine Street to get to Manly Vale. A bypass of this area, known as Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation was originally proposed as part of the County of Cumberland Planning Scheme in 1951. It was finally constructed during the mid 80's and opened to traffic in March 1985, along with assosciated widening of Condamine St to Pittwater Rd. Also completed in 1985 was the widening of Bilgola Bends, permitting the extension of articulated bus services to Avalon and Palm Beach.

It was during the 1990's that the RTA introduced the Sydney Metroad system, however Metroad 10 was not part of the original 6 Metroads. Instead, Metroad 10 was not introduced until 1998. It originally extended from Neutral Bay, via Falcon St and Pacific Highway, to the intersection of Pacific Hwy, Gore Hill Fwy and Longueville Rd at Lane Cove. This was done to provide a connection between Metroad 10 and Metroads 1 and 2, as there was no north-facing ramps at the Warringah Freeway/Falcon St interchange. With the opening of the Lane Cove Tunnel in March 2007, north-facing ramps at that interchange were opened to traffic, enabling through traffic to bypass Crows Nest/St Leonards and so Metroad 10 was truncated at the Warringah Freeway.

Former Alignment - Neutral Bay to Artarmon

Warringah Freeway Junction
Gore Hill Freeway Junction