Pennant Hills Road - Route

Route

The road begins in the northern suburb of Wahroonga at Pearce's Corner, the intersection with the Pacific Highway, north-west of the Sydney CBD, and south-east of Hornsby. The Sydney-Newcastle Freeway (F3) ends a few hundred metres south of Pearce's Corner at an intersection with Pennant Hills Road. From here, the road passes through the Hornsby Shire suburbs of Normanhurst, Thornleigh and Pennant Hills. In Thornleigh there is a major intersection with The Comenarra Parkway, an arterial road which begins as Yanko Road in West Pymble. In the evening this intersection can get quite busy, and is often characterised by bumper to bumper traffic on the Comenarra Parkway, as motorists attempt to turn either left or right onto Pennant Hills Road. The Parkway has become somewhat of a through route from the North Shore suburbs as well as the City, with some motorists choosing to avoid Epping Road and The M2 Motorway and travel west through the Parkway.

At Pennant Hills, the highway crosses the Northern Railway Line, intersects with Yarrara Road and Boundary Road,heading west, after which is located a major intersection with Beecroft Road. The highway then heads west, and then south-west towards Thompson's Corner, in West Pennant Hills, where there is a major intersection with Castle Hill Road. In the mid 1990s, a tunnel was built beneath the intersection which allows traffic from Castle Hill Road to turn onto Pennant Hills Road, going southbound, without negotiating the traffic lights. This also means that southbound traffic already on Pennant Hills Road rarely has to stop at the Thompson's Corner intersection, only if pedestrians are crossing.

The highway continues south to the M2 Hills Motorway intersection. Traffic can enter the motorway from Pennant Hills Road to drive either eastbound (towards the City) or westbound (towards Blacktown) - as well, motorway traffic is able to exit onto Pennant Hills Road from both directions.

Pennant Hills Road continues south from the M2 intersection through Carlingford and the intersection with North Rocks Road and then onto the intersection with Carlingford Road. South of the Carlingford Road intersection lies the intersection with Marsden Road, and the highway then continues south-west towards Parramatta, crossing the Carlingford Railway Line, and through the suburbs of Telopea and North Parramatta, where the major intersection with James Ruse Drive lies. Pennant Hills Road forms part of the Cumberland Highway until the intersection with James Ruse Drive where it relinquishes that designation to the latter road.

The highway then continues south-west into Parramatta where it meets Church Street.

The highway is a 60 km/h (37 mph) four-lane road from Pearce's Corner for the short distance to the F3 intersection. From the F3 intersection the highway is a 70 km/h (43 mph) six-lane highway for the entire distance to the M2 Motorway intersection. From here, the road reverts to being a 60 km/h (37 mph) four-lane road for the rest of the distance to Parramatta, with short third lanes at various points in each direction. There are numerous 40 km/h (25 mph) "school zones" (8:00am-9:30am and 2:30pm-4:00pm) and there are two fixed speed cameras, between Evans Road and Coleman Avenue in Carlingford and between Castle Street and Bellevue Street in North Parramatta. Both are 60 km/h (37 mph) zones.

Pennant Hills Road frontage is a mix of businesses, schools and homes. The biggest concentration of businesses are at Thornleigh, Pennant Hills, West Pennant Hills (Thompson's Corner) and Carlingford, with the Carlingford area being the biggest.