When early settlers wanted to travel between the first settlements of Parramatta and Sydney, they looked to the river rather than land. Parramatta Road - Australia's first inter-settlement road - was only considered a second choice to the faster and more comfortable transport alternatives offered by Parramatta River.
In the late 18th century more colonists lived in Parramatta than in Sydney. Records show 1,970 people in Parramatta in 1792 compared with 1,170 in Sydney. In about 1790 the first winding track linking the two settlements was cut through thick bush.
The route of Parramatta Road has not varied greatly from the time it was a rural track to the west until the present day. Initially, the road west of Flemington took a route further south, but from 1797 the route has remained virtually unchanged. Today it stretches 23 km from Broadway in Sydney City to Church Street in Parramatta.
In the 1820s stagecoach services between the two settlements challenged the dominance of river transport, but coaches could not compete with the efficiency of the new railway of the 1850s. It was the introduction of the motor car in the 1920s that changed Parramatta Road's status from that of poor second cousin to the river and railway.
The motor car and lorry came into their own when the road was extensively resurfaced in the 1920s and 1930s. Ironically, extreme traffic congestion has caused the road to be bypassed since the 1960s by other routes such as the Western Expressway. In recent times, Parramatta Road has regained the role it has held for much of its life - servicing local communities along its route.
In the mid 19th century Sydney broke out of the mould of a "walking city" as ferries, horse buses, trains and trams carried people to work and leisure. Arterial routes such as Parramatta Road helped to feed the emerging suburban city growing around public transport routes.
Early farms, such as Grose Farm, Annandale Estate and Petersham Estate made use of Parramatta Road, but its importance has always been as a communication corridor. Inns, hotels and staging posts developed along the route to service the needs of travellers. A notable example is the Longbottom Stockade and Government Farm at Concord which was established in about 1792. This was an overnight stopping point, prison, police barracks, government farm, timber mill and agistment area. Concord Oval is located on part of the site.
Despite its enormous historical significance for both Sydney and Australia, many of Parramatta Road's landmarks remain hidden and unrecognised to the casual traveller. A new project by the Inner Metropolitan Regional Organisation of Councils (IMROC) aims to revitalize this much maligned corridor, which has been referred to as the varicose vein of Sydney. Planning and design groups have been discussing ideas to improve Parramatta Road, including such issues as business and housing development, traffic and transport, heritage, landscape and urban design. The final report is due for release in September this year.
For more information on Parramatta Road 2000 & Beyond, contact IMROC's input line ph: (02) 9911 9910 or visit the website at: www.parramattaroad.net.nf
