Ryde Road commences at the interchange with Pacific Highway, between Pymble and Gordon, connecting through a tunnel under Pacific Highway from Mona Vale Road and heads in a southwesterly direction as a six-lane, dual-carriageway road, through the suburb of West Pymble.

The road was built in the early 1900s, after the De Burghs Bridge across the steep valley formed by the Lane Cove River was opened in 1901,[3] known at the time as The Broadway.

The Broadway was officially re-named Ryde Road, between Pacific Highway and De Burghs Bridge in West Pymble, on 27 February 1952.

[7] The De Burghs Bridge was upgraded to two large high-level multi-lane separate concrete bridges over the Lane Cove River, built alongside each other and replacing the ricketty wooden structure and winding approaches, opening on 15 December 1967.

[10] With the conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in 2013, Metroad 3 was replaced by route A3.