Planning for this beltway, orbital or ring road began as early as 1962 under the "County of Cumberland scheme" (CCS) and was talked about as far back as 1944.

In 2007, the Lane Cove Tunnel opened, completing the orbital network.

The 110 km Sydney orbital consists of several motorways and freeways, they are listed below: The major sunken/underground sections of the orbital are: The major elevated sections are: The Sydney Orbital Road Network consists of a number of roads built by private companies: tolling is mostly unavoidable when using the road network.

A $6.95 toll was added to the M5 East motorway from King Georges Road to Marsh Street on the 5th of July 2020,[2] to coincide with the opening of the M8 tunnel.

Intercity highways are linked to the Orbital, moving traffic away from the old busy National Routes.