Old South Head Road lane changes to boost bus travel time and reliability

Thousands of bus passengers and motorists will benefit from road improvements at Bondi Junction which will boost reliability and travel times.

The work will extend a right turn lane on Old South Head by 65 metres to create a longer lane for vehicles turning right onto Syd Einfeld Drive, allowing more buses and vehicles to move through the intersection more efficiently.

A Transport for NSW spokesperson said extending the lane will improve travel times for buses and reduce delays for all traffic.

“The intersection of Old South Head Road, Bondi Road and Syd Einfeld Drive is a key junction for two major bus corridors in and out of Bondi Junction,” the spokesperson said.

“At weekday peak times it is congested with long traffic queues. This treatment is expected to significantly reduce peak time queue lengths and allow traffic to flow more freely.

“More than 24,000 bus passengers each weekday will benefit from improved reliability and journey times as well as the extended lane reducing general traffic congestion. In addition, we expect less weaving of traffic and safer, easier and more reliable journeys for bus passengers, as well as general traffic.”

The change will reduce the northern footpath width from four metres to two metres. 

Two trees will need to be removed, and Transport will try to retain two other trees during construction. 

Tree replacement will be done in collaboration with Woollahra Council.

“We are grateful to those who took part in our consultation on the project. We are working through a detailed design and will continue to update the community and nearby property owners and provide further updates to the project webpage.”

The work is being carried out under the Bus Priority Infrastructure Program (BPIP), a rolling program that delivers infrastructure improvements to address the reliability and efficiency of bus services in Greater Sydney.