Belmore Road and Avoca Street Bus and Safety Improvements, Randwick

We started work in June to implement changes to improve bus reliability and road safety on Belmore Road and Avoca Street, Randwick.

We have made good progress however we need to extend the work schedule until mid-August due to unforeseen site conditions and bad weather.

Please see the latest community notification (PDF, 321.67 KB) for more information.

Randwick Town Centre is a key public transport interchange for the eastern suburbs including people catching light rail, buses, walking, cycling and driving. It is also a major health precinct and educational centre.

Belmore Road and Avoca Street are important and busy bus and road corridors that pass through Randwick Town Centre. Currently, bus passengers can experience slow travel times and delays on their journeys. During peak hours, Belmore Road experiences a high volume of buses, approximately one every 2-3 minutes in both directions. 

Bus zones are currently too short to allow multiple buses to pull in safely. This causes safety concerns for people getting on and off as well as traffic congestion, which delays following buses. It’s also hard for buses to turn right from Arthur Street into Belmore Road due to parked cars and traffic congestion. 

On Avoca Street, vehicles that legally stop in the ‘No Parking’ zone southbound between Short Street and Mears Avenue block traffic, causing congestion, impacting bus performance and network efficiency on this key arterial road. 

To help improve bus reliability, reduce congestion and improve safety, we proposed changes to bus zones and parking along Belmore Road and Avoca Street. Transport has also taken the opportunity to improve a key walking connection in the area by proposing a new signalised pedestrian crossing on Belmore Road.

This proposal has been developed in consultation with Randwick City Council and bus operators and is being funded by the NSW Government. 

We proposed to increase the length of two bus zones on Belmore Road, and extend the times of operation, to improve:

• the ability for multiple buses to safely pull into the kerb at the bus stops
• traffic flow and reduce congestion caused by buses blocking the traffic lanes while waiting to pull in
• safety for bus passengers getting on and off
• bus performance and reliability. 

To reduce congestion and improve bus performance and network efficiency on Avoca Street, we also proposed to change the ‘no parking area’ to ‘no stopping’, and to extend the hours of operation. 

We are also installing a new signalised pedestrian crossing on Belmore Road to improve safety and access for people using the footpath to connect to Randwick Town Centre, the Light Rail and bus services.

On behalf of Council, and to support local businesses and customers, we also invited feedback on plans to:

• extend the half hour timed parking across the weekend on Belmore Road and Avoca Street
• extend the loading zone times, at the northern end of Belmore Road, to include weekend mornings.

View the existing and initial proposed parking arrangements. (PDF, 533.26 KB)

Consultation was open from 22 November to 18 December 2024, giving residents, businesses, and key stakeholders the opportunity to provide feedback. 

We provided an online feedback form for community feedback, distributed notifications to about 4,054 residences and 569 local businesses, emailed key stakeholders, installed posters along Belmore Road and Avoca Street.

We door knocked businesses along Belmore Road and Avoca Street and contacted all respondents who requested a phone call to discuss their feedback.

We also held three community information sessions along Belmore Road on the 3, 4 and 11 December 2024.

We received valuable input and general overall support for the proposal, including:

• support for the proposal to improve bus passenger safety and accessibility and improve bus reliability and performance
• support for the proposal to reduce congestion on Belmore Road
• support for the new signalised pedestrian crossing
• feedback on bus zone adjustments and traffic flow improvements
• concerns about potential impacts on local businesses in Avoca Street.

View the Consultation Summary Report (PDF, 4.76 MB).

After carefully reviewing all feedback, we acknowledge the broad support for the proposal. In response to some feedback from businesses on Avoca Street we have refined the proposal to better balance the business needs with adjustments to parking. 

The final proposal will now proceed with the following changes to the scope:

• on Avoca Street, the proposed ‘no parking’ will change to ‘no stopping’ for a shorter period than proposed. The new times will be 7am-9am (current hours) and 3pm-6pm (4pm-6pm current hours) Monday to Friday
• on behalf of Randwick City Council, we also consulted on extending the existing timed parking to include weekends as well as some possible changes to the northern loading zone times.  The Council will use the results in planning for an upcoming review of parking in the wider commercial area. As such these aspects will not form part of this final proposal.

We appreciate the community’s engagement in this process and look forward to delivering these improvements to enhance transport efficiency and safety for all road users.

The Consultation Summary Report details how community feedback was reviewed, considered and responded to as part of these proposed changes. The current and final proposed changes are shown on the maps below. 

Final changes recommended for implementation

Current arrangements on Belmore Road and Avoca Street

Belmore Road northbound - final recommended changes

• extending the length of the existing bus zone in the morning peak by 12 metres (around 2 parking spaces impacted for 4 hours)
• extending the peak hour bus zone time on weekdays from 7am- 9am to 6am- 10am (around 3.5 parking spaces impacted for 2 hours and the northern loading zone impacted by 1 hour on weekday mornings).

Belmore Road southbound - final recommended changes

• extending the length of the bus zone by 18 metres (around 3 car spaces impacted permanently)
• changing the existing 4pm-6pm no stopping zone, to a timed bus zone during peak hours from 7am-10am and 3pm-7pm (around 5 parking spaces impacted by 6 hours).

Benefits

• improve traffic flow, bus performance and travel times for the high frequency of buses (every 2-3 mins during peak)
• extend bus zones to allow buses to safely pull in and to improve traffic flow through the town centre
• improve safety and access for people walking and getting public transport
• ease congestion and improve travel times for all road users during peak periods
• improve accessibility of the bus stop for all bus passengers.

• the existing ‘no parking’ zone will be changed to ‘no stopping’ in the morning and afternoon.
• the hours of operation will remain the same in the morning peak from 7am to 9am.
• the afternoon hours of operation will be extended by one hour from 3pm to 6pm (currently 4pm to 6pm), Monday to Friday.
• this reduces parking for around 6 spaces by one hour on weekdays
• work to install the new signs will be carried out in the coming months.

Benefits

• reduced congestion as two lanes of traffic can flow during peak hours
• improved network efficiency and bus reliability.

Currently, the intersection of Belmore Road, Cuthill Street and Perouse Road has a missing link with no dedicated signalised crossing.

We will be installing the missing signalised pedestrian crossing to improve safety and connections for people using the footpath to access the town centre, nearby bus stops and the Light Rail. 

We are also working with Council to widen the initial design, and amend pram ramps and kerbs, to meet future shared path and cycleway requirements.

Parking and bus changes on Belmore Road were approved by the Randwick Traffic Committee in April 2025. Parking changes on Avoca Street and the installation of a new signalised pedestrian crossing were approved by Transport in March 2025.

Our construction partner ConnectSydney started work to implement these changes from 10 June and is expected to be completed by  mid-August, weather permitting. For more information about the work, including our work hours and locations, please see the latest community notification (PDF, 321.67 KB).

Please contact ConnectSydney on 1800 735 563 or by email at info.harbour@connectsydney.com.au if you have any construction queries.

• Extended work dates notification – July 2025 (PDF, 321.67 KB)
• Start of work notification - May 2025 (PDF, 515.87 KB)
• Consultation outcome notification - April 2025 (PDF, 1.26 MB)
• Randwick Bus and Road Safety Improvements - Consultation Report April 2025 (PDF, 4.76 MB)
• Community notification - November 2024 (PDF, 1.6 MB)