Quadruple Double Bay intersection: Pressure builds for Transport NSW to fix

A confusing quadruple intersection in Sydney’s east has had more than a dozen crashes within five years, with claims an entire suburb is held hostage by nearly constant congestion.

A quadruple intersection in Sydney’s east has had 13 crashes within five years as locals claim they are held hostage by constant congestion.

The four way junction at New South Head Rd, Bellevue Rd, Cross St and Kiaora Rd in Double Bay has recorded nine injuries in crashes since 2019.

Regarded as the “worst intersection in the east”, locals say it’s a miracle nobody has been killed yet, with “near misses” occurring daily.

The danger of the crossing comes in the form of confusion, mainly about which red lights apply to which motorists.

Cars turning right onto New South Head Rd often panic upon seeing a red light, and stop in the middle of the intersection, blocking traffic behind them.

Kellie Sloane Member for Vaucluse and Mayor of Woollahra Sarah Swan.

The same problem is caused by motorists coming the other way from Bellevue Rd.

A left hand turn installed by the government in 2022 only adds to the confusion for cars wanting to go straight, locals say.

The four way intersection is making residents hot under the collar.

Local business owner Pham Yang said the issue has worsened over the past 25 years, as more motorists not used to eastern suburbs traffic were caught off guard by the crossing.

“The entire time we’ve been here it’s constant beeping, swearing ‘f--k this’, it’s very annoying and they need to fix it,” he said.

Pressure is mounting on the state government to act on the “constant carnage”, with Woollahra Mayor Sarah Swan and Federal Member for Vaucluse Kellie Sloane voicing concerns of the community.

In a private members statement to state parliament last week, Ms Sloane said the intersection exemplified eastern suburbs traffic at its worst.

Ms Sloane said the intersection was “confusing, congested and dangerous”.

“It is confusing, congested and dangerous, I encourage the minister to come and see this intersection, watch the backed-up traffic, hear the beeps and witness the road rage that happens almost every minute of the day,” she said.

Ms Sloane, has also launched a petition pushing the state government to act.

On Monday night Woollahra Council passed a motion for council engineers to write to Transport for NSW again requesting solutions for the congested choke point.

Cr Swan said she was inundated with letters from worried residents who believed it was only a matter of time before a tragedy occurred.

Similar grievances are shared by Deputy Mayor Sean Carmichael, who said Bellevue Hill residents were essentially “landlocked” by traffic half the day.

“It is so utterly desperate, it’s awful people in Bellevue Hill cannot get in or out half the day, we are landlocked there,” he said

“It is horrible I am having a primal scream right now because is so bad, we are that desperate to clear up the gridlock.”

The issue was first brought to the table back in early 2022, through a question with notice raised by Cr Carmichael.

Since then council engineers have made repeated requests to the department on behalf of the community to improve safety at the intersection.

In October last year a safety review and traffic study of the intersections was completed with the results currently being assessed, a Transport for NSW spokesman confirmed.

In a statement, the spokesman said the department was “actively investigating improvements for the intersection”.

“A technical review and assessment of options to improve the intersections is currently underway, following which Transport will consider next steps in delivering improvements at these intersections,” he said.