Life in the slow lane: Fury as council drops speed limit to 40km/h

The bottom half of the Waverley Council LGA, including Bronte and Bondi Junction, will have its speed limit cut by 10km/h by next month, following a community consultation period from 2019-2020.

A map of Waverley LGA showing the new traffic zone. The dark grey area will soon be 40km/h. Picture: Supplied

Traffic across Sydney’s eastern suburbs is about to be reduced to a crawl with blanket 40km/h zones to be introduced, the result of a proposal which began more than five years ago.

The permanent change impacts areas including Bronte, Bondi Junction and Tamarama and follows an “awareness campaign” conducted by Waverley Council back in 2019-2020, which received fewer than 200 responses in a Local Government Area of 64,000 people.

Roads that were once 50km/h are being slowed across half of Waverley Council, from the area south of Bondi Road and Syd Einfeld Drive. It includes parts of Oxford Street. New speed limit signs are being installed and will be in place by mid-June.

It is understood the move has come as a shock to some residents, who were unaware the plan was still going ahead.

The council has already rolled out dozens of what it calls “traffic calming treatments”, including pedestrian crossings, kerb extensions and road humps.

Waverley Councillor Michelle Stephenson told The Daily Telegraph: “many residents raised concerns about pedestrian safety as well as the need for cars to travel slower in neighbourhoods.”

“These quieter streets will enable kids to walk and cycle safely to school which has been a big concern for residents who live in the Bondi Beach community. A drop from 50 to 40km/h will save lives and serious harm in the event of an accident and the statistics support this,” Ms Stephenson said.

Syd Einfeld drive at Bondi Junction will be slowed to 40km/h. Picture: John Appleyard

The changes come data showing Waverley is among the top 10 safest LGAs in Sydney for crashes.

The council’s community consultation took place in 2019-2020, before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and involved a range of social media and online messages and a letter box drop. Council workers also spoke to residents at “open days” and doorknocked homes. Across these activities, they received only 195 responses, with 75% in favour of dropping the speed limit.

According to Waverley Council’s website – a 10km/h reduction “provides a major safety benefit”, with data from Transport for NSW “finding there is a 4 metre improvement in reaction distance, and up to an 11 metre braking distance improvement in wet weather conditions.“

Speed limits have also been reduced in the nearby City of Sydney Council, with both moves backed by Transport for NSW and inspired by a national push to have no deaths and serious injuries on Australian roads by 2050.

Locals have taken to social media in frustration after learning of the change in recent weeks.

Vanessa said: “The Eastern Suburbs already has too much traffic – this is just going to create more jams. The problem isn’t speed, it’s moronic pedestrians glued to their phones.”

David added: “Kids doing 45km on E-Bikes is what will kill someone in Waverley.”

Carlo described the move as “total insanity. Bureaucrats out of control.”

Waverley Council and Transport for NSW are also reviewing speed limits in the northern half of the LGA.

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Originally published as Life in the slow lane: Fury as council drops speed limit to 40km/h