Locals are still talking about traffic congestion and sharing concerns about public transport access and convenience.

There are still only three ways in and three ways out of the Northern Beaches by road, although planning for the Beaches Link Tunnel has progressed significantly. Major road work on Mona Vale Road, expanding two lanes to four between Mona Vale and Terrey Hills, is aimed at reducing congestion on this route. Whilst geographically constrained, there are works and plans in place for improvement.

The ‘MOVE Northern Beaches’ transport strategy was adopted by Council in November 2018. Prioritised delivery of transport infrastructure projects has resulted in new footpaths, shared paths and cycleways to provide active transport links between key locations, such as commercial areas and schools. The strategy has resulted in improved parking arrangements on the Northern Beaches and enhanced the efficiency of our road network.

The popular B-Line ‘trunk’ service was introduced and has been at capacity in peak periods. Local direct-to-city services have been replaced by ‘feeder’ and ‘on demand’ services that deliver people to the B-Line. Public transport services along the east-west transport corridor have improved, with an express bus between Dee Why and Chatswood. Manly Ferry services have also changed and car share services have expanded.

Although there is a desire for more to be done, our community is aware that the need for more infrastructure is at odds with the over-arching desire to maintain and protect the natural environment.

Communication and connection using internet and technology connectivity has not received as much community engagement with Council as traffic and transport issues. In community engagement for Towards 2040, people expressed their desire to live in a community that embraces and champions technology that improves the way we live, work and play. Council is keen to further understand our community’s current aspirations in relation to communication and connectivity.

Locals experience transport stress and this is acknowledged as a key issue of concern. Major transport infrastructure development has generally not kept pace with increasing population and retrofitted solutions appear to reach capacity quickly.

A major, once in a generation, investment in a transport solution such as a heavy or light rail system is often called for in community engagement on the Northern Beaches. To do that may require an increase in population to enhance investment viability. This represents a challenge and is at odds with other community aspirations.

Residents clearly define ‘regions’ within the Northern Beaches. These regions have very different lifestyles and are often geographically defined. This will require bespoke solutions to transport as a ‘one size fits all’ approach will not preserve the uniqueness of each locale.

Locals want to see continued investment in new active transport corridors to improve the liveability of our neighbourhoods and encourage activity, however they also recognise that maintaining and renewing what is already there comes at a cost. Locals also acknowledge that while improvements have been made, the benefits are often short lived as demand continues to rise and capacity is once again exceeded.

The impacts of climate change and increasing natural hazards also need to be factored into maintenance and development of new road assets.

There is opportunity to increase local liveability through attracting business into the Northern Beaches. Our structure plans for Frenchs Forest and Brookvale give us the opportunity to enhance local employment opportunities and reduce the need for more cars on our roads.

Car share companies have been welcomed onto the Northern Beaches and as they expand in popularity, there is potential for more private cars to come off the roads.

Work / life balance has changed following the COVID-19 pandemic, more work from home options have emerged for people, which has reduced the strain on public transport and on our road network. We have an opportunity to explore planning rules and the ways that weekend sports are managed to reduce peak capacity on our infrastructure.

There is a role for traffic and transport apps to be used to map peak periods on our roads and public transport infrastructure to enable locals to plan and adapt commuting times around the peaks. Additionally, flexible start and finish times may be possible to avoid peak periods.