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Streets & roads

In Waverley, almost all roads are local streets or regional roads under the management of Council except for the following which are under state control:

• Syd Einfeld Drive and Bondi Road (full length Bondi Junction to Sandridge Street)
• Old South Head Road (full length Bondi Junction to Vaucluse)
• Carrington Road and Council Road (from Bondi Junction continuing into Randwick LGA)

For local roads, Council is responsible for:

• The maintenance of the physical roads and footpaths, including bicycle paths and traffic calming devices (e.g. speed bumps).
• Certain types of traffic signs (note speed limits and turn restrictions are not managed by the Council)
• The Residential Parking Scheme and parking permits
• Kerb-side regulations (e.g. parking regulations, loading zones, construction zones)
• Street trees
• Street/verge gardens

For issues concerning any of the above, Lodge a Request using the Roads/Footpaths option. For issues concerning non-local roads, and speed limits on any road, contact Transport for NSW.

For further information, visit:

• Major projects for information on specific street upgrades in the area
• Neighbourhood projects to request permission to plant a verge garden
• Keeping our beaches clean for information on street raingardens

Reducing speed limits

Transport for NSW sets the speed limit on all streets and roads, and the NSW Speed Zoning Standard sets out principles and technical information for reviewing, determining, and implementing speed zones on NSW public roads.

There has been a move to reduce local road speed limits in densely populated areas from 50km/h to 40km/h to make streets and roads a safer and more pleasant experience for all types of road users. For instance, in 2024 City of Sydney worked with Transport for NSW to reduce all speed limits within their LGA to 40km/h.

This 10km/h speed reduction provides a major safety benefit, with Transport for NSW data finding there is a 4 metre improvement in reaction distance, and up to a 11 metre braking distance improvement in wet weather conditions (source).

Council is supportive of this speed reduction being applied in the Waverley LGA and community consultation in 2020 endorsed this approach (see Have Your Say for more information).

In assessing whether a road/street is a candidate for a speed limit reduction, Transport for NSW’s position is that ‘The design of a road should align with its surrounding environment. This can reduce the risk, incidence and severity of crashes…. When setting speed limits, we consider the physical characteristics of a place, the activities that take place there and how local communities value and identify with a place… (source).’

In practice, this means Council must deliver physical changes to streets and roads to make them suitable for the 40km/h speed limit, such as by introducing traffic calming devices like speed bumps, wombat crossings (raised crossings), continuous footpath treatments and narrowing intersections of local roads to make them safer to cross. To date, Council has delivered 36 traffic calming treatments (see Have Your Say for their location).

Council is now working with Transport for NSW to address the remaining NSW Government requirements before the new speed limits can be applied. The speed limit change will be a staged approach - follow the project on Have Your Say.