Transport

Bondi Junction Transport

Bondi Junction railway station is an underground station which is the eastern terminus of the Eastern Suburbs railway on the CityRail system. A bus interchange is located at ground level, above the railway station and below residential towers.

The Sydney tram network was closed in 1958 and the tram depot converted to a bus depot. This temporarily reduced the traffic problem in the area, but the rise of the private motor vehicle soon made the problem acute. A railway to Sydney's eastern suburbs was first proposed by John Young, Mayor of Sydney in the 1870s. This was subsequently incorporated into Dr John Bradfield's Scheme for improving Sydney's railways. The line was never built as Bradfield envisaged. See: Eastern suburbs railway.

In 1976 with construction of the railway underway and the NSW Government resolving to actually complete the project as far as Bondi Junction, construction was also begun on an elevated freeway-standard bypass of Bondi Junction. The Bondi Junction Bypass (later renamed Syd Einfeld Drive after the notable local man and one-time Member for Phillip), unlike the railway, was constructed quickly, opening in January 1979. The road runs around the northern side of the business district from Oxford Street at Ocean Street to Oxford Street at Bondi Road and is elevated at approximately five metres from ground level. It is constructed as a continuous concrete plank bridge. At less than 2km it is often noted as the shortest freeway in Sydney.

With the railway opening in June 1979, major changes to traffic flow were made in Bondi Junction. The main thoroughfare, Oxford Street became devoted to buses only between Adelaide Street and Bronte Road and a pedestrian mall was created between Bronte Road and Newland Street, known as Bondi Junction Mall. The opening of the railway provided the opportunity to rationalise bus services in the Eastern Suburbs, with most city services eliminated entirely or terminated at the new Bondi Junction Bus-Rail Interchange. Due to cost cutting, the pedestrian mall, bus-rail interchange and indeed the railway station itself, were of poor design and construction. Nonetheless the popularity of the railway was manifest and Bondi Junction interchange became the largest suburban bus terminus in Australia.

In 1998, Woollahra Council which controlled the site of the bus interchange, finalised an agreement to sell the airspace above the site to Meriton Apartments. Construction began in April 1999 for a new bus interchange and two residential apartment towers of over 70m height. While this took place, upgrade works were also performed on Bondi Junction railway station. The new interchange was tentatively opened in September 2000 for the Sydney Olympics but subsequently closed for further work. The new bus interchange opened in July 2001. In 2003, Waverley Council upgraded the Oxford Street pedestrian mall and embarked on a general upgrade of streets and footpaths in the commercial area.

Reference: Wikipedia