The Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation is a 1.5 km stretch of

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

grade road in the

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the entra ...

area of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Opened on 11 February 1985, it forms part of the A8 and is the only freeway grade section of that route. The road takes its name from Burnt Bridge Creek which flows beneath the road, although there is no sign of the "burnt bridge" which gives the creek its name. It will ultimately form part of the

Western Harbour Tunnel & Beaches Link The Western Harbour Tunnel & Beaches Link is a planned underground motorway scheme in Sydney, New South Wales. It consists of a series of motorway tunnels running north-south between Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation ( A8) at Balgowlah and the WestCo ...

, which will be a motorway-grade southward continuation of the Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation to the

Warringah Freeway The Warringah Freeway (also known as the Warringah Expressway) is a divided freeway located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The freeway forms part of the M1, the Sydney Orbital Network, and the Highway 1 network. The primary fun ...

, then via a new tunnel under Sydney Harbour to the

WestConnex WestConnex is a predominantly underground motorway scheme in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. As of 2022, it is partially completed and partially still under construction. A joint project of the New South Wales and Australian governments, t ...

Route

It begins just past the

Spit Bridge Spit may refer to: Common uses * Spit (archaeology), a term for a unit of archaeological excavation * Spit (landform), a section of land that extends into a body of water * Spit or rotisserie, a rotating device used for cooking by roasting over ...

and runs from Sydney Road,

Balgowlah Balgowlah is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balgowlah (or Bulgowlah) said to be an Aboriginal name for "North Harbour". The area now known as Balgowlah was known to the Aboriginals as Jilling. Balgowla ...

to Condamine Street,

Manly Vale Manly Vale is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council, in the Northern Beaches region ...

. There are no entry or exit ramps, and sound barriers run the entire length. Myrtle Street and Kitchener Street run over it but there are no access ramps to or from these roads. It runs, in a northbound direction, close to Frenchs Forest Road, then Brook Road, Bangaroo Street, Serpentine Crescent, Daisy Street, Myrtle Street, Kitchener Street, West Street, Griffiths Street then terminates at Condamine Street. It is not tolled and runs in an arc around the south-east direction. The speed limit is 80 km/h for most of its length, reducing to 60 km/h prior to either terminus. The entire freeway grade road can be considered starting at the Spit Bridge and is 2.5 kilometres long with exit ramps on Battle Boulevard and Ethel Street also running over it. But the two freeway grade roads are cut in two because of the traffic lights where it intersects with Sydney Road. The most direct alternative route is to go east on Sydney Road then north on Condamine Street.

Future Upgrades

Until the announcement of the

project, the Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation sat for decades as an isolated oddity, reminiscent of many planned and never built freeways in the Sydney Basin, much like the

Gladesville Bridge Gladesville Bridge is a heritage-listed concrete arch road bridge that carries Victoria Road over the Parramatta River, linking the Sydney suburbs of Huntleys Point and Drummoyne, in the local government areas of Canada Bay and Hunter's Hill, ...

road complex. The original plans for the

show the Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation as part of an expressway that would service the growing

area. Suggestions have been floated in the interim to connect the two freeways, with the aid of a tunnel, but it took almost four decades for concrete plans to be made for the connection. In March 2017, the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

announced its intention to build the Western Harbour Tunnel & Beaches Link. Construction on the Western Harbour Tunnel commenced in 2022 and is expected to be complete in 2027-28. However, in June 2022 the NSW Government announced that Beaches Link and upgrades to Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation and Wakehurst Parkway would be shelved indefinitely, due to market constraints and labour shortages.

References

{{Streets of Sydney Australia , state=expanded Highways in Sydney Transport infrastructure completed in 1985 1985 establishments in Australia

Route

Future Upgrades

See also

References