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The Bangor Bypass, completed in February 2005, was designed to alleviate traffic on the main road through Bangor and Menai (Menai Road) as well as increasing travel speed through the area. The bypass project had been planned many years earlier (mid 90s) and some residents were surprised when the development finally started. During the years of planning a misunderstanding by residential developers led to new roads and housing being constructed on the RTA's land at the end of Anzac Road in Bangor. This caused the proposed position of the bypass to shift slightly north, displeasing residents.

Preparations for the Bangor Bypass included changing traffic flow between Bangor, Woronora and Sutherland. This was largely due to a stretch of road known as the 'Woronora bends', a collection of steep hairpin bends on the end of Menai Rd and both ends of River Rd. The initial change over from the bends shifted traffic from Menai Rd to Akuna Avenue and a new road called Menai River Road. Many years later traffic was again shifted as the long awaited, and often delayed, New Woronora Bridge was completed, this was labelled with Menai River Rd and removed traffic from River Rd. Having completed this part of the improvements it was time to start the bypass.

Two stretches of road were included in Stage 1 of the bypass project, completed in February 2005, these were known simply as the east-west ("Bangor Bypass") and north-south ("New Illawarra Road", despite not actually connecting with existing New Illawarra Rd) sections. The east-west section connected Menai River Rd to Old Illawarra Road and Alfords Point Rd via the north-south section of the bypass. There are currently plans to expand the north-south section further south to join with New Illawarra Rd, bypassing Barden Ridge. The exact design of Stage 2's road is not yet finalised.

Recent displays showed four concept maps for Stage 2, these are now available at the RTA's website.

• Bangor Bypass at RTA website
  • RTA Maps
  • Stage 2 options

Coordinates: -34.022937° 151.021637°

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.