Syd Einfeld Drive

Syd Einfeld Drive commences at the intersection of Oxford Street and Ocean Street in Woollahra and heads east as a six-lane, dual-carriageway road, elevated for most of its length over connector roads into central Bondi Junction just to its south. It terminates at the intersection Oxford Street, Old South Head Road and Bondi Road at the eastern end of Bondi Junction. It has a speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) for its entire length.

The decision to go ahead with the bypass was not made until late 1976, meaning the project only had just over two years to be built in time for the scheduled opening of the bus and rail interchange in early 1979.^[2] Construction commenced in February 1977, with the road opened as the Bondi Junction Bypass on 9 January 1979 by local member of parliament Syd Einfeld.^[3][4][5] Construction of the road included 26 span prestressed concrete viaduct at Bondi Junction, totalling 456.6 metres (1,498 ft) in length.^[6]

The passing of the Main Roads Act of 1924^[7] through the Parliament of New South Wales provided for the declaration of Main Roads, roads partially funded by the State government through the Main Roads Board (MRB). With the subsequent passing of the Main Roads (Amendment) Act of 1929^[8] to provide for additional declarations of State Highways and Trunk Roads, the Department of Main Roads, having succeeded the MRB in 1932, re-aligned Main Road 172 from its old route along Oxford Street through Bondi Junction to the bypass road not long after it opened.^{[citation needed]}

It was renamed Syd Einfeld Drive in February 1988.^[9] On 10 March 1989, a baby boy was born in an ambulance stopped on the road.^[10]

The County of Cumberland planning scheme had envisaged a freeway being built from the Sydney central business district to Bondi Junction. However, this was the only section of the road completed, being built in conjunction with the Eastern Suburbs railway line and Bondi Junction railway station.^[2]

The passing of the Roads Act of 1993^[11] updated road classifications and the way they could be declared within New South Wales. Under this act, Syd Einfeld Drive retains its declaration as part of Main Road 172.^[12]