Epping Town Centre Study Volume 1 | July 2011
44JBA Planning 10254
4.1 Road Network and Traffic ConditionsRoad Hierarchy
The M2 Motorway runs along the northern boundary of the Study Area and provides the main regional route for through traffic in the region. The M2 Motorway is currently undergoing widening works between Windsor Road, Baulkham Hills and Lane Cove Road, North Ryde. The upgrade will include four new ramps, improving access to the motorway at Windsor Road, Christie Road and Herring Road. The upgrade has resulted in the removal of the bus off-ramp at Beecroft Road.
The motorway is supported by arterial roads that provide alternative routes east-west (Epping Road and Carlingford Road) and north-south (Beecroft Road and Blaxland Road) through the Study Area.
The local road network includes Collector Roads (Langston Place, Pembroke Street, Oxford Street, Boronia Avenue, Bridge Street, Essex Street, Rawson Street and Kent Street) which link the Arterial Roads with the Local Roads. The Study Area road hierarchy is depicted at Figure 19.
Traffic Conditions
Traffic VolumeThere is a high volume of through traffic in the Study Area mainly along Epping Road, Beecroft Road, Carlingford Road and Blaxland Road. The following two way traffic flows occur within the Study Area:
Beecroft Road (North) 54,000 AADT2;
Blaxland Road (South) 36,000 AADT;
Epping Road (East) 55,000 AADT; and
Carlingford Road (West) 34,000 AADT.
These are high levels of traffic, particularly along Beecroft Road and Epping Road, and are similar AADTs with similar to traffic levels along parts of Parramatta Road.
Significantly, 89% of all trips using the rail overpass bridge during peak periods having origins and destinations outside the Study Area (i.e. not residents, commuters, workers or visitors to Epping).
89% of all trips through the Town Centre are through-traffic
Travel PatternsSignificant proportions of am and pm peak trips to and from Epping are within the local region and have an origin or destination in the surrounding LGAs (Ryde, Hornsby, Parramatta and Baulkham Hills).
During the am peak, vehicles are generally coming into Epping from the north via Beecroft Road (28% of morning inbound trips), west via Carlingford Road (18%) or east via Epping Road (19%). The majority of outbound am peak traffic is travelling east via Epping Road (39% of morning outbound trips) or south via Blaxland Road (25%).
During the pm peak, a similar proportion of traffic is travelling in the opposite direction as the am peak, with traffic coming into Epping from the east via Epping Road (37% of afternoon inbound trips) and south via Blaxland Road (20%), heading north along Beecroft Road (33% of afternoon outbound trips) and west via Carlingford Road (18%).
Network ConstraintsSubstantial traffic delays occur in both the am and pm peaks resulting in long traffic queues along all arterial routes in the Study Area, particularly Carlingford Road and Epping Road. The traffic delays are caused by bottlenecks on the road network at:
Epping Road / Blaxland Road / Langston Place intersection; and
Beecroft Road / Carlingford Road intersection.
As a result of the network queuing during peak periods, traversal times through the Study Area on average takes almost 12 minutes from west to east and 9 minutes from north to south. During free flow times, both the north-south and east-west routes travel times should take less than 2 minutes 30 seconds.
2 AADT (Average Annual Daily Traffic data) reflects the average daily volume of traffic recorded at a specific road location
Epping Town Centre Study Volume 1 | July 2011
47JBA Planning 10254
4.2 Public TransportEpping Town Centre has excellent access to Sydneys heavy rail network and public and private bus networks. Epping Railway Station acts as an interchange for local and regional bus routes with the rail network of Sydney. The existing public transport network is shown at Figure 20.
Rail Network
Existing Rail NetworkEpping Railway Station acts as an interchange between the Northern line and the Newcastle & Central Coast rail lines. The Northern line provides access between the Sydney CBD and Hornsby through Epping, Macquarie Park, Chatswood, North Sydney, onto Strathfield and back up to Epping. The Newcastle & Central Coast line travels through Hornsby, Epping, Strathfield, and terminates at Central.
During the morning peak period 29 services pass through Epping and during the afternoon peak period 27 services pass through Epping.
Epping Railway Station was upgraded in 2009 as part of the new Epping to Chatswood Rail Line. The new station links directly to Langston Place and the pedestrian overpass across Beecroft Road.
The existing rail network provides local and regional public transport access for residents and workers of Epping Town Centre. The rail line links directly to key employment centres at Macquarie Park, Chatswood, St Leonards, North Sydney and Sydney CBD.
The Hills District Line (former North West Rail Link) The Metropolitan Plan for Sydney 2036 proposes a new rail link from Epping to Rouse Hill (via Castle H
