RESIDENTS living away from the million-dollar waterfront homes opposite Merewether beach look to be stuck with a significant traffic increase until at least March.
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A series of changes to the waterfront street of John Parade worth $1.5 million, including a new roundabout, a separated cycleway, and its conversion into a one-way street, have left residents living on Berner and Watkins streets to bear the flow-on effects.
While Merewether's most expensive properties are experiencing less traffic, other streets are not.
Statistics reveal that daily traffic on John Parade has significantly decreased while traffic on Berner and Watkins streets has significantly increased.
Berner Street residents have called on Newcastle council to reverse the one-way traffic on John Parade, stop access from Ocean Street to Berner Street and make Berner Street one-way between Fredrick and Ocean streets.
A council report handed to councillors last week stated that it would cost $165,000 to reverse traffic flow on John Parade.
The report also stated that the road was no longer wide enough for two-way traffic.
At last week's council meeting, councillors decided to leave John Parade as one-way traffic in a northbound direction and monitor it over summer.
They also resolved to implement safety improvements at the intersection of Berner and Ocean streets.
