Construction firm Ertech has secured an $85.1 million contract to deliver long-awaited safety, capacity and flood improvement works along Wakehurst Parkway, with crews set to establish the site in the coming months and begin major works by mid-2026.
The contract award ends years of planning and community advocacy on a road that has become one of the Northern Beaches’ most persistent infrastructure frustrations. For Frenchs Forest, which sits at the southern end of the upgrade corridor near the intersection with Frenchs Forest Road East and Northern Beaches Hospital, the announcement means that the congestion and safety black spots that have affected the suburb’s daily road experience are finally moving from planning documents into construction machinery.
What Ertech Will Build
The $85.1 million project delivers works across three sections of the Parkway between Frenchs Forest Road at Frenchs Forest and Pittwater Road at North Narrabeen. At the southern end, closest to Frenchs Forest, a new southbound lane widens the section between Oxford Falls Road and Trefoil Creek to dual lanes, directly improving traffic flow on the approach to Northern Beaches Hospital from the north.
At the Oxford Falls section, the Dreadnought Road and Oxford Falls Road intersections both receive significant upgrades. Dreadnought Road gains new bus stops, an additional signalised pedestrian crossing, a new southbound left turn slip lane and an extended right turn bay.
Oxford Falls Road receives a new southbound right turn bay and a dedicated northbound left turn lane. Additional lanes in both directions between these two intersections address one of the most congested stretches of the entire corridor. Flood improvement works at Oxford Falls are also included within the Ertech contract scope.
At the northern end near North Narrabeen, the project widens shoulders to improve traffic flow in both directions, creates a new left-turn bay into Mirrool Street, and reconfigures the Elanora Road intersection to improve sight lines and driver safety.
Community Concerns Around Elanora Road Remain
Not everyone is entirely satisfied with the approved design. The Elanora Heights Residents Association raised concerns about the proposed modifications at the Elanora Road intersection specifically, arguing the plan represented a design failure rather than an adequate safety solution.
The association proposed an alternative seagull lane configuration for the intersection. Transport for NSW investigated five options for the site and determined that the approved design, which includes installing a concrete median and reconfiguring the existing give way line and kerb line, provided the best outcome based on the available evidence.
The residents association also described the flood improvement works included in the contract as a partial solution that does not address the main flooding locations on the Parkway, nor wildlife protection concerns within the bushland corridor. Those broader flood mitigation works at other sections of the Parkway remain the subject of a separate $31 million program.
Improving Access for Residents
For Frenchs Forest residents, the southern section of the upgrade delivers the most immediate benefit. The dual lanes between Oxford Falls Road and Trefoil Creek address a bottleneck that has long slowed southbound traffic approaching the Frenchs Forest Road East intersection and, by extension, access to Northern Beaches Hospital.
That hospital access dimension has been central to the case for upgrading this section of the Parkway for years; when the road is congested or closed, the most direct route to the peninsula’s only major hospital becomes significantly less reliable.
The Parkway closes six to seven times per year on average due to flooding, a pattern that has frustrated Frenchs Forest commuters and emergency vehicle operators alike. The flood works at Oxford Falls included in the Ertech contract represent one piece of that puzzle, targeting the smaller, more frequent rainfall events that drive most of those closures.
Construction is expected to take up to two years from the mid-2026 start. Residents can subscribe to project updates by visiting this link. Residents can direct enquiries to the project team on 1800 684 490 or via projects@transport.nsw.gov.au.
Published 31-March-2026.
