The uneven surface of Pittwater Road through Dee Why is among the conditions being examined as authorities investigate longer-term repairs for the Northern Beaches arterial.
NSW Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison told Parliament on 23 September that she had travelled along Pittwater Road through Dee Why with Wakehurst MP Michael Regan earlier this year to experience the road conditions firsthand. Regan had also written to the minister about concerns raised by local ambulance and bus drivers over ride quality.
Dee Why puts the problem in focus
Images published online show uneven pavement, cracking and temporary repairs along Pittwater Road at Dee Why. Older rigid concrete pavement on Pittwater Road is now the subject of further investigation.
NSW is examining whether conventional asphalt resurfacing can provide a lasting solution or whether the underlying pavement requires more substantial treatment. Laser surveys and ground-penetrating radar work have already been completed as part of the investigation, with further structural testing to follow.
Why resurfacing may not be enough
Pittwater Road has undergone repeated maintenance, resurfacing and localised repairs, but older sections built with rigid concrete pavement pose a different engineering challenge.
Aitchison told Parliament that conventional asphalt resurfacing might not provide a lasting solution where unevenness originates in the concrete structure below. Investigations and planning for longer-term repairs have therefore begun.
Laser surveys and ground-penetrating radar have already been used to examine the pavement. Further structural testing will help determine whether individual sections need diamond grinding, smoothing, joint repairs, slab stabilisation or jacking, targeted transition treatments, or complete replacement with new concrete or asphalt.
No final treatment has yet been selected for the concrete pavement under investigation. The approach will depend on what engineers find when the structural information is assessed.
Thousands of repairs across state roads
Maintenance on the Northern Beaches road network has continued while the investigation proceeds.
Between 1 January 2025 and 22 June 2026, ConnectSydney completed 1,118 repair activities on contracted State roads within the Northern Beaches local government area, according to the minister. More than 22,000 square metres of Pittwater Road was resurfaced during the previous financial year.
Earlier parliamentary records also show that Pittwater Road has required regular attention. A NSW Government response recorded 251 maintenance activities along Pittwater Road during 2023.
ConnectSydney conducts monthly inspections, while maintenance is undertaken reactively in response to identified defects and customer reports rather than according to a fixed works schedule.
Northern Beaches Council identifies Pittwater Road between Mona Vale and Manly as a NSW Government-managed road, with the State responsible for its maintenance.
A major Northern Beaches transport route
Pittwater Road carries substantial road and public transport movements between major Northern Beaches centres.
Transport planning documents have previously put traffic volumes on sections of the corridor at about 40,000 to 60,000 vehicles a day. Pittwater Road also carries much of the B-Line route through centres including Brookvale, Dee Why, Narrabeen and Warriewood towards Mona Vale.
Regan raised the road’s uneven condition in Parliament after lobbying for longer-term improvements to Pittwater Road and the wider A8 corridor. Aitchison said the government had already begun work but acknowledged that the ageing concrete pavement required further investigation before a lasting treatment could be chosen.
No timetable for wholesale slab replacement was announced in the minister’s 23 September response. Planned resurfacing and corrective works will proceed while engineers assess which treatments are appropriate for the older concrete pavement.
Published 8-Oct-2026
