Byron Bay Drainage Upgrade

Announcement

Temporary traffic control and pedestrian changes - rail corridor, Jonson Street and Byron Street.

Section of Lawson Street Car Park, including the laneway near Guzman Y Gomez is closed until December school holidays. Vehicles will need to enter/exit from Shirley Street.

Pedestrian bridge between Butler Street and the rail corridor is closed.

Project typeUpgrade Byron Bay’s drainage system
Project scheduleStage one of construction in the Town Centre Catchment will run until November 2026 (weather permitting).

Byron Bay Drainage drone shot of Byron Street - re-sized.jpg

Council is upgrading the drainage in Byron Bay to reduce the impacts and frequency of flooding in the town centre.

Stage 1 of drainage upgrades in the Town Centre Catchment will run until November 2026 (weather permitting). This includes Byron Street, part of Jonson Street, and in the Lawson Street Car Park South and rail corridor.

The road surface and footpaths on sections of Byron Street will also be improved. More trees and seating will be added to the town centre.

Timing of work and impacts

To note - schedule is subject to change during construction. Full closures of roads may be necessary at times to facilitate construction of this essential infrastructure. Notification will be given in advance of these closures.

September to December 2025 - weather permitting

What	Where	When
Temporary traffic control for pre-construction work.	Rail corridor, Lawson Street South Car Park, Jonson Street, Byron Street.	From 15 September 2025 for one week.
Service relocation work and drainage work. Part of car park and laneway between Guzman Y Gomez and Byron Hot Bread Kitchen closed. Enter/exit via Shirley Street.	Lawson Street South Car Park.	From late September until December school holidays 2025.
Service relocation work. One lane of a section of Jonson Street closed. Vehicles will be able to access the street under traffic control. Detours in place for through traffic.	Jonson Street near Byron Street intersection	Late October to late November 2025.
Service relocation work and drainage work. Pedestrian bridge between Butler Street and rail corridor closed. Enter/exit town to the North/South of the pedestrian bridge for access to town and Butler Street/Byron Bay Interchange (including the Byron Farmers Market). Some of the rail corridor not accessible.	Rail corridor and pedestrian bridge to/from Butler Street.	From late September 2025.
Drainage work.	Byron Street	Planned from early 2026 (after December/January school holidays).

Maps

Illustrated maps of construction area, pedestrian access and lane closures.

Select an image to view in full screen.

(PNG, 633KB)

Construction of Stage 1 of Town Centre Catchment

(PNG, 372KB)

What to expect during works

Works will primarily occur Monday to Friday between 7am and 5.30pm. There may be weekend and night works at times, this will be communicated through Council’s communication channels and directly to residents/businesses prior to these works occurring. Access to the site outside of these hours to set up and remove equipment may occur.
Restricted access/temporary closures – Redirection and closure of roads, and parking spaces will occur. Through traffic will be detoured and local traffic will be reduced to one lane. Council and contractors will attempt to keep this to a minimum.
Traffic control, electronic message boards and signage will be in place throughout the project to keep the community informed and manage access including pedestrian access and deliveries.
Noise/dust – At times, there will be machinery noise, including drilling and vacuum excavation, as well as dust. There will be measures in place to reduce dust and noise impacts, such as construction hoarding.
No work will occur in the road reserve during the December 2025/January 2026 school holidays, and Easter 2026 long weekend.
Businesses will be open and we encourage you to support them during construction.
Please note the Byron Bay Community Market is currently held on the foreshore until work is complete.

Community consultation

Community consultation with businesses and property owners is ongoing (started March 2024).

Drop in to see us at the Byron Farmers Market on Thursday 2 and Thursday 9 October.

History of flooding

Byron Bay has a history of flooding during heavy rain, and this affects businesses and residents. It is further compounded by:

low terrain
ocean levels
Belongil Creek
Belongil Creek floodplain.

Funding

Stage 1 of construction of the Town Centre Catchment is funded by:

The Australian and NSW Governments through the Infrastructure Betterment Fund.
The Australian Government through the Emergency Response Fund administered by NSW Reconstruction Authority’s Northern Rivers Recovery and Resilience Program 22-23.
Byron Shire Council Byron Bay Masterplan Town Centre Masterplan Reserve.

We will need additional grant funding to complete construction of the remaining stages including the rest of the Town Centre Catchment, Recreation Grounds Catchment and Shirley Street Catchment.

Related projects

Other projects that are already underway or complete include:

The Byron Bay Drainage Upgrade Town Centre Detailed Design (PDF, 25MB) was completed in March 2025.
The Sandhills Wetland is being restored and is due to be completed in 2025
Drainage was upgraded on Tennyson Street in 2025.
The drainage and road on Lawson Street (East) were upgraded in 2024.

These projects received funding by the Australian and NSW Governments and Council through various programs.

Once the drainage system is completely upgraded it will improve the quality of water that ends up on Clarkes Beach.