But northern suburbs residents may not have to wait that long for measures to be put in place to deal with the issue.

The Roads and Maritime Services study of the Bulli traffic situation forms part of the Thirroul to Unanderra corridor strategy.

In October last year an RMS spokesman said the strategy was “expected to be released in the next 12 months”.

This week a spokesman for Roads Minister Melinda Pavey said the strategy’s release was now “mid-2018”.

“Prioritising key work and the detail required for the overall strategy has lead to an adjustment of the release date,” a spokesman for RMS said.

Motorists may not have to wait until the release of that report for work to be done.

“Roads and Maritime Services is now developing potential improvements for the highway through Bulli,” the spokesman said.

It is understood there was a study taking place into the Bulli corridor but that now appears to have been incorporated into the larger Thirroul to Unanderra corridor strategy, which covers around 19 kilometres of Illawarra roads.

“It covers Lawrence Hargrave Drive at Thirroul to the Princes Highway through Bulli, Memorial Drive from Bulli to North Wollongong through Flinders, Crown, Bourke and Corrimal streets and the Princes Highway from Wollongong to Five Islands Road at Unanderra,” the spokesman said..

“The broader approach determines what improvements need to be implemented to improve the road network as people move through these suburbs and to cater for the daily travel patterns through these suburbs.”