ATB Morton has opperated the Redisand mine on Janet Parade since it was approved in 2011.

If the variations are approved the number of trucks allowed to exit the site would climb from 30 to 42 per day between 6am and 6pm, from Monday to Friday.

The department had previously agreed to the hours of 7am to 5pm.

"Our application is the result of growing demand locally and to a lesser extent in Sydney," ATB Morton spokesman Luke Johnson said.

"If we gain approval it simply gives us the capacity to meet market demand and the extended hours would be for the convenience of our customers who want to beat the traffic."

ATB Morton pointed to weighbridge data that showed the mine only operated at 35 per cent of capacity in the past 12 months.

"Even on our busiest day last year we were only at 56 per cent, or 16 vehicle movements," Mr Johnson said.

In the application posted to the Department of Planning website, traffic consultant Seca Solution did a count on vehicles that used Nelson Bay Road.

On average it found 10 vehicles a hour turned onto Janet Parade and as such did not warrant the addition of turning and acceleration lanes.

The consultant noted that these were only needed where there were insufficient gaps exist for vehicles to enter a traffic stream, with turning volumes between 300 and 500 vehicles per hour.

"I've spoken to a couple of community groups about this," Mr Johnson said.

"But when you're talking about one additional truck movement per hour it's not a big increase."

The consultant did however note that road users would see the benefits from a Nelson Bay Road duplication as committed to by the state government.

Public submissions close on Monday, January 15.

The plans can be viewed on the major projects portal at planning.nsw.gov.au.