Sydney CBD bypass plans to be scaled back to allay residents' concerns

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This was published 4 years ago

Sydney CBD bypass plans to be scaled back to allay residents' concerns

By Matt O'Sullivan

Plans for a major upgrade to a congested road corridor in Sydney's inner south will be scaled back after concerns from residents and City of Sydney about the size of the project.

Tentative plans unveiled more than two years ago for a 3.2-kilometre road corridor from Alexandria to Moore Park included extra lanes, bigger intersections, 24-hour clearways at the cost of car parking, trees, and properties – potentially including a large pub. They were designed to help cope with vehicles funnelled from an interchange at St Peters for the WestConnex toll road.

But the state's transport agency has since undertaken more detailed plans on incorporating the road upgrade into a broader transport strategy for the fast-growing suburbs in the inner south.

The owner of the Moore Park View Hotel on the corner of South Dowling and Lachlan streets is longing for certainty.

The owner of the Moore Park View Hotel on the corner of South Dowling and Lachlan streets is longing for certainty. Credit: Wolter Peeters

Transport for NSW secretary Rodd Staples said the agency was rethinking the scope of the project, after "some really strong views" from the City of Sydney Council.

"Stepping back and having the conversation about the whole [transport needs] with [the City of Sydney] has been really beneficial," he said. "They have given us really strong views about Alexandria-Moore Park and so we're rethinking the scope of that and how we might deliver that."

A scaling back of the road upgrade is part of a push by the agency to focus on the transport needs of areas in their entirety, instead of targeting single forms of transport such as roads or trains.

Motorists use the road corridor between Alexandria and Moore Park to bypass the southern end of Sydney's CBD.

Motorists use the road corridor between Alexandria and Moore Park to bypass the southern end of Sydney's CBD.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Mr Staples said it was too early to reveal the extent of the changes to the project but noted it was likely to include "more of a balance" between vehicles and the high number of pedestrians in the area, the needs of cyclists and the speed of vehicles along the road corridor.

Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore said she was "very pleased" to hear Transport for NSW was rethinking the scope of the road project.

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"The project, as initially proposed, would have turned the southern end of our city into the eastern on-ramp for WestConnex, increasing congestion and rat runs on already congested local roads and destroying existing trees in Australia’s most urbanised area," she said.

"The goal in rethinking the proposal should be to see the road functioning as a 40km/h ‘main street’, rather than a multi-lane highway moving vehicles through the densely populated and pedestrianised area at high speeds."

The so-called continuous flow intersection planned for Moore Park.

The so-called continuous flow intersection planned for Moore Park.Credit: RMS

Under the initial plans, roads officials proposed a massive "continuous flow intersection" at Anzac Parade, designed so that right-turn movements "occur in advance of the main intersection", allowing more "green time for through traffic".

But Cr Moore said the continuous flow intersection was an experiment in road planning and should be shelved because it would eat into parkland and force pedestrians seeking to gain access to Moore Park, to navigate 12 lanes of traffic and two light rail lines.

The road corridor runs through the so-called Green Square precinct, now dominated by apartment towers and forecast to become the most densely populated urban area in Australia. By 2030, up to 70,000 people are predicted to call the precinct home.

The key east-west route south of the CBD runs from Euston Street at Maddox Street, Alexandria, along McEvoy and Lachlan streets, and Dacey Avenue to the intersection of Anzac Parade and Alison Road at Moore Park.

The Green Square precinct will soon become the most densely populated urban area in the country.

The Green Square precinct will soon become the most densely populated urban area in the country.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Under the preliminary designs, 42 individual property lots – nine of them residential – in private ownership were to be affected by the project.

Moore Park View Hotel, on the corner of Lachlan and South Dowling streets in Waterloo, was one of those earmarked in late 2017 for possible acquisition.

But owner John Doble said he had not heard from roads officials for about 18 months and longed for some certainty about the project. "We are limited [in renovating the hotel] – nobody wants to spend half a million on renovations if the pub could be pulled down in 12 months," he said.

The transport agency's preferred concept design for the project is set to be released late this year.

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