The state government is set to embark on a major upgrade to a congested road corridor between Alexandria and Moore Park in inner Sydney to cope with a surge in residents and traffic funnelled from the WestConnex motorway.
Under the tentative plans, clearways will be established from Euston Road in Alexandria to McEvoy Street in Waterloo during peak travel periods, and the busy intersections of Bourke, McEvoy and Lachlan streets realigned into a single intersection.
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WestConnex project 'has been brutal'
Forced to sell her home to make way for the WestConnex project, St Peters resident Shelley Roberts says she has little hope of being able to stay in the area.
Lachlan Street, a major thoroughfare for motorists heading to or from the eastern suburbs to the west, will be widened from two to four lanes if the plans proceed.
Waterloo has become dominated by apartment towers in the past few years, while neighbouring Green Square is forecast to become the most densely populated suburb in Australia. Both are already suffering from major road congestion.
At Moore Park, right-turns at the busy intersection of Anzac Parade, Alison Road and Dacey Avenue would be altered to improve traffic flow.
The preliminary plans for the road upgrade between Alexandria and Moore Park also make provisions for shared cycle and pedestrian paths along the corridor.
Road planners want to improve traffic flows between the exit and entry ramps to WestConnex near Sydney Park at St Peters, which forms the second stage of the project and is due to open to traffic in early 2020.
Roads and Maritime Services said the importance of the road corridor from Euston Road at Alexandria to Anzac Parade at Moore Park as a "road priority bypass route" would increase due to population growth at the southern fringe of central Sydney.
The roads authority said some trees may have to be removed at intersections along the corridor to allow for additional turning lanes but it was too early to say how many.
A spokeswoman said the proposal would support changes to the broader road network involving WestConnex and the new light rail line.
Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich said the proposed road widenings would erode inner-city liveability as the number of people living in apartments surged, describing the potential loss of trees and another slice of public land at Moore Park as "particularly offensive".
"This is another outdated and destructive solution to traffic congestion as a result of WestConnex funnelling tens of thousands of vehicles into inner city areas where there is no space for them," he said.
But Roads Minister Duncan Gay said the government had stepped in to improve roads in and around Moore Park and Alexandria to accommodate the "thousands more mums, dads, tradies and delivery drivers" using the area's thoroughfares.
"Any changes we make will integrate with WestConnex, a project which will also take thousands of through motorists off the local road network and create 85,000 square metres of green space for the local community," he said.
Mr Gay accused Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore of approving thousands of high-rise apartments in the inner south "with little thought about the impacts to the local road network and the families ... who would be stuck in gridlock daily".
However, Cr Moore said the housing targets were set by his government, which was reaping stamp-duty windfalls but failing to deliver schools, public transport and other infrastructure.
"The government has consistently claimed traffic coming out of WestConnex at the St Peters interchange would disperse into the local road network. These road widening plans show that is complete nonsense," she said.Â
Known as the "Alexandria to Moore Park connectivity upgrade", planners want to better integrate roads with the $2.1 billion light rail line under construction from the central city to the south east. The new tram line is due to open in early 2019.
The government has said a light rail line is also needed to accommodate the massive growth in apartments in the area around Green Square.
The City of Sydney has purchased properties in the inner south to preserve a corridor for a future tram line in the event that the government commits funding.
RMS said it was too early to estimate the environmental impact of the road upgrade or the need for property acquisitions, and was in the midst of community consultation.
The government has committed $5.2 million to planning intersection upgrades along the road corridor. The business case for the project is expected to be finalised next year, when the cost of the upgrade would become known.
Greens MP for Newtown Jenny Leong, a critic of WestConnex, said an upgrade to the corridor would be a "stopgap solution" to deal with tens of thousands of cars funnelled into the area from the interchange for the new motorway at St Peters.
"The pathetic attempt by RMS to try to pretend these works are stand-alone so the true impact of WestConnex is hidden will not fool anyone," she said.
The City of Sydney has also expressed concern to the roading authority about the widening of the intersection at Bourke and McEvoy streets.
A major residential development known as the Danks Street South precinct is planned for a site next to the intersection, and will include towers as high as 20 storeys.
Separately, the Inner West Council is spending $500,000 on a study to assess the impact WestConnex will have on neighbourhoods and streets.
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