The state's roads authorities are considering retrofitting airconditioning units and noise insulation to apartments in dense inner-city suburbs where they are widening roads to accommodate traffic moving onto and off the WestConnex motorway.
More than a kilometre from the planned WestConnex interchange at St Peters, Roads and Maritime Services is widening Euston Road in Alexandria from four lanes to seven as part of a series of works that may push east to Moore Park.
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The widened road will come within two metres of a string of apartments, in an area where more apartment developments are planned. There is expected to be a huge increase in traffic along Euston Road, a key link between Sydney's inner west and the eastern suburbs.
Planning documents show the average daily number of cars travelling on the road will increase from less than 6000 a day to more than 50,000 when WestConnex is built.
In meetings with residents, the Sydney Motorway Corporation, RMS and contractors have canvassed the possibility of installing noise insulation, sealing wall vents and installing airconditioning units in apartments that will jut up against the seven-lane road.
For Carmel Deprat, who lives in an apartment block next to where works are starting, the potential offers bring little comfort.
"They told us they actually haven't done any work like this before this close to a residential block," Ms Deprat said. "None of us can sell here. We are effectively prisoners in these apartments."
A spokesman for RMS said each property near the works would be assessed individually, and the contractor building the new M5 section of WestConnex would pay "for the cost of treatments".
Traffic figures for the WestConnex project show that, while car volumes will increase steeply on Euston Road, they are expected to fall on other nearby roads such as Gardeners, Bourke and the Princes Highway.
"Without WestConnex and the new M5 local road upgrades, roads in St Peters will be unable to cope with future traffic demands due to population growth and urban development and, by 2031, without the new M5 tunnels, motorists would experience average speeds of less than 20km/hr through St Peters," a spokesman said.
Ms Deprat, however, questioned what would happen when the 50,000 cars travelling on the section of Euston Road that was being widened to seven lanes moved onto narrower streets.
"All this will do is lead to more road widening," she said. "This is just like a domino affect. It's setting up a precedent to start more road works."
A spokeswoman for the WestCONex Action Group, Pauline Lockie, said: "We're talking about a building that has families in it, that has retirees in it, and we are going to be looking at having really serious health and safety impacts unless changes are being made to this design.
"If they can't build a project without putting people's health at risk, then they should not be building that project."