Sydney's WestConnex changes the face of St Peters – in pictures
The $16.8bn WestConnex project in Sydney involves construction of 33km of new and upgraded roadway and tunnel. One of several sites where work is under way on a colossal scale is in the inner-city suburb of St Peters, home to the popular open space of Sydney Park. Dozens of homes have been demolished, hundreds of trees pulled down and whole blocks cleared to make way for an interchange that the state government says will be part of the solution to the city’s congestion nightmare.
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Construction of the St Peters interchange, where the M5 is planned eventually to link up with the M4 through a tunnel under the inner west.Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
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Workers stand on the edge of the St Peters construction site, alongside the Princes Highway.Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
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Men at work on scaffolding at the St Peters site, where dozens of houses have been demolished and a whole block cleared for the new interchange.Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
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Partially demolished houses along the Princes Highway. The construction of WestConnex has changed the landscape of several suburbs, and some residents have complained that they were forced out of their homes without fair compensation.Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
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Protest signs in Sydney Park along Euston Road, which is being widened to accommodate traffic feeding into WestConnex. A sign reading “Gladys you’re in the frame” refers to Gladys Berejiklian, who oversaw the project as New South Wales transport minister and is now the premier.Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
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The scale of the project is hard to grasp except from the air. Here workers stand in the main construction site for the St Peters interchange.Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
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Trees are felled and chipped along Euston Road, Alexandria. Protesters say as many as 800 trees in and around Sydney Park have been cut down to make way for the new roads.Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
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A single house remains in the middle of a demolished block along Campbell Road in St Peters.Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
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A protest sign reads “Tree protection zone” in Sydney Park.Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
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A plane flies over demolished homes along Campbell Road in St Peters. The suburb already suffers from aircraft noise and busy main roads taking traffic to and from Sydney airport and southern suburbs.Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
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Rubble and debris left from demolished houses along Campbell Road.Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
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A lone worker walks across the main construction site at the St Peters interchange.Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
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A plane taking off from Sydney airport soars over the discoloured spoil from construction works south of Sydney Park in St Peters.Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
