Locals fear FIFA World Cup traffic, fans urged to take public transport

By LAUREN FROST

The FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off in Sydney today but with thousands of local and international fans flocking to stadiums and limited event parking, many are fearing shocking traffic conditions.

11 of the 64 games in the tournament will be hosted in Sydney, more than any other city, with 6 of these games being held at the Sydney Football Stadium in Moore Park (usually referred to as the Allianz Stadium).

In a media release from the NSW Government from earlier this week, fans were warned that “There is reduced parking available due to a significant number of additional vehicles required for an event of this scale, including coaches and event vehicles.”

As such, the on-grass parking at Moore Park Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) is reserved for staff and officials and will be closed to the public. The Government has urged football fanatics to allow for extra travel time and to utilise public transport, which is included in match tickets.

Despite an additional 1800 public transport services, including 170 buses, 127 train services and an extra 20 shuttle buses and 20 light rail services, members of the local community remain apprehensive.

Additional transport not enough

“The woeful transport issues at Moore Park were raised prior to the stadium knockdown,” Maria Bradley from community group Keep Sydney Beautiful told City Hub.

“Unlike Olympic Park, Moore Park does not have ‘bump in and out’ transport capacity for 42,000 people. It is not serviced by a high-capacity fast train.”

With around 40,000 fans expected to fill the SFS, the venue has recommended that football patrons use the connecting light rail services from Wynyard, Town Hall and Central, or alternatively walk the 25 minutes from Central via Foveaux Street or Devonshire Street.

“Months of planning has gone into readying the public transport network for large crowds throughout the tournament so leave the car at home,” Minister for Transport Jo Haylen said.

However, in the event that public transport is not viable, the SFS has said to carpool and arrive early, as generally, limited parking will only be available in the Entertainment Quarter Wilson car park or alternatively offsite at Royal Randwick Racecourse. Additionally, for much of the event, the Sydney Boys High School and Sydney Girls High School car park will not be open.

These limited parking options could wreck havoc on surrounding areas.

“The issue is where the general public is going to park,” said Will Mrongovius, President of the Paddington Society and Convenor of the Paddington-Darlinghurst Community Working Group.

“If they don’t use public transport then they will try to park on the surrounding residential streets…”

“These events are well publicised so one can only hope that the City Council will ensure that Rangers are deployed on all World Cup Match days in the surrounding residential areas.”

Likewise, Brian Adams of the Surry Hills Business Alliance is concerned about the parking situation at Moore Park.

“I have spoken to several business associates who live in the area and the view is that if parking is granted to a few officials and staff, it should be granted to all,” he said.

“Yes, the off-shoot will be greater traffic flow congestion but this is going to be an on-going problem with the increased number of events now allowed at Moore Park. Noise, misbehaviour, traffic congestion will be a consequence,” Adams continued.

“Not everyone will find it convenient to use public transport. It’s a problem the NSW Government needs to work out and fix instead of throwing the problem onto those who simply don’t have a say.”

Alongside significant traffic concerns is the threat that the on-grass parking for staff and officials of the event has on the environment.

“The parklands remain under constant threat from big sporting interests and poor planning,” Bradley said.

With on-grass parking eventually being phased out, it seems that the Government will have its work cut out for them when planning for major events at the SFS in the future, where nearly half of the precinct’s parking is on grass.