The reinforcement of clearways along Oxford St and the announcement of several major motorways have called into question the State Government’s consideration, or lack of, for the CBD.
The man at the centre of the conjecture, NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay, revealed he was committed to accelerating peak-hour travel speeds.
“‘[The 10-year plan to rebuild the economy] NSW 2021 commits the NSW Government to improving peak-hour travel speeds on 100 major road corridors across Sydney, under both regular conditions and during incidents like crashes,” he said.
“In the past two financial years, the NSW Government has delivered record roads budgets of more than $10 billion dollars to help clear the huge infrastructure backlog created by the former Labor Government.”
However, Shadow Minister for Roads, Ryan Park, criticised the current government’s approach to improving traffic congestion.
“The reality is [that] the NSW Liberal Government came to power promising the world, but after two years the reality is very different. Congestion has increased with average speeds on the M4, M5, M7 and Anzac Bridge all falling,” he said.
“They have spent $20 million on changing road signs, yet they haven’t been able to spend the allocated money on the maintenance of roads across NSW.”
Currently, more than 90 per cent of daily transport usage in Sydney is by car. Gavin Gatenby, co-convenor of the EcoTransit lobby group, said the government have focused on building roads when rather they should instead direct funding to public transport infrastructure.
“Traffic in Sydney has virtually flatlined for nine years … and you’ve got this incredible demand and a rising demand for public transport, especially in the peak periods. But we can’t satisfy that demand because there is no money being put into public transport infrastructure,” he said.
“It wouldn’t really matter if we built another road in Sydney; nothing is going to get worse. But what will get worse is the public crowding in public transport as we are not putting the money we need into that.”
Mr Gay, a former trucking business owner in Goulbern, insisted that despite more people using public transport due to Sydney’s population growth, there is a need for major road upgrades.
“We need to invest in infrastructure to meet the growing demand of road users, including those projects which provide key links to public transport,” he said.
Mr Gay said the WestConnex Motorway plan will be the “missing link in Sydney’s road network”.
“That project will begin in early 2015 and is a long-term project that will transform the way people and business move across the city,” he said.
Mr Gay criticised the Federal Government for delaying funding for the project until 2019.
“That is six years from now and two federal elections away – money in the never never. Tony Abbott has promised $1.5 billion to WestConnex, all of which would be delivered by 2017,” he said.
But Mr Park said the plans for the WestConnex lacks any detail “apart from a line on the map”.
“It is important to remember that the NSW Government is yet to even get a firm understanding about how much this project will cost offering estimates between $10-$13 billion … at the moment people just don’t have the confidence that this will be built,” he said.
Mr Gatenby said the funding would be better directed towards public transport infrastructure.
“WestConnex is a sort of a mythical promise land … we know it is massively ambitious, expensive and at a time when we need serious bits of public transport infrastructure,” he said.
Stephen Gyory, a local business owner in the Oxford St precinct, also hit out at the way traffic is handled by both the government and Roads and Maritime Services (RMS).
“The big issue is with their internal culture. They see the world in traffic movements – being in charge of a traffic space – but fail to consider effect on the community, residents and businesses … [and] the community, which is just as important to the city,” he said.
“Take Parramatta Rd, for example; they killed the day and night economy there and now it’s no use to cars and no use to people – just a strip of horrible.”
Mr Gyory urged the NSW Government to consider removing clearways along Oxford St, heeding the calls of Member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich.
“City of Sydney Council has figures showing that traffic in Oxford St has dropped 22 per cent since the Cross City Tunnel opened … that is more than a lane’s worth of traffic … they should let the community reclaim the street from a six-lane highway,” said Mr Gyory.
Both Mr Gay and Mr Park have remained non-committal on removing clearways on busy retail strips.
Mr Gay was awarded the Golden GLORIA, highlighting outrageous, ignorant and ridiculous made about GLBTI people, for his role in utilising emergency powers in removing the rainbow crossing at Taylor Square. Mr Gay turned up to the ceremony to receive his award.
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