04 March 2013
The Prime Ministers conditional support for The WestConnex project demonstrates the importance of getting all the outcomes of a major project like this right, says the Urban Taskforce.
Urban renewal of the precincts along Parramatta Road is a vital outcome of the new motorway project as well as ensuring that containers can be easily moved from Port Botany to Sydneys industrial sites in the west.
The destination of commuters into various parts of the city needs to be analysed to make sure we dont end up with a big parking lot in inner Sydney. The project team needs to demonstrate that the work destination movement patterns have been accommodated.
Staging of such a massive project as the WestConnex also needs to be addressed to ensure that existing communities are aware of the change and see positive long term benefits. The South Bronx motorway in New York has become a symbol of how not to plan and implement new motorways and hopefully the NSW Government will have learnt from this example.
Bipartisan support is needed from political parties at state and national level to ensure a project as big as the WestConnex is realised to the benefit of all citizens.
