The promised #Sydney Park Junction separated cycleway junction has been deleted from designs. The project is due to start construction this month.

That a “major design feature” or “key consideration of the proposal” could be deleted in secret, 2 years after consultation, 3 years after the Review of Environmental Factors, 7 years after the M8 (#WestConnex) approval condition B51 concept design, and announced by omission floored everyone

https://jakecoppinger.com/2024/09/another-broken-westconnex-promise-secret-sydney-park-junction-design-changes/

#auspol #nsw #cycling

Australia's toll road economy is unsustainable. Earlier this year, ex-#ACCC chairman Allan Fels and transport expert David Cousins released a report claiming Transurban is exploiting #Sydney motorists, urging the #NSW government to take over toll roads. Transurban controls 11 of NSW’s 13 toll roads, each with different contracts and price hikes. The report says NSW motorists will pay over $123 billion in tolls over 37 years, with Transurban’s #WestConnex motorway accounting for more than half. #highwayrobbery ##privitisation #greed #MultinationalCorporations #mostTolledCityOnEarth

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2024/07/australias-toll-road-economy-eats-itself/

So the RTA's own modelling showed the Rozelle Interchange would be a traffic disaster—but generating more toll road trips for Transurban was more important.

"The [NSW Roads and Traffic Authority] finalised the first business case for the WestConnex tunnel project in June 2013, with the help of road designers from around the world.

"[Paul Forward, a former CEO of the RTA] said the initial concept did not include the Rozelle Interchange.

...

"In 2014, an expert review group was formed to assess these plans.

"Mr Forward said it was at this point that TfNSW bureaucrats began to question the connectivity provided by the design.

"The RTA's former director of traffic Chris Ford told the inquiry that 15 alternative designs were modelled.

"Mr Ford said the modelling found that another motorway leading to the Anzac Bridge would cause congestion.

"'The issues that we see today were very clearly established in the modelling in 2014,' he said.

"In November 2015, after Mr Forward and Mr Ford were dismissed, TfNSW updated the WestConnex business case to include the tunnel to the Anzac Bridge, despite the congestion concerns raised by the modelling.

"In 2016, Transport for NSW updated the business case a second time ... creating a tunnel linking the Iron Cove Bridge to the Anzac Bridge."

...

"In 2018, the NSW government sold its 51 per cent stake in the Sydney Motorway Corporation, the body responsible for operating WestConnex, to Transurban for $9 billion.

"Mr Forward said the final design would generate a larger number of toll trips than previous options."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-03/sydney-western-harbour-tunnel-warringah-freeway-traffic-disaster/103801818

@fuck_cars #roads #cars #urbanism #nswpol #sydney #WestConnex #UrbanPlanning #transport

"The New South Wales government needs to take back control of tolls." (#pigsfly)

The report forecast that drivers would pay $195 billion in tolls between now and 2060.

The biggest toll burden is due to #WestConnex, which the report found drivers will pay for "three times over".

#mostTolledCityOnEarth #boganstate #nsw #lnpfail

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-11/nsw-sydney-tolls-report-cost-drivers/103571256

Just one more lane bro!

TfNSW opened Rozelle Interchange just over a week ago - one of the most complex underground motorway junctions in the world.

You guessed it - it's created new traffic and been front page news since!

The City of Sydney estimated $45B has been spent on the entire (privatised) motorway project known as Westconnex.

Followed all CASA rules (<250gm, visual line of sight, not near people, above empty park).

#sydney #westconnex #urbanism #auspol #australia #tfnsw

The Rozelle interchange is working exactly as planned, by Christopher Standen (Sydney Morning Herald)

> While much of the damage can’t easily be undone, there is still an opportunity to salvage something from the WestConnex train wreck: transforming Victoria Road from a traffic sewer to a place for people and local businesses.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-rozelle-interchange-is-working-exactly-as-planned-20231206-p5epkq.html

#sydney #westconnex #australia #auspol #urbanism

http://rollo75.blogspot.com/2023/12/horse-3275-adam-smith-would-have.html - blogged

Adam Smith Would Have Probably Preferred WestConnex Be A Public Road

#NSWPol #WestConnex

"You can't solve congestion, we solved congestion during COVID when nobody was travelling — the question is, whether you have people on high-capacity public transport, on footpaths, on e-scooters...That's the question about what congestion you want, not can you solve it."

#WestConnex #Sydney #CarsRuinCities #JustOneMoreLane
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-05/nsw-rozelle-interchange-design-experts/103186410

Sydney's #WestConnex road tunnel project opened this morning.

"My commute will take me an hour-and-a-half and normally it takes me 30 minutes."

$21Billion well spent...I guess.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-27/nsw-rozelle-interchange-signage-change-open/103153714

#CarsRuinCities #JustOneMoreLane #inducedTraffic #Sydney