Today’s confirmation of an additional one kilometre of tunnel under Victoria Road, Rozelle shows how planning for WestConnex is a shambles, says Greens Member for Balmain, Jamie Parker.
“This add on tunnel announcement is nothing more than a half-baked response to the traffic chaos that will occur around the ANZAC bridge,” he said.
“The Sydney Motorway Corporation and the RMS know from the traffic modelling that they commissioned for the M4 East, that that the impact on Victoria Road and the ANZAC Bridge would be gridlock with or without the proposed Rozelle Interchange.
“The predicted two way volume of daily traffic along the M4 East and linking to the M4/M5 is an approximate increase of 53% by 2031. It doesn't take much to anticipate the impact on Victoria Road and the ANZAC Bridge, hence this announcement and the equally hasty earlier announcement of a new Harbour Crossing.
“WestConnex is out-of-control planning on the run. This new tunnel will bring the total so far to near $17 billion and that’s without a link to the airport, to Port Botany or to the Western Habour Tunnel. Just imagine the level of public transport infrastructure that could be built for that amount of money.
“More homes and businesses will be forcibly taken and lives destroyed for this Liberal party road building frenzy and we all will pay the price.
"The government is simply trying to build and spend its way out of this mess when it should be investing the billions of tax payer funds into world class public transport"
“It’s time for a Royal Commission into this whole project and an immediate halt to the destruction of our city by these vandals,” he said.
