sydney-city-centre-review-of-environmental-factors

Executive summary
The proposal
Roads and Maritime, in conjunction with Transport for NSW, has developed the
Sydney City Centre Capacity Improvement Plan. The plan identifies a number of
traffic capacity improvements along some of the Sydney city centre’s most congested
roads and critical intersections. This forms ‘the proposal’ that is assessed in this
Review of Environmental Factors (REF) report.
The proposal forms part of the Sydney City Centre Access Strategy (the Access
Strategy) (Transport for NSW, 2013), which aims to set clear priorities for transport
movements within the city centre. It focuses on some of the city’s most congested
roads and critical intersections (refer Table S-1 below and Figure 1-1 in Chapter 1).
These ‘pinch points’ are either unable to cope with existing traffic volumes or they will
provide an essential function in enabling other projects under the Access Strategy.
The Access Strategy aims to set clear priorities for transport movement within
Sydney’s city centre. It focuses on developing integrated public transport services
across the city centre and managing the function and priorities of the city’s roads
over the coming years. It realises the need to manage a competing set of demands
on what is termed the ‘available street space’, including private vehicles, buses, taxis,
freight/delivery vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. This recognises the importance of
the city centre roads in sustaining business and the economy. This proposal is part of
providing a solution to managing the above competing demands over the coming
years.
The proposal is separate to other concurrent and enabling works being planned for
the city centre under the Access Strategy, including proposals for cycleways, buses
and light rail. Key government agencies are working together to deliver and manage
the implementation of these projects (including this proposal) in an integrated
manner. This will include steps to better understand and manage the overall parking
and loading changes, and business and community impacts in the city centre.
The proposal would specifically:
Refine the configuration and geometry of certain intersections and roads to
optimise traffic turning movements and through flows
Introduce parking restrictions along certain roads to allow traffic to use the
kerbside lane either during peak periods or all the time
Alter and restrict timed access to a limited number of taxi zones, delivery and
servicing vehicle zones (eg loading zones), authorised vehicle zones (eg mail
zones, work zones) and other authorised parking zones (eg car share spaces,
coach parking spaces)
Reduce footpath widths in certain locations to create additional traffic lanes.
One or more of the following typical traffic capacity improvements would be installed
at 17 work site locations across the city centre under the proposal (refer to
Figure 1-1):
Intersection reconfiguration and geometry modifications
Kerb extension alterations
Footpath width alterations
Turning restrictions and provisions
Traffic signal timing priorities
Alterations to the use of the kerbside lane (termed a ‘kerbside allocation’ or
‘kerbside provision’, with the various kerbside uses including taxi bays and
Sydney City Centre Capacity Improvement Plan
i
Review of Environmental Factors