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

Socioeconomic impacts during operation
People and demographics – operational impacts
No operational jobs would be directly created under the proposal; however the
integrated traffic capacity improvements would support traffic movement throughout
the city centre. It would also support the anticipated growth in the city centre’s
population over this period which is expected to lead to indirect job creation.
Whilst the proposal is unlikely to have a demographic or population impact, it would
assist in allowing the existing and projected future population to move around the city
in a more user-friendly and safer manner. Once operational, the proposal would
provide an overall improvement to the road user’s experience, including that of
pedestrians and cyclists (refer to section 6.1.3). Younger people (which make up the
majority of the city’s resident population) are also more likely to walk and cycle, as
well as use public transport; all of which are complemented by the proposal’s support
of the Access Strategy. Overall, the proposal would benefit the city’s resident
population.
Social infrastructure – operational impacts
There would be no operational impact on the city’s social infrastructure. Indirectly,
however, the proposal would maintain or locally improve access along roads with
adjacent community facilities. This would be a minor benefit. It would also assist the
delivery of the other city developments, which would support the city’s continuing role
in providing local, regional, national and international social infrastructure and
community services.
Local and regional economy – operational impacts
The proposal would support the prioritisation of city centre street space in
accordance with the Access Strategy. This would allow the city’s streets to effectively
handle the expected change in traffic characteristics over the coming years and
therefore allow it to continue to function as a global hub.
There are few private residences in the city centre that have dedicated on-street
parking, none of which are affected by this proposal. Certain residential blocks have
dedicated off-street parking and some of the older buildings without this provision are
located in areas within close proximity to alternative off-street parking.
Community values (amenity) – operational impacts
The proposal’s operation would cause some albeit minor amenity change in
response to the operational traffic and noise impacts that would be established due
to changes in road configuration and alignment; as discussed in section 3.1 and
section 6.2.
Central to this would be alterations in the road corridor’s characteristics. By removing
certain kerb extensions and introducing kerbside allocation restrictions (refer
section 6.1.3) the characteristics of certain streets and intersections would change,
resulting in the reduction of footpath widths and an ‘intensification’ of traffic in the
road corridor. Whilst these changes would affect the aesthetics and amenity value of
the affected roads, the scale of the changes would be minor. This is due to the fact
that the road corridor is already established and the overall traffic volumes are
expected to remain relatively constant. Therefore, road amenity is already heavily
compromised.
Sydney City Centre Capacity Improvement 304
Review of Environmental Factors