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

The proposal would, however, assist in improving the city’s overall amenity by setting
priorities on specific streets (refer to Chapter 2). The most significant change would
be the closure of part of George Street to traffic and its conversion to a
pedestrianised zone, which would be enabled by this proposal.
Trees would be either pruned or removed in seven locations. These trees are not
protected or significant other than in one location (refer to section 6.6.2). They do,
however, contribute to the overall character and amenity value of the study area and
provide shading (refer section 6.6); therefore, their removal would have a minor
impact on amenity at these locations.
Section 6.15 discusses the cumulative amenity impacts that would potentially occur
as a result of this proposal operating at the same time as other planned city centre
projects.
Community values (connectivity and movement) – operational impacts
The proposal would improve vehicle connectivity and movement throughout the city.
Pedestrian and cyclist connectivity and movement would be generally unaffected by
this proposal, although some specific areas may experience an increase or decrease
in footpath space (refer to section 6.1.3). When considered cumulatively within the
context of the broader Access Strategy and associated works, pedestrian and cyclist
connectivity across the study area would ultimately improve, as discussed in
section 6.15. In particular, the proposal would enable the partial pedestrianisation of
George Street under the CSELR, which would improve pedestrian connectivity and
movement in the city centre.
Community values (public transport) – operational impacts
Public transport would benefit from this proposal, particularly where additional traffic
lanes are made available and where bus lanes are reconfigured to avoid buses
mixing with general traffic (refer section 6.1.3). As detailed in section 6.1.3, a bus
stop would be permanently relocated at one location under the proposal (Pitt Street:
S6 (George Street intersection)). This would have only a minor impact on public
transport values of the community.
Community values (open space and heritage values) – operational impacts
The proposal would have no permanent impact on public open spaces within the
study area (refer to section 6.5.3), and any heritage impacts would be minor with the
exception of one unknown impact (refer to section 6.3.3). Importantly, however, this
heritage impact would not affect the form or function of the community value provided
by this heritage item.
Location-specific impacts – operational impacts
Consistent with the location-specific assessment presented for the construction
impacts, Table 6-29 describes the operational impacts on key socioeconomic values
within the study area. These represent the values that are considered most sensitive
to change, namely:
The effects on pedestrian capacity and safety as a result of either removing,
adjusting, modifying footpaths and kerb extensions (minor adverse impact) or
the creation or extension of footpaths (minor beneficial impact)
Sydney City Centre Capacity Improvement 305
Review of Environmental Factors