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

Landscape character and visual impacts during operation
The proposal would either modify existing road infrastructure and in some instances
relocate or introduce new road furniture.
In all locations, the mass and scale of the changes would not be sufficient to
influence the context or setting of the road corridor and the influence it has on the
landscape character of each precinct. This is reinforced by the fact that the proposal
has been designed to be consistent with the urban character of the existing city
centre roads (refer to section 3.2.4). It would achieve this by replicating design
elements and materials already used within the road corridor. As a result the impact
of the change would be negligible at almost all work sites.
Similarly, in terms of streetscape effects, the mass and scale of the changes would
not be sufficient to influence the context or setting of the road corridor and the
influence it has on its streetscape setting. Again, in the majority of locations
the change would therefore be negligible. The two exceptions comprise:
Locations where the footpath and/or kerb would be narrowed or adjusted
Locations where the kerbside allocation would be modified to create additional
traffic lanes.
In these locations road traffic would become more dominant. This process of
‘intensification’ would affect the road traffic’s influence on the streetscape. Impacts
would be further heightened the locations where the trees would be removed as
discussed in more detail below.
Table 6-45 summarises the potential impact of the proposal’s operation on the
streetscape character of each work site and the landscape character of the identified
landscape character. Table I-4 of Appendix I describes the impacts and justification
for the ratings in detail. The table only assesses the changes due to the proposal to
undertake:
Intersection reconfiguration and geometry modifications
Kerb extension alterations
Footpath width alterations.
The other proposed traffic capacity improvements are assessed as having a
negligible impact on either the streetscape or landscape character. Consequently,
not all work sites are included in the table.
Table 6-45
Operational landscape characteristic and streetscape impacts
Precinct
Zone 1: north west
Impacts on
streetscape
NW2: King Street Low adverse Negligible
Zone 2: retail
R2: Market Street Low adverse Negligible
R3: Sussex Street Low beneficial Negligible
R4: Clarence Street Low beneficial Negligible
R5: York Street Low adverse Negligible
Impacts on the landscape
character
Sydney City Centre Capacity Improvement 352
Review of Environmental Factors