An increase in motorists using the WestConnex motorway since late last year has opened the way for more bus and transit lanes to be installed along Sydney’s maligned Parramatta Road, the state government says.
New bus lanes in both directions of Parramatta Road between Bland and Orpington streets in Ashfield, as well as a westbound bus lane from Norton Street to West Street in Petersham, are due to be completed by early next month.
A new bus lane on Parramatta Road in Ashfield.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Extra T3 transit lanes are being installed in both directions of the arterial route between Burwood Road at Burwood and Bland Street at Haberfield. The new bus and transit lanes on Parramatta Road will be in force from 6am to 10am and 3pm to 7pm on weekdays.
The government cited figures showing travel times for city-bound vehicles in the morning peak on Parramatta Road between Burwood and Petersham reduced by 9.5 per cent in March compared to last November. The final piece of WestConnex, a $3.9 billion underground interchange at Rozelle, opened on November 26 last year.
Roads Minister John Graham said a recent reduction in congestion on Parramatta Road had presented an opportunity to make bus services more efficient and encourage higher occupancy in private vehicles.
“More than three kilometres of new bus and T3 transit lanes are a practical addition to Parramatta Road,” he said.
Traffic on Parramatta Road in Ashfield.Credit: Kate Geraghty
T3 transit lanes can be used by vehicles containing three or more people.
The latest figures from toll road operator Transurban show an almost 10 per cent increase in WestConnex traffic in the March quarter to 303,000 average daily trips, compared with the same period a year earlier.
A justification for WestConnex was that it would remove traffic from Parramatta Road, allowing it to be turned into a liveable artery similar to those in Barcelona and Paris.
Conditions imposed on the 2016 approval of WestConnex tunnels by then-planning minister Rob Stokes included a requirement for at least one lane in each direction on Parramatta Road, from Burwood to Haberfield, to be exclusively used for public transport. The condition did not impose a deadline and has yet to be met.
University of NSW research fellow Christopher Standen, who has been critical of WestConnex, said the extra bus lanes were a positive step towards the government complying with the conditions of planning consent for WestConnex.
However, Standen said transit lanes were not as good at improving bus travel times and reliability because they could still be used by multi-occupant private vehicles or single-occupant electric vehicles and taxis.
“If the NSW government genuinely cared about bus users, it would implement bus lanes along all major bus corridors without worrying about the impact on private vehicle traffic,” he said.
“We know from experience that traffic volume naturally expands or contracts to fill the road space provided for it.”
The state’s transport agency has had to resort to T3 transit lanes between Burwood and Haberfield, and new bus lanes in Ashfield and other inner-west suburbs because existing lanes are too narrow for separated bus lanes along the entire corridor.
Under the previous Coalition government, Transport for NSW looked at a separated busway along the entire length of Parramatta Road, but decided against it because it would have required the closure of two lanes.
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