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

Effect
construction traffic emissions
Affected
factors/receivers
Construction
workforce
Location
(also refer Figure 1-1)
Overall, the predicted benefits of the proposal largely focus on supporting the
reallocation and reprioritisation of traffic in the city centre due to the changes
introduced under the Access Strategy. The majority of the adverse effects of the
proposal would be felt during the construction phase and would be temporary
disruptions. However key operational impacts comprise:
Introduced time-restrictions preventing parking and loading at certain times of
the day
Impacts on pedestrian capacity and movement in some areas associated with
alterations to footpath widths, removal of kerb extensions and pedestrian
crossings
An increase in traffic capacity within the affected road corridors, which would
have a minor effect on each street’s amenity and streetscape character.
As noted above, further work is underway to fully understand these impacts within
the context of the other Access Strategy projects for light rail, buses and cycleways.
Of key note, Transport for NSW and City of Sydney Council is in the process of
developing a kerbside allocation strategy that will manage and prioritise the changes
that need to occur within the city centre to deliver the Access Strategy. Stakeholder
engagement is also underway to fully understand the varying needs of the diverse
city centre businesses. This will assist in mitigating and managing the overall impacts
on kerbside access in the city centre.
Safeguards and management measures have been identified to avoid, reduce,
address, manage and minimise the proposal’s predicted adverse impacts. These are
summarised in Chapter 7.
Providing these are implemented, there is expected to be no significant residual
impact or cumulative effects resulting from the proposal’s construction or operation.
Justification and conclusion
The proposal’s justification balances the expected long-term benefits of the proposal
against the typically shorter-term environmental and social impacts that would occur
during construction and the major adverse effects on the city if the proposal was not
implemented.
The proposal would help to enable implementation of the other Access Strategy
projects, including (40 per cent) of George Street being converted to a pedestrianised
zone. The proposal offers a mechanism to improve road network efficiency and
functionality and support the growing demand for access into Sydney city centre. The
proposal would achieve this by maintaining and in some cases improving traffic
capacity and efficiency on some of the city’s most congested roads and critical
intersections, thereby support buses, taxies, service and freight delivery and general
traffic. These ‘pinch points’ are either unable to cope with existing traffic volumes or
they will provide an essential function in enabling key Access Strategy projects.
By not implementing the proposal, congestion would increase across the city centre.
Doing nothing would not make effective use of the road network, nor would it
introduce the necessary increase in capacity, reallocation of road priorities or
Sydney City Centre Capacity Improvement Plan
Review of Environmental Factors
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