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

Road
Goulburn Street
at the
George Street
intersection
Pitt Street
between
Rawson Place
and
Liverpool Street
Ultimo Road and
Harris Street at
the Harris Street
intersection
Broadway
between
Mountain Street
and Abercrombie
Street
Pitt Street at the
Lee Street and
George Street
intersection
Traffic conditions
Currently, a kerb extension on the south-east corner of George
Street and Goulburn Street extends almost three metres beyond the
southern kerb alignment of Goulburn Street. As a consequence,
only two and half lanes are provided on the approach to George
Street. This lane arrangement results in the through westbound
movements being impeded by queued vehicles waiting to turn left
onto George Street which are impacted by the volume of
pedestrians crossing George Street.
Pitt Street is identified as a major traffic corridor between George
Street and Liverpool Street in the Access Strategy. Between
Rawson Place and Campbell Street, Pitt Street is configured to
provide two northbound lanes (with adjacent kerbside parking), and
two trafficable southbound lanes (also with kerbside parking) south
of Hay Street. Between Campbell Street and Goulburn Street, the
carriageway narrows and with kerbside parking permitted on either
side of the street, restricts both north and southbound traffic to a
single lane. To the north of Goulburn Street, Pitt Street functions as
a one-way northbound street. The provision of parking adjacent to
the eastern kerb and the existence of a car park access ramp
adjacent to the western kerb, results in northbound traffic being
restricted to a single lane at this point.
Currently, two right-turn lanes and a single left-turn lane are
provided on Ultimo Road on the approach to Harris Street. As a
consequence of this lane configuration, extensive queuing occurs in
the left-turn lane on the approach to Harris Street. This is
particularly prevalent during the afternoon peak period. The
transport initiatives outlined in the Access Strategy are expected to
result in Ultimo Road being a desirable connection to Broadway,
City Road and Regent Street by motorists exiting the city centre.
Broadway is a major bus corridor and arterial road that connects
George Street and Pitt Street with Parramatta Road and City Road.
At Wattle Street, Broadway is configured with four lanes in each
direction and a right-turn bay for buses travelling west to north on
Wattle Street. The kerbside lanes in each direction are designated
as bus lanes which operate during the morning and evening peak
period. Motorists wanting to turn left into Wattle Street from
Broadway use an unconventional wide slip lane that intersects with
Wattle Street about 30–40 metres north of Broadway. Because of
the high number of vehicles turning into Wattle Street (600 vehicles
per hour in the morning peak period and 500 vehicles per hour in
the evening peak period) surveys have shown that the majority of
bus operators avoid the bus lane and travel in the adjacent lane
before re-entering the bus lane east of Wattle Street.
The intersection of Pitt Street, George Street, Lee Street and Quay
Street functions as a gateway to the city centre for traffic
movements and public transport services approaching from the
west and inner south west areas. Numerous bus routes converge
on the intersection with high bus volumes on Pitt Street, George
Street and Lee Street. The Railway Square bus interchange
generates high levels of pedestrian activity and is a vital node in the
public transport network providing convenient connection to rail
services operating via nearby Central Station.
Sydney City Centre Capacity Improvement 15
Review of Environmental Factors