Sydney’s latest $3.9 billion underground road interchange to funnel commuters out of suburban rat runs and onto toll roads is officially so complex and bamboozling that the state government has issued virtual reality simulations and driver’s-eye animations to coach motorists ahead of its imminent opening.
As the excavators and cranes pack up and the landscape architects rush to finish plantings before Christmas, Transport for NSW on Tuesday released its own online prepper POV mini-series on navigating the epic Rozelle interchange that in some places is as many as 14 lanes wide.
“Motorists can start preparing for driving conditions inside the final piece of WestConnex, with the release of animations to help navigate the more than 16 kilometres of new tunnels that make up the Rozelle Interchange,” Transport cheerily announced on Tuesday.
It’s well known many people from outside Sydney shudder at the thought of attempting to navigate its often complex and illogical maze of arterial roads, not least because of the unforgiving consequences of being force-routed because of a lane choice that came too late or where an exit appears on the right when you thought it would be on the left — or sometimes perhaps the middle lane that sends you up a flyover.
The Mandarin’s Sydney bureau can confirm the simulations to condition drivers and lay down some neural pre-programming to reveal some next-level manoeuvres, like turning left onto City West Link from The Crescent that will see you sucked down the M8 and send you to Liverpool via the airport if you get your lanes wrong.
Or you could fail to notice the range of last-minute fudges that could also get you sucked underground.
“There will be a temporary ‘no left turn’ from The Crescent onto City West Link for approximately four weeks to allow for final elements of construction at the intersection,” Transport for NSW said.
As far as spaghetti junctions go, Rozelle Interchange is a fairly loose-knit affair, with most of the new 16km of tunnels designed to keep traffic moving fairly quickly at between 60km/h and 80 km/h between the iconic Anzac Bridge, but it is a massive change to what precedes it.
And to be fair, despite the vigorous protestations of many locals, the area has always been preserved as a transport corridor right from the time the former freight rail-fed working docks of Pyrmont and Darling Harbour stopped working, leaving behind large tracts of level inner urban land able to be repurposed.
The Inner West Light Rail now runs along the former goods line to Dulwich Hill, passing any number of former mills and factories that used to have sidings but have gradually been converted into residential complexes.
The new NSW minister for Roads, John Graham, is talking up the Rozelle Interchange completion but also clearly bracing for initial chaos.
“Rozelle Interchange is a complex feat of Australian engineering, which has become a reality due to the hard work of a skilled local workforce, and we look forward to opening to traffic soon,” Graham said.
“Now is a good time for drivers to start thinking about their journeys and how they may change after the opening of the interchange. These videos provide a preview of the new connections and will help in planning.”
They’re not quite on par with Grand Theft Auto V or Sega Rally Championship but any sneak peek is better than trying to second-guess Sydney’s transport planners with whom the city’s residents have a dynamic and robust relationship.
For Graham, who gets to cut the ribbon on the massive project, his predecessors had hoped to have ready for the election, there can’t be enough early warnings.
“When a major piece of road infrastructure like Rozelle Interchange opens, we expect drivers will take time to adjust to the new roads and route options, but these videos will give a head start,” Graham said.
“We are expecting an increase in congestion along Victoria Road and the City West Link as well as some queuing on the new M4 exit ramp in the AM peak until road users adapt and establish new travel patterns.”
Transport for NSW Coordinator General Howard Collins, who knows all about tunnels from his time in charge of Sydney’s trains, is also firmly managing expectations.
“Rozelle Interchange is close to completion, and we look forward to opening 16.6 kilometres of new roads to give Sydney motorists more options to get where they want to go across our growing city,” Collins said.
“We know from the opening of other major road infrastructure projects that motorists can take time to adjust to changes on the road network.”
The curtain raiser for the Rozelle Interchange follows the latest bid by property developers to prompt the government to turn one of Sydney’s oldest arterial roads — Parramatta Road — into a major residential redevelopment opportunity by running a new light rail down it from the CBD to Parramatta.
The Business Sydney, Business Western Sydney and the Housing Industry Association are lobbying for large sections of both Parramatta Rd and Victoria Rd to be redeveloped as part of a push to increase density to address the housing shortfall the Minns government has committed to addressing.
However the densification and development of the corridor are problematic in that Parramatta Rd is one of the few remaining natural surface corridors to Sydney that supports a diversity of light industry and commerce ranging from furniture and whitegoods to automotive services, specialist shops and showrooms as well as apparel and varied personal services.
The lack of gentrification and redevelopment makes the corridor affordable and practical for businesses that need vehicle access or off-peak parking. Immediate redevelopment could also potentially limit the widening of the corridor in sections where a greater setback could allow for taller buildings.
A previous plan for Parramatta Road that was shelved by the previous government absurdly likened a proposed redevelopment to the 70-metre-wide grand Parisian Napoleonic boulevard of the Avenue des Champs-Élyséese.
READ MORE:
Toll review lifts the lid on recent work by Treasury and Transport for NSW, Labor rules out congestion tax
Julian Bajkowski is a research and technical-driven reporter with over 20 years’ experience in technology and cybersecurity journalism. Julian has also been an adviser in public policy and corporate affairs for Mastercard and eftpos.
Tags: ANZAC Bridge Howard Collins John Graham M4 M5 M5 South-West Cashback Scheme M8 NSW Minister for Roads Parramatta Rd Rozelle Interchange Theft Auto V toll roads Transport for NSW Coordinator General Transurban Treansport for NSW tunnels WestConnex
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By Julian Bajkowski
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