Sydney light rail barrier removal is months behind schedule
Massive orange road barriers crippling the livelihoods of scores of business owners remain throughout inner Sydney construction zones, flagging the continued delays dogging the city’s embattled $2.1 billion light rail project.
Massive orange road barriers crippling the livelihoods of scores of business owners remain throughout inner Sydney construction zones, flagging the continued delays dogging the city’s embattled $2.1 billion light rail project.
The Daily Telegraph yesterday discovered a number of barriers due to be removed by November last year were still in place after visiting 21 light rail work zones along the 12.7km light rail route to the eastern suburbs.
It can also be revealed 100 per cent of track and track slab has now been laid, more than three years after work first started in October 2015.
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But business owners say their livelihoods have been thrown completely off-track by the disruption.
More than 110 business owners have now joined a class-action lawsuit — which is estimated to be worth more than $100 million — against the NSW government for losses caused by the construction of the Sydney light rail.
City of Sydney councillor Angela Vithoulkas last night said: “Any and all of the barriers will absolutely still affect business trade.
“You can’t be seen through these barriers so for all intents and purposes your business is still interrupted.”
Ms Vithoulkhas is also the former owner of Vivo cafe on George St, which is on the light rail route. “Every day that this drags on more businesses will close, more people will lose their jobs, more families will suffer,” she said.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance said: “Sydney’s light rail will transform the city. We’ve had great progress on the project over recent months with 100 per cent of the rail track and track slab now laid.”
However, he insisted the remaining barriers were essential to keep people safe: “I’ll never apologise for putting safety first.”
But while work on the light rail line is progressing, the orange eyesores remain.
A barrier removal completion schedule released in July 2018 by ALTRAC, the consortium charged with building the light rail project, shows several precincts are running behind schedule.
In zones 1-7, which starts from Circular Quay and ends at Bathurst St, there was a large concentration of barriers between Bridge St towards Circular Quay. These barriers were meant to be removed by November 2018, according to the schedule.
Only zone 5 between Market St and King St no longer had barriers erected.
In zones 8-12, which starts at Bathurst St and ends at Rawson Pl, there are still numerous barriers erected — particularly on George St.
These are due to be removed by January 2019 but ALTRAC does not specify when exactly. There is almost no access for vehicles, with a large number of lanes still closed by the barriers.
In zones 13-21, which start from Eddy Ave near Pitt St and end at Lang Rd, there are still numerous barriers — particularly on Devonshire St. Barriers in this zone were also due to be removed by November.
Barriers in the Randwick precinct (zones 20-26) and the remaining zones (28-31) in the Kingsford/Kensington precinct are not scheduled for removal until February.
A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said ALTRAC advised civil construction would be “substantially complete in 2018”.
“Barriers will remain around stops under construction, around localised sites for finishing works and where required for safety reasons, such as around traffic lanes,” she said.
“This includes at some intersections and in the centre of the road to safely manage traffic movements.”
Mr Issa said the barriers had been “repurposed”.
“They were once being used for construction,” he said.
“They’re now being repurposed for safety.
“Because they’re orange people think they’re the same barriers but all the major work has been demobilised.”
An ALTRAC spokeswoman said barriers had been “significantly reduced or removed throughout the CBD and Surry Hills with more to be removed as works are completed”.
“Barriers will remain around the stops until passenger services commence,” she said.
“Smaller zones will require some barriers while works, such as paving, are undertaken but these will be removed as work is completed.”
Transport for NSW expects the project will be finished by March 2020 — 12 months later than originally promised — but Acciona Australia boss Bede Noonan has warned it could be pushed back another two months. It was originally due to be finished in March this year in time for the NSW election.
Additional reporting Annabel Hennessy
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