Inner west streets turned to ‘carparks' as motorists dodge M4
RAT-running is taking its toll on inner west roads as thousands of motorists avoid recently introduced fees along the widened M4.
Inner West
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RAT-running is taking its toll on inner west roads as thousands of motorists avoid recently introduced fees along the widened M4.
Data obtained by the Courier shows 30 per cent fewer motorists are using the M4 from Homebush and Parramatta since tolls of $4.74 for cars and $14.22 for trucks were introduced last August.
In July last year an average 195,800 vehicles used the 7.8km of motorway per day. By June this year, it dropped by 58,310 to 137,490 per day.
With limited toll-free alternatives, thousands of extra cars are instead making the journey on local roads and Parramatta Rd is at the top of the list.
Wentworth Hotel licensee Warwick Arnaout said traffic outside his Parramatta Rd pub had almost doubled in the last 12 months.
“It’s gotten to the point where it can take 25 minutes to get 1km along Parramatta Rd. People are impatient, there are more crashes,” he said.
“As a business owner it’s detrimental because no one can park and it’s impossible to turn off and on to side streets. The road looks like a carpark now.”
Strathfield state Labor MP and Opposition Transport spokeswoman Jodi McKay said impacts could be repeated towards the CBD as tolled sections of WestConnex open by 2023.
She said the M4 traffic data undermined the government’s plan to revitalise Parramatta Rd with 27,000 homes and 50,000 jobs by 2050.
“The government promised that Parramatta Rd would become a boulevard of dreams because trucks and cars would be removed from Parramatta Rd onto WestConnex,” she said.
“The tolls will keep cars on Parramatta Rd, particularly around the WestConnex exits at Haberfield.”
Inner West Council is already planning partial or full closures on 34 roads to limit rat-running from WestConnex.
The closures include 11 along Parramatta Rd where traffic is predicted to increase by up to 200 per cent by 2021.
A Roads and Maritime Services spokesman said while some motorists decided to use alternative routes once tolls were introduced, traffic volumes on the widened M4 were stronger than originally forecast.
“The new M4 will remove around 10,000 trucks a day from Parramatta Rd and allow motorists to travel from Penrith to Haberfield without stopping at a single traffic light,” he said.
Ms McKay said tolls for WestConnex — set to be up to $8.60 one way using today’s figures — would make it unaffordable for many.
“If the government is serious about transforming Parramatta Rd it should be looking at public transport not hitting people with $17.20 daily tolls to use WestConnex,” she said.