Sydney Park Junction upgrade should be finished. Instead, it’s back to the drawing board

Transport Minister Jo Haylen has been forced to intervene weeks after transport officials quietly published plans to slash road, cycling and pedestrian upgrades promised as part of WestConnex.

Transport for NSW erased about 85 per cent of upgrades promised for Sydney Park Junction, at the intersection of St Peters, Erskineville and Alexandria in Sydney’s inner west, on August 30, weeks before Haylen stepped in to abandon the reduced plan.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen has ordered Transport for NSW to reconsider watered-down proposals for upgrades at Sydney Park Junction. Credit: Monique Westermann

The proposal erased plans for a cycleway link between Sydney Park Road and Mitchell Road, walking and cycling links to a newly created St Peters Square, and the planting of trees on Sydney Park Road.

The original upgrades to Sydney Park Junction were exhibited in 2021, and were promised as part of approval conditions for WestConnex. Upgrades were initially due for completion in mid-2024, but construction is yet to begin.

Haylen’s office said she was “aware of the community’s expectation that we deliver a Sydney Park Road Junction that works for all road users”.

“She agrees recent changes to the project leave a lot to be desired and has directed the department to look again at their plans.”

An artist’s impression of Sydney Park Junction as it was planned, published in March 2022.Credit: Transport for NSW

Transport for NSW has blamed a funding shortfall for the weakened proposal. A Transport for NSW spokesperson said the agency was now “working to explore options” that would deliver the features promised in previous iterations of the proposal.

“We will work … to deliver outcomes that are aligned with community expectations with a view to starting construction as soon as is feasible,” the spokesperson said. Transport for NSW would then take a proposal to the community for consultation.

The first inklings of a downgraded proposal were made in early August, after transport officials shared with Bicycle NSW plans to abandon the construction of a cycleway link and pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Sydney Park Road and Mitchell Road.

Less than a week after the revised proposal was made public, Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore wrote to Haylen and Roads Minister John Graham to express her “disappointment” with the changed plans.

Moore urged Haylen and Graham to deliver the original design, and referenced the government’s Western Distributor upgrades, which she described as “highly questionable”, to challenge arguments of a funding shortfall.

Bicycle NSW chief executive Peter McLean wrote to Haylen to share “deep community concern” five days before she compelled her department to abandon the downgraded plans.

“The [initial] proposals provided exciting evidence that Sydney can move forward from decades of car domination and set a benchmark for reimagining unloved arterial roads,” McLean wrote. “This should be a project to be proud of.”

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