WestConnex is part of an integrated transport solution to address the needs of a growing city

We fully recognise the importance of Sydney Park and the investments that the City of Sydney Council and others have made in recent years.

A strip of land owned by Roads and Maritime Services adjacent to Sydney Park is being used to widen Euston Road as part of local road upgrades. This is not part of Sydney Park.

As outlined in the City of Sydney’s own management plan for Sydney Park, this land is dedicated road space and has been subject to a long-standing road widening reservation.

A small boundary strip, adjacent to the road reserve, is also required for the local road widening, however this is more than offset by the additional 8.5 hectares of open green space being created at St Peters Interchange.

Two hectares of this open green space will be directly connected to Sydney Park via a land bridge over Campbell Road.

Transferring vehicles from surface roads into free-flowing underground motorway tunnels will improve the air quality along existing surface roads where traffic is reduced.

For example, an independent air quality assessment detailed in the M4 East EIS found air quality will generally improve along the Parramatta Road corridor because of traffic shifting to WestConnex.

Motorists will have a smooth motorway to travel on, rather than being stuck in congested, stop-start traffic with traffic lights, and this will reduce emissions.

Our tunnels are also designed to reduce emissions, as they are generally flatter and less steep at the entries and exits.

For each WestConnex project, a series of documents including details of the measures to appropriately manage and reduce the impact of the project on local communities. These include: 

• The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) – the EIS explores the potential environmental impact and outlines measures to manage and reduce this impact based on best practice and expert advice. 
• The Submissions Report – this responds to all feedback received on the EIS during exhibition. It provides additional mitigation measures needed in response to new information, additional assessment or community feedback. 
• The Conditions of Approval – in approving each project, the NSW Minister for Planning issues a range of conditions that must be adhered to during and after construction, to ensure impact of the project is mitigated. 
• The Construction Environmental Management Plan and sub plans – before we start major work, these are prepared to provide a detailed approach to the management of environmental issues. The Department of Planning and Environment must approve these before major construction work can start. They build on the mitigation and management measures established in the EIS, the Submissions Report and Conditions of Approval.

We always notify local communities before we start a new section of work and before we do any out-of-hours work.