All Roads Could Lead to Off-ramp Chaos

By Duncan Horscroft on June 25, 2018 in News

The future, by Stace Shonerry.

Getting around the Eastern Suburbs these days can be an absolute nightmare, but things could get much worse if a proposal by Roads and Maritime Services to build a WestConnex off-ramp at the intersection of Anzac Parade, Alison Road and Dacey Avenue gets the go-ahead.
The proposal aims to filter traffic through multiple lanes on to the off-ramp, bringing thousands of cars from the western suburbs to the east and adding to the chaos that has already been caused by the much-maligned light rail project.
According to the RMS, the $500 million Alexandria to Moore Park Connectivity Upgrade (A2MP) “would deliver travel time savings and reliability improvements along the entire corridor”.
Councillors from Waverley, Randwick and Woollahra are opposing the project, and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore is appalled at the prospect of losing more than a hundred trees, including some which have been in place since the early 1900s.
The project’s impact on the Moore Park Golf Course, which is a major public recreation facility, or the nearby athletics field, which is a major venue for a wide range of carnivals, is still unclear.
Centennial Park and Queens Park host a myriad of junior sporting events on weekends and those areas are already a major traffic gridlock on game days.
Waverley Councillor Marjorie O’Neill has been active in opposing the plan. At a meeting of Waverley Council back in April she called for a moratorium on the proposals to remain in place until there was consultation with the affected councils regarding the plan’s impact on the various communities.
Cr O’Neill also asked that Council note the State Government’s failure to commission and/or release the relevant strategic business cases.
“The extension of WestConnex will destroy the social fabric and character of the entire east and south-east and turn it into a congested, overdeveloped, ugly dump… done by stealth!” Cr O’Neill told The Beast.
“The road widening will involve a wrecking ball of road works, including the demolition of buildings, destruction of trees and encroachment on private homes, all in the name of creating a massive six to eight-lane feeder road from Alison Road/Anzac Parade through to WestConnex,” she explained.
“It will funnel eastbound traffic directly onto our already gridlocked streets of Coogee, Randwick, Moore Park and Waverley and, from a Council perspective, this impact on our roads is something we will have to address.”
“With the disastrous light rail project expected to be over capacity when it opens – if it ever does open – WestConnex will be the only way for huge volumes of traffic to get to the giant entertainment complex and stadium precinct planned, spewing more traffic onto local roads in the Eastern Suburbs.”