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Posted: 2024-07-15 05:55:40

In short:

The legislative council report into the Rozelle Interchange in Sydney found there was a lack of transparency with the interchange and its design was driven by maximising WestConnex's sale value.

The "promised benefits" from the construction of the project "have not been realised" for those living near the road network.

What's next?

There were 17 recommendations from the inquiry focused largely on community consultation, privatisation and improving existing infrastructure.

There was a "concerning lack of clarity and transparency" around contractual arrangements between the NSW government and Transurban over the delivery of the trouble-plagued Rozelle Interchange, a NSW parliamentary inquiry has found.

The legislative council report has made a slew of findings critical of the delivery of the spaghetti junction that has caused traffic issues in Sydney's inner west at peak times since the interchange opened in November.

Intense pubic scrutiny resulted in a parliamentary inquiry being established in February to investigate the issues the opening of the road project caused motorists and nearby residents.

Committee chair and NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann said the primary finding was that WestConnex's financial model was based on maximising its value, which drove the design decisions of the interchange, resulting in an increase in traffic along the Anzac Bridge and its surrounds.

This increased traffic has created ongoing "extensive negative impacts" for local residents, roads and businesses which was "unreasonable and unacceptable", the report said.

Image shows congestion and traffic delays. You can see cars, grey road on a gloomy day.

The interchange was opened to the public last November.( ABC News: Keana Naughton )

One finding was that impacted communities, such as those in Rozelle, were "promised benefits" from the construction of the project "that have not been realised".

The committee found there was also a lack of consultation and information sharing with communities throughout the design, construction and opening of the interchange, which was "unacceptable given the magnitude of the project" and its "significant impacts" on those communities.

The former state government and Transurban were criticised over transparency around contractual arrangements in relation to the traffic regulation around the interchange and the WestConnex network more broadly.

The inquiry made 17 recommendations focused largely on community consultation, a rejection of privatisation and improving existing infrastructure to alleviate the issues caused by the development and design of the interchange.

'It's the opposite of what we should be doing going forward'

Ms Faehrmann told ABC Radio Sydney the committee heard evidence that suggested the project's design choices were made to increase traffic in a bid to make the interchange more lucrative.

"That was all to do with increasing the number of cars onto WestConnex through the Rozelle Interchange and essentially making it more financially attractive for Transurban," she said.

A woman sits at a desk, hands folded.

Committee chair and NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann heard evidence that design choices were made to increase traffic on the interchange.(ABC News: Shaun Kingma)

The inquiry was unable to establish who made the final design decisions of the interchange.

"The transparency around this whole project was lacking, Ms Faehrmann said.

A Transurban spokesperson said the company has acknowledged the congestion issues that occurred on the surrounding road network and the frustration caused to the local community but highlighted the project has delivered improvements for some motorists.

"Rozelle Interchange is a crucial component of WestConnex and has delivered substantial time-savings for motorists from Western Sydney," they said in a statement.

"Those travelling from Penrith to the city may now save half an hour, while motorists from Liverpool and Parramatta to the city may save 20 minutes and 15 minutes, respectively.

"Travel times on key surface routes have improved in recent months following the initial settling period, post opening."

NSW has 'learnt its lesson about privatising toll roads'

The report also recommends the NSW government "reject any further privatisation of the state's roads", a review of consultation practices and policies to ensure greater accountability and genuine community engagement on major road projects.

Premier Chris Minns said the "most disturbing" part of the report is that the previous government was aware of the disruptions the opening of the road network would cause, but did not tell the community.

"You need to make sure ... during the design phase you're taking into consideration all intended and unintended consequences that clearly didn't happen in Rozelle," he said.

"We're determined when we pursue major changes that the public are aware of how it will affect their community, and we also take into consideration whether there's better way of providing this public infrastructure for these communities."

He said the state has "well and truly learnt its lesson about privatising toll roads" and the government would not do it.

Several recommendations advise the government to review traffic-light signalling in surrounding suburbs as well as the left-turn only lane and dedicated bus lane on Victoria Road.

It also encourages the government to undertake a review of pedestrian safety, cycling infrastructure, and strategies to prevent rat running on local roads.

The committee overseeing the inquiry was made up of three MLCs from the Labor party, one from Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, and one from The Nationals, with Ms Faehrmann acting as committee chair.

Liberal party MLC Natalie Ward, who was also on the committee, did not support the findings of the inquiry. 

She said the opposition supported all but two recommendations from the report that relate to the implementation of recommendations from two previous reports into WestConnex, a rejection of further privatisation, and a rejection of future road-based projects that are not in the public interest or "do not align with government strategy".

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