The connection for cyclists and pedestrians of Annandale to the Glebe foreshore is now hindered and is across 5 sets of tragic lights now the green link is moved.

I am horrified by the potential impact of this proposal on our community. This plan completely ignores the conditions of consent given for this project. It will also completely damage the landscape and liveability of our local area.
The proposal will have a negative impact on the health of our community in Annandale, making it significantly more difficult for pedestrians and cyclists to access Jubilee park from Johnston Street. As any design specialist or public health specialist will tell you - needing to cross so many sets of traffic lights and/or walking over an overpass will present a significant barrier to daily exercise for our community members who currently run/ walk/ cycle straight across to the beautiful parkland. As a local parent I am particularly concerned by the safety implications for young tweens and teens wanting to access this shared space but perhaps not having the patience to wait for so many traffic lights. Barriers to safe practice (several traffic lights, overpasses) result in unsafe practice.
It is well established that building more roads does not ultimately solve congestion problems - in the short term it adds more cars to the road, in the long term congestion remains the same.
The community mural on The Crescent is a local cultural icon and defining feature of the Annandale community - past and present. Obstruction of this icon is appalling and adds to the damage to our local landscape and community.
The destruction of 70 local trees, particularly the large, beautiful and mature fig trees that attract a lot of bird wildlife, is devastating and appears to be in direct conflict with the intent behind NSW government's own policies supporting biodiversity.
I implore the State Government to ensure that the original project promises are upheld, including: Unobtrusive traffic flow along The Crescent and through the
City-West Link; Safe, direct and continuous Greenlink connecting Rozelle Railyards,Annandale and Glebe foreshore; Shared user pathways considerate
and connected into the Bays Precinct Master Plan; Maintained right turn from Johnston St into The Crescent; Preservation of the ‘people’s mural’on The Crescent.
Without upholding these promises, the State Government is demanding that local residents of Annandale, Rozelle and surrounds bear the brunt of all the disadvantages of this project (eyesores, worse congestion, higher pollution levels, higher traffic noise, poorer health outcomes due to increased pollution and reduced accessibility of public recreation spaces to name a few) but without a single compensatory benefit.

The NSW Government should install on all current and future motorway tunnels, filtration systems in order to reduce the level of pollutants emitted from ventilation stacks. Science is continually evolving. Whilst we may believe that the levels of Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are safe with current medical and scientific knowledge - this may change. My daughters school Abbotsleigh at Wahroonga is close to a ventilation stack. Please do not use my daughters life to gamble on being right.

The US approach to transportation is an example of how NOT to do - there had been enough evidence that increasing roads throughput increases congestion rather than decreasing it. Why are we so dedicated on doing it wrong? Why do we even need that ugly overpass? It looks cool only on aerial photos, but for regular people down there it is just an ugly confusing contraption.

Application: SSI 7485

Regarding the proposed modification to M4-M5 Link, Mod 2 The Crescent overpass and changes to pedestrian infrastructure in North Annandale, Rozelle and Rozelle Bay Foreshore area.  
 
My key concerns with this modification are:

— Pedestrian access to Bicentennial Park and Jubilee Park
This modification prioritises the needs of motorists, trashing the experience of local pedestrian traffic and making harder for residents to access the public waterfront.

Pedestrians walking from the western side of Johnston Street will have to use an astonishing four pedestrian crossings in order to reach Bicentennial Park.

I am most worried about my daughter’s future walk to get to and from school in Glebe every day. This will become significantly more dangerous, navigating 4 major road crossings rather than one (or none via the original green link). We are not eligible for a student transport pass, a safe walk to and from school is a priority.

My son’s safe access to weekend cricket and school sporting events has also been compromised with this modification. Requiring teachers to navigate 20 - 30 children through 4 sets of traffic lights is unreasonable and irresponsible.

I have also used the walk around the foreshore for my commute to and from work. This modification, adding four more road crossings, has the potential to add significant time to my journey. Particularly given the prioritising of vehicle flow above pedestrian movement in the current design.

The risk to pedestrians trying to speed up their journey by crossing The Crescent outside of the four proposed crossing zones is increased with this modification.

This pedestrian arrangement should be modified to allow pedestrians to cross direct from Johnston Street to the Park via The Crescent. Keeping a direct crossing from Johnston St into Chapman Rd and the foreshore park is essential to maintaining a safe commute and would not compromise traffic flow.

— Increased local traffic in Annandale and reduced access to Glebe
This modification would remove the option to turn right out of Johnston Street into the Crescent which will increase traffic through local streets including Piper Street and Booth Street.

Not only will my daughters walk to school become more difficult, it is now more difficult to drive her to school without having to join the traffic already clogging up Annandale village.

These changed conditions will mean increased noise and traffic for residents in Annandale. This will negatively impact on people wishing to travel to school in Glebe or the Tramsheds requiring a significant change in access and forcing traffic through an already busy Annandale village.

— Losing the direct connection between Rozelle and the Foreshore
This modification would abandon one of the centrepieces of the original design: a pedestrian and cycling green link to connect the Rozelle Goods Yard to Bicentennial Park.

Relocating that green link to the west of the intersection of The Crescent and City West Link ignores the original conditions of consent given for this project and puts the needs of motorists ahead of pedestrians and cyclists.

The proposed pedestrian bridge further north up the City West Link creates an unnecessarily long walk for pedestrians and an unnecessarily high climb of 5+ metres.

This modification is not conducive for families accessing the foreshore or commuters walking / riding to work in Glebe, Pyrmont or Ultimo. The Rozelle community might be able to get to the Rozelle Bay light rail via the green link but not then safely, directly onto foreshore. Even cyclists are being considerably disadvantaged by the length and location of the overpass.

RMS and the contractors must reconsider other design options for a continuous green link from Rozelle Goods Yard, across the City West Link into Jubilee Park, including a link to Annandale and the Rozelle Bay light rail stop.

In summary, my submission requests that the RMS:

1. Relocate and redesign pedestrian and cyclist connections to the Foreshore that are continuous, safe and direct.

2. Maintains a right turn from Johnston St into the Crescent to avoid diverting more traffic through the Annandale.

3. Reinstate the GreenLink directly connecting communities and green open space from Rozelle to Bicentennial Park

Yours sincerely,
Juanita Ford

The proposed Annandale overpass is totally unacceptable and unnecessary.
It will ruin Buruwan park and will destroy over 70 trees.
Westconnex is destroying our green spaces and public access to foreshores.
What happened to the original plan of an underground underpass?
You have given us public consultation until Sept 18th.but we notice work has already started and trees are being destroyed.Once again pedestrians lose out to cars.What happened to democracy?

Hello all,
I respectfully would like to object to this change of plans to the Annandale interchange.

The crescent is an extremely busy road as it is. Adding more traffic moving through this area is very poor planning as it is.

Annandale/Camperdown is already encumbered with the massive works on Booth/Parramatta Road. Adding further interruption, traffic, bustle and congestion is unacceptable.

I’ve lived in Annandale for 15 years. The traffic and density is rising constantly. Adding an LA style fly over will only make it worse.

The area near the city-west link and the Crescent could be beautiful. Yet it has ugly marine heavy works that ruin what would be an otherwise beautiful view of the city. An opportunity for a lovely marina is ruined by industrial work site nearly in the city limits. Adding an ugly fly over in front of this further ruins site lines to our beautiful city.

Instead of seeing sunrise and a city waking up, all residents will see is traffic, an elevated road, and horrible boat works.

Please go back to the under ground plan.

We the tax payer have already paid for such roads so commit and build it properly and don’t take the cheapest way out.

Thank you

I live at 2/215 wigram road Annandale and also own 1/215 wigram road so am heavily invested in this lovely suburb.



Kind Regards


Emilio Abbonizio

I AM OPPOSED TO THE ANNANDALE OVERPASS. IT IS UNSIGHTLY AND DETRIMENTAL TO THE ENVIRONMENT. IF NECESSARY, BUILD AN UNDERPASS. IN THE LONG-TERM IT WILL PAY FOR ITSELF.

I object to the sneaky way that the original underground interchange at Annandale, which was promised to minimise disruption to residents and impact from traffic, has been changed to a massive above ground junction. This will disconnect the surrounding suburbs from each other and from the harbour, increase pollution and traffic noise, and change the character of the suburbs. This is a dramatic change to the plans, and flouts the conditions of consent for the project. If the underground interchange cannot be dug as planned it should be rerouted elsewhere underground rather than putting this hideous concrete blight on a densely populated, historic area of the city.

First of all - I truly hope this is read and not put into a pile for shredding. This project has a direct affect on hundreds of locals and I hope that the person reading this considers how they might personally feel if this was being done in their own local suburb. We are not NIMBYs - we are wanting real, considered and sympathetic solutions to issues created by Westconnex which is already affecting us. I know that this project is being assessed by a team of real people. In the same way, I am not just one of those people waving a banner around, I am someone who is genuinely concerned by this proposal.

The current modification has given no consideration to the community this project cuts through. We already put up with the noise, pollution and increased traffic that arrived the day Westconnex opened (Seriously - even I was surprised it was that quick. Just pop over to Johnston Street between 5pm - 7pm now heading towards the Crescent from Parramatta Road. Watch The Crescent back up all the way to the PCYC from the light rail to see what I mean). We shouldn't have the only positive aspect of this proposal ripped away from us by way of a completely impractical overpass.

This is an opportunity to create something thoughtful, considerate and sympathetic to the area. Concrete and tall structures are not in keeping with the local environment. Personally I find tall overpasses quite confronting and this one will have people over 7m above the ground! You only need to see how many people avoid the one over Victoria Road and try to cross it to see how much people dislike them. It looks ridiculous - and that is because it is simply not practical or user friendly.

This modification is not appropriate and I hope that someone puts a bit more thought into its design so that what was originally promised is retained. GREEN means green. Not concrete/grey. I support the submissions made by the local foreshore action groups that what was originally promised must be retained. For this new space to be "usable", we have to be able to access it easily - otherwise it simply won't happen.