Why is Victoria Road being upgraded?
Victoria Road is one of Sydney’s busiest road transport corridors used by up to 200,000 bus passengers each week.
It accommodates over 75,000 vehicles per day and is heavily congested, particularly in Drummoyne and Rozelle in the morning peak and this congestion impacts on the efficient operation of buses in the area.
The Ministerial Review into Bus Services in NSW, released in 2004, established an objective to improve bus travel times and reliability through the introduction and enhancement of Strategic Bus Corridors on a number of Sydney roads including Victoria Road.
The NSW Premier’s Urban Transport Statement, released in November 2006, outlined a project to achieve this objective on Victoria Road through a range of initiatives. These include duplication of the Iron Cove Bridge and the introduction of a tidal flow traffic scheme through Drummoyne and Rozelle to create a continuous peak direction bus lane.
How was the RTA’s proposal developed?
Following the release of the Urban Transport Statement the RTA formed a project team to develop a proposal for the Victoria Road upgrade.
This project team included industry specialists, road and bridge designers, traffic and environmental specialists and operational staff.
Following technical investigations and consultation with local government, government agencies and other stakeholders, the project team assessed a range of strategic and project alternatives to determine the most feasible solution.
The results of this process formed the basis of the RTA’s proposal for the Victoria Road upgrade that was released for community comment in December 2007.
How much community and agency consultation has taken place?
The first round of community consultation on the RTA’s proposal took place between 3 December 2007 and 3 March 2008.
During this time over 76,000 community updates were distributed to residents in Drummoyne, Rozelle and surrounding areas outlining the proposal and seeking feedback.
Seven community information sessions were organised and briefings were held with stakeholder groups including local councils and peak bodies. As a result, more than 1280 submissions were received.
These submissions were analysed and the results considered by the project team during the refinement of the proposal into the current preferred option.
What factors were taken into account when selecting a preferred option?
During late 2007 and early 2008 a number of investigations and studies were undertaken by the project team and environmental specialists to consider the benefits and potential impacts of the proposal.
These investigations included studies of the impacts of both eastern and western bridge alignments, their feasibility and cost, traffic studies and contamination and services investigations.
Other factors including environmental impacts, the amenity of local residents and the potential impacts of the proposal on local businesses were also examined.
How was the preferred option chosen?
When selecting the preferred bridge and road configuration options for the Victoria Road upgrade, the project team and senior RTA personnel considered input and advice from independent experts following a range of technical and environmental investigations.
These investigations and the outcomes of community consultation were then considered and each of the bridge and road options were compared and assessed against a number of important criteria including:
As a result of this process the western bridge option was confirmed as the preferred bridge option.
What other project alternatives were considered?
A range of alternatives to the Victoria Road upgrade project were identified during RTA investigations and community consultation. These alternatives included tunnels, underpasses, tolls, light rail and various road and bridge projects.
Each alternative was compared with the RTA’s proposal and assessed on a range of criteria including consistency with the project objectives, value for money, delivery schedule, construction feasibility, environmental impacts and road safety.
Following this process, outlined in the Victoria Road upgrade: Assessment of Strategic Alternatives report, it was determined that the RTA’s proposal best met the project’s objectives, while minimising impacts on the amenity of local residents and to the environment.
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