Heart of Sydney Needs a Bypass

Last Friday, approaching peak hour, news came through over the traffic reports of a truck stuck in the M5 tunnel; yet again. The banked up traffic spilled onto the M4 creating a gridlocked motorway which slowed traffic heading west to, at best, a crawl. At the same time the usual traffic on the M2 was bumper to bumper slowly weaving its way through the road works; and just for good measure, an accident at Castle Hill jammed traffic on Old Northern road down to Windsor Road. None of these events is unusual, nor is the resultant road chaos in and around Parramatta.

The traffic arteries that flow into the west and Parramatta in particular are daily vulnerable to the slightest accident; it is just not the key roads or locations that cause problem, an accident or hold up anywhere in the grid can stifle movement in the west. Any day of the week at any time, Parramatta Road is a clogged artery with the M4 in a similar condition.

The State government needs to "operate" and soon to free up circulation, the health of the west depends on it - and the health of the west is the health of the State.

Trevor Oldfield AM JP

President