Alisa and Ambrose were promised extra green space. They’re getting car parks instead

Fresh plans that increase car spaces at Sydney Park while erasing new greenery and safer crossings have failed to win over inner-city residents and sparked renewed claims of broken promises on an overdue project first devised to improve walking and cycling links in the area.

The Sydney Park Junction project promised improved connections with “better riding and walking links” when it earned public approval after exhibition in 2021. It is unlikely to be finished before 2027 amid protracted delays triggered by misleading public briefings and the silent axing of 85 per cent of the promised features – a plan struck down following ministerial intervention.

Twenty-six extra car parking spaces were formalised in “design modifications” for the western road corridor straddling Sydney Park, published this month, while new planting beds and a nearby raised pedestrian crossing were scrapped. Adding car spaces was backed by local businesses, while widened footpaths and bicycle-friendly ramps were confirmed for other parts of the area.

Erskineville resident Alisa Sannikova, who is among the 37 per cent of inner-city households that don’t own a car, decried the inclusion of further car spaces, saying trust with Transport for NSW had been “broken so badly” after years of delays and confusion about the project, which had stoked doubt over “every single thing” being promised.

“There’s no need for extra car parking there,” Sannikova said. “The whole point of this exercise was to reduce how much car throughput you get in the area, so it just seems like a very sort of sneaky decision there.”

Ambrose Hayes, who regularly cycles in the area, said moves that reduced local amenity were “quite concerning” and that they threatened to stifle active transport uptake in an area facing increased population density.

“The car infrastructure is already plentiful,” Hayes said. “They already built lots of new car infrastructure as part of the WestConnex project, yet a lot of the active transport has not been improved that much.”

Construction on the western corridor is expected to begin next year. Transport officials are yet to finalise design plans for Sydney Park Road, at the northern end of Sydney Park.

The first phase of upgrades was completed in April, when a pop-up cycleway on Sydney Park Road – one of the few proposals not scrapped in the axing of upgrades last year – was made permanent.

The cycleway is missing a connection to the bike path on the adjoining Mitchell Road, forcing cyclists to mount the footpath and negotiate a sharp turn before returning to the road.

Sannikova is bracing for the removal of further active transport links as new plans materialise, saying there was a “complete under serving” of projects catering for an inner-city area reliant on active transport links.

“It all comes back to Transport for NSW just not delivering for pedestrians, which is all of us,” Sannikova said.

A Transport spokesman said the original intent of the project had been “retained” and that the “overall design remains focused on enhancing walking and riding infrastructure”.

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