The document discusses motorway development in Sydney and includes the following information: - It describes existing chokepoints on the M4 and M7 motorways that are operating at or over capacity. - It discusses proposed extensions and additions to Sydney's motorway network through projects like WestConnex, including new tunnels and connections between existing motorways. - It analyzes traffic modeling data predicting how traffic volumes may shift between different roads in the network under different scenarios both with and without the proposed motorway projects. The modeling indicates some traffic is expected to shift from toll roads to parallel non-toll roads.

1. Presenta(on
to
Arncliffe
community
mee(ng
on
WestConnex,
Corona'on
Hall
Wednesday
30
March,
2016
Dr
Michelle
Zeibots
MPIA
CMILT
Research
Director
Ins'tute
for
Sustainable
Futures

2. M5
M7
M2
M4
F3
M1
Motorway development in Sydney

3. M5
M7
M2
M4
F3
M1
Motorway development in Sydney
CHOKEPOINT
Opera'ng
at
capacity
since
2005
(~
144,000–142,000
AADT)
CHOKEPOINT
Opera'ng
at
capacity
since
2002
(~
128,000–134,000
AADT)

4. Source:
M4
East
Environmental
Impact
Statement:
Appendices
A–G
Volume
2A
—
Appendix
G:
traffic
and
transport
assessment.
NSW
Government,
Sydney,
p.
1-­‐3.
Figure 1.2 WestConnex
The tunnel dive structures would start at the centre of the M4, west of the existing pedestrian
footbridge over the M4 at Pomeroy Street, and would continue underground to the north of the
existing M4 and Parramatta Road, before crossing beneath Parramatta Road at Broughton Street at

5. Figure 1.1 Local context of the project
Source:
M4
East
Environmental
Impact
Statement:
Appendices
A–G
Volume
2A
—
Appendix
G:
traffic
and
transport
assessment.
NSW
Government,
Sydney,
p.
1-­‐2.

6. This section describes the distribution in East-West traffic and demonstrates how this
distribution changes with the M4 Widening project. Table 7-2 shows the number of times (in
thousands) a vehicle passes the line (called a ‘screenline’) described below in Figure 7-9 on
a typical weekday.
Figure 7-9: Screenline to investigate changes in east-west traffic distribution
The change in traffic volumes detailed in Table 7-2 shows that the M4 Widening would bring
about some growth in traffic on Parramatta Road and Victoria Road. This is primarily due to
users changing their travel routes to avoid paying the new toll. There is also anticipated
growth in the use of the M2 Motorway. An analysis of the impact on intersection performance
in the M4 Motorway corridor as a result of this redistribution is performed in Section 7.4.
Table 7-2: Screenline volumes, Base ‘do minimum’ and M4 Widening
Number of weekday vehicles
Source:
WestConnex
M4
Widening
Environmental
Impact
Statement
—
Appendix
D:
traffic
and
transport
working
paper.
Working
Paper
No.
4.
NSW
Government,
Sydney,
p.
144.

7. Source:
WestConnex
M4
Widening
Environmental
Impact
Statement
—
Appendix
D:
traffic
and
transport
working
paper.
Working
Paper
No.
4.
NSW
Government,
Sydney,
p.
11.
Chapter 1: Introduction
WestConnex M4 Widening 11
Traffic and transport working paper
Figure 1-4: Location of the project
Source: WDA, 2014

8. WestConnex M4 Widening 144
Traffic and transport working paper
Figure 7-9: Screenline to investigate changes in east-west traffic distribution
The change in traffic volumes detailed in Table 7-2 shows that the M4 Widening would bring
about some growth in traffic on Parramatta Road and Victoria Road. This is primarily due to
users changing their travel routes to avoid paying the new toll. There is also anticipated
growth in the use of the M2 Motorway. An analysis of the impact on intersection performance
in the M4 Motorway corridor as a result of this redistribution is performed in Section 7.4.
Table 7-2: Screenline volumes, Base ‘do minimum’ and M4 Widening
Number of weekday vehicles
Road
Without M4 Widening
(Base ‘do minimum’)
(2021)
M4 Widening
(2021)
Difference
M4 Motorway 179,620 114,890 -64,730
Parramatta Road 43,990 59,370 15,380
M2 Motorway 118,050 123,940 5,890
Victoria Road 60,440 70,250 9,810
Source: Jacobs SKM, WestConnex Road Traffic Model, 2014
Section 4.1.1 gave an overview of the previous M4 Motorway toll (which was removed in
2010). The data presented in Figure 4-1 shows that the toll removal coincided with a 23 per
cent increase in typical weekday traffic volumes.
Source:
WestConnex
M4
Widening
Environmental
Impact
Statement
—
Appendix
D:
traffic
and
transport
working
paper.
Working
Paper
No.
4.
NSW
Government,
Sydney,
p.
144.
402,100
368,450

9. Source:
WestConnex
M4
Widening
Environmental
Impact
Statement
—
Appendix
D:
traffic
and
transport
working
paper.
Working
Paper
No.
4.
NSW
Government,
Sydney,
p.
145.
would be higher due to the absence of a cashback scheme. The implications of the toll
associated with the M4 Widening project are discussed in more detail in section 7.9.
Table 7-3 below shows the Full WestConnex scenario equivalent of Table 7-2. It shows a
reduced impact on Parramatta Road and Victoria Road compared to the M4 Widening
scenario as the broader network becomes more congested and WestConnex is completed,
increasing the travel time savings offered by the M4 Widening project and the broader
WestConnex scheme.
Table 7-3: Screenline volumes, Future ‘do minimum’ and Full WestConnex scheme
Number of weekday vehicles
Road
Without WestConnex
(Future ‘do
minimum’)
(2031)
Full WestConnex
(2031)
Difference
M4 Motorway 194,180 168,760 -25,420
Parramatta Road 52,030 62,490 10,460
M2 Motorway 140,430 140,840 410
Victoria Road 68,250 75,770 7,520
Source: Jacobs SKM, WestConnex Road Traffic Model, 2014
7.3 Travel times
This section describes the modelled travel times on the M4 Motorway and Parramatta Road
between Church Street and Homebush Bay Drive for the morning peak, inter peak and
evening peak time periods. The Base and Future ‘do minimum’ scenarios travel times are
compared to those with M4 Widening and Full WestConnex scenarios travel times
respectively.
As in Chapter 6, the travel time graphs presented in this section represent westbound trips
with lines with a positive gradient (go up to the right) and eastbound trips are represented
with lines with a negative gradient (go up to the left). It should be noted that vertical axis
454,890
450,860

10. Source:
M4
East
Environmental
Impact
Statement:
Appendices
A–G
Volume
2A
—
Appendix
G:
traffic
and
transport
assessment.
NSW
Government,
Sydney,
p.
1-­‐2.
Sydney
Harbour
Bridge
opera'ng
at
Level
Of
Service
E
(1986–1991)

11. M4
Motorway
link
in
Sydney
M4
Mays
Hill
to
Prospect
15
May
1992

12. M4 Motorway &
Great Western Hwy
Annual average daily traffic on M4 Motorway & Great Western Hwy
Opening of motorway section
(15 May 1992)
M4 monitoring site
GWH monitoring site
Opening
of
Mays
Hill
to
Prospect
M4
sec'on
(15
May
1992)

13. The
‘func'onal
balance’
between
public
&
private
transport
1. Public
transport
operates
to
a
fixed
speed
—
a
'metable.
2. Roads
operate
to
variable
speeds
determined
by
car
numbers.
3. Most
people
will
take
whichever
transport
op'on
is
quickest.
If
public
transport
is
quicker,
they'll
catch
a
train
or
bus,
and
the
number
of
people
won’t
change
the
speed.
4. If
driving
is
quicker,
people
will
use
their
car.
The
more
who
do
this,
the
slower
the
road
network
speed
becomes.
5. People
who
shih
between
modes
in
pursuit
of
the
quickest
op'on
are
the
reason
why
public
transport
speeds
determine
road
speeds.

15. Source:
M4
East
Environmental
Impact
Statement:
Appendices
A–G
Volume
2A
—
Appendix
G:
traffic
and
transport
assessment.
NSW
Government,
Sydney,
p.
10-­‐9.
WestConnex M4 East 10-16
WestConnex Delivery Authority
Traffic and Transport Assessment
Table 10.14 2031 AM peak intersection operational performance summary – eastern clusters ('do minimum' vs 'do something')
‘Do minimum’ ‘Do something’
Cluster Intersection
Passenger
car unit
(PCU)
Average
delay
(seconds)
Level of
service
(LoS)
Passenger
car unit
(PCU)
Average
delay
(seconds)
Level of
service
(LoS)
5
Harris Street | Queens Road 2948 32 C 2773 32 C
Great North Road | Queens Road 3767 170 F 3614 111 F
Great North Road | Ramsay Road 2840 495 F 2740 461 F
Ramsay Road | Fairlight Street 3498 539 F 3093 476 F
Great North Road | Lyons Road 4542 381 F 4414 286 F
6
Parramatta Road | Harris Road 5275 35 C 2669 26 B
Parramatta Road | Croydon Road 6346 46 D 3825 30 C
Parramatta Road | Great North Road 6716 142 F 4394 223 F
Parramatta Road | Frederick Street 7775 258 F 6130 71 F
Parramatta Road | Bland Street 5221 25 B 3278 24 B
Wattle Street | Ramsay Street 5455 385 F 3992 63 E
Dobroyd Parade | Waratah Avenue 3724 19 B 2947 10 B
Dobroyd Parade | Timbrell Drive 5240 45 D 5247 249 F
7 Hume Highway | Frederick Street 5137 575 F 4651 331 F
8
Parramatta Road | Dalhousie Street 4426 30 C 4141 22 B
Parramatta Road | Hume Highway 6597 139 F 5420 96 F
Parramatta Road | Sloane Street 6831 40 C 5486 45 C
9
Parramatta Road | Flood Street 6051 83 F 4876 57 E
Parramatta Road | Norton Street 5186 110 F 4154 45 D
Parramatta Road | Crystal Street 5607 414 F 4604 33 C
(Source: AECOM)