Delivering Sydney Light Rail- the traffic impacts

Marg Prendergast Coordinator General, CBD

28 July 2016

Tomorrow’s SydneySet the scene:• Sydney will grow by over a million people over the next 10

years and we need to expand to meet this growth.

• Transport for NSW is overseeing the largest transformation of the Sydney CBD transport network in decades to address it.

The demand :• Approx 630,000 trips are made to the city centre daily –

67% by public transport and 20% by car. This is forecast to

increase by 25% (155,000 trips) by 2031.

• Over 1.26M travel trips are made within the city for work, education, shopping, leisure and city living each day.

• These trips will increase by 35% to 1.7M by 2031.

• Our focus is city-wide, but we know the northern end of the CBD generates the strongest demand for daily travel.

• 100,000 jobs created in the city centre over the next 20 years.

CBD Major Transformation Projects

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Sydney Light Rail delivery

Currently working in 13/31 Zones

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Weekend intersection works

• Work is underway at intersection of Bridge St and Grosvenor St each weekend until end November 2016.

• Utilities are being identified and relocated.• Intersection must be open until 10pm each Friday, and be ready to reopen by 5am

each Monday.

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CBD Transport Projects

Context for change• The current network wasn’t working and would not meet future demand.

• As we build Tomorrow’s Sydney, access to and moving around the CBD will get worse before it gets better.

• To keep Sydney moving during this intense period of construction we need to reduce peak car volumes by 5-15%.

• Managing the Sydney CBD during construction will be a combination of proactive traffic and transport management solutions combined with an intensive communications and engagement program referred to as Travel Choices.

CBD Coordination Office

Functions include:• Communications

• Operational planning: traffic management

and contingency planning

• Strategic and land use planning

(including development approvals)

• Freight planning: deliveries and servicing

• Business and community support (i.e.

activation during periods of disruption)

• Facilitating special events

CBD Coordination Office • Focus on keeping Sydney moving

and informed throughout all

construction activities

• Coordinates mitigation measures

around all CBD construction,

deconstruction and major event

activities

• Focus on optimising pedestrian

traffic movements both during and

post construction

• Centralised powers to implement

changes to traffic network

Travel Choices• An ‘Olympic style’ travel demand management approach has been adopted to help us manage

the transport network.

• Travel Choices will encourage behavior change among commuters, businesses, their suppliers, and visitors travelling to and from the Sydney CBD.

• Travel Choices will work with organisations (corporate and government) through workshops and drop-in sessions to support staff and service providers to make changes and adjust to disruptions.

• This involves the promotion of the 4 R’s:

Peak travel Around the CBD Avoid driving Off-peak travel

Travel Choices – Project Update

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Managing access to special events

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Activation

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CBD Bus Plan

http://www.transportnsw.info/

MySydney.nsw.gov.au

Preferred Driving Routes

A series of preferred driving routes have been developed to help drivers avoid key construction corridors and ease congestion

• South/South-east and North:Broadway, Eddy Avenue, Wentworth Avenue, College Street, Macquarie Street and the Cahill Expressway.

• East and West:Cross City Tunnel.

• North and South/South-west:Western Distributor and Harris Street.

• West and North/East: Western Distributor.

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Operational ManagementPlanning Improvements • Develop Major Incident Bus Plan.• Develop contingency road closures for incidents and major planned

infrastructure works. • Test proposed contingency plans against scenarios and modify accordingly.

Operational Management Improvements • Enhance the dedicated monitoring within the TMC and in the field.• Work with Agencies including key services utility providers.• After major weekend closures, start the planning for the Monday AM peak on

Sunday evening.

Infrastructure• Additional VMS or CCTV infrastructure at key approaches to the CBD.

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Enhancing Real-Time ManagementPlan and prepare to manage unplanned incidents that impact the operation of the CBD transport network on a 24 / 7 basis

• Enhancing dedicated CBD real-time resources in the TMC

• Establishing dedicated CBD real-time resources in the field

• Maintain traffic signal operations during power or communication outages

• Upgrade intersections to accept generated power

• Portable generators, mobile modems and daily signal check

• Establishing a CBD Tow Away Zone

Tow-Away ZoneA tow-away area has been in operation in the CBD since October 2015

• Any vehicles illegally parked in no stopping, no parking and bus zones within the area can be removed

• Vehicles will be taken to a legal kerbside space outside the tow-away area for later collection

• Helping to manage traffic congestion and keep the network moving

Freight and Servicing

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