Anger over M5 in Alexandria

Resident Peter Stickels of Lawrence Street in Alexandria said he only found out about the plans in January this year after talking to a friend living in Tempe. “The lack of information that existed up until now is a real concern because we haven’t had the chance that we should have had to look into the plan properly and comment on it.”

The M5 project aims to reduce traffic congestion and travel times for commuters from the south-west. A route between the M5 east tunnel and Campbell Road in St Peters has been proposed for the new arterial road.

Mr Stickels, who has lived in Alexandria for around 20 years, said that an arterial road so close to Sydney Park and residential areas would impact on the quality of lifestyle in Alexandria and surrounding suburbs.

“The roads such as Mitchell, Sydney Park, Euston Roads and King Street are already congested and don’t have the capacity to take the extra cars this new [arterial] road is going to deliver.

This road may be being built to improve capacity in other parts of the road network but no one seems to be thinking about what impact it will have on these roads. In a residential area, the extra noise, air pollution and gridlock are going to be unbearable.”

The deadline for feedback on the M5 Corridor expansion was extended by three weeks to March 12 last month [February] after pressure from the community.

Mr Stickels said the new deadline was “good news but not long enough” because the details of two other major road projects which could potentially feed traffic into the inner south Sydney area would not be released until the end of March, making the deadline to submit feedback on the M5 project unreasonable.

“I’m concerned that they’re asking us to make these submissions without knowledge of the plans for other roads in the area,” Mr Stickels said. Mr Stickels believed that improved public transport would be a better solution to the congestion on the M5. “If you had better public and freight transport connections between the south-west and city – particularly if you took away the commuter traffic off the M5 in the morning and evening peaks, there might not even be a need to widen the M5.”

NSW Minister for Transport and Roads, David Campbell, said that no road plans had been confirmed and community consultations about the M5 corridor expansion would continue for at least 18 months.

“The RTA will continue to meet with residents, the airport and other stakeholders to examine the issues and possible options. The RTA in partnership with the community will assess all options before making a final decision,” Mr Campbell said.

Photo: Ali Blogg - Residents protest M5 expansion

Source: South Sydney Herald March 2010 www.southsydneyherald.com.au