It is one of Sydney’s most maligned thoroughfares, and now there is another plan to revitalise Parramatta Road. A group of companies want to build a light rail along the busy transport corridor, and it has the backing of Sydney’s Lord Mayor.
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00:00The unsightly arterial road has attracted an unfortunate nickname, Sydney's Varicose
00:08Vein.
00:09Most of the shops here are closed and it's tired and dead and it's the main gateway into
00:13the city so it's not a very good advertisement for Sydney.
00:16And it has some powerful detractors.
00:19When you drive down Parramatta Road you think is that the best we can do?
00:24And yet plans to revive Parramatta Road have a history of going nowhere, including in 2013
00:30This is the State Government's vision.
00:32And 2017.
00:33The Inner West Council now says it has a $200 million solution.
00:37The latest proposal is from Alltrack, the consortium that built the CBD and South East
00:42Light Rail.
00:43The line would start at Tavernas Hill in the Inner West and run along Parramatta Road to
00:47connect with Central Station before passing through Redfern, Waterloo and Zetland to reach
00:52Green Square.
00:53You don't see how Sydney buses are, they're not quite consistent around here.
00:58So probably Light Rail is going to be much more reliable.
01:01Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore is proposing her council stump up $100 million for the
01:06project.
01:07Successive governments have talked about the renaissance of Parramatta Road and done nothing.
01:11The plan's proponents say it would help the State Government address the shortage of homes
01:15in Sydney by encouraging the development of high-density housing along Parramatta Road.
01:21The Premier told a room full of developers he wasn't interested.
01:24We've got a very big transport infrastructure program but it's expensive.
01:30That's despite Alltrack's offer to pay the upfront building costs.
01:33And then the NSW Government would pay when the services are actually up and running.
01:37That would lock us into a contract for many years with one supplier.
01:42The Government putting the brakes on the idea.