Parramatta Road is a ‘sewer for cars’: Here’s how to change it

2 hours ago 1

Opinion

September 18, 2025 — 7.30pm

The announcement by Premier Chris Minns of an agreement between the government and Inner West Council to rezone part of Parramatta Road can lead to the kind of transformation of that famous – or infamous – Sydney corridor which many have sought over decades.

It can be a “city-shaper”, a game-changer, providing much-needed new housing close to the CBD while catalysing the renewal of retail along much of a tired thoroughfare that once was a magnet for jobs and services. If that happens, it can turbocharge the rebirth of vibrant community activity, and as the Mayor of Barcelona says of her own urban strategy – “fill the streets with life” – both on Parramatta Road and in areas affected by it.

The state government and Inner West Council want to deliver up to 8000 new homes along the Parramatta Road corridor.

It can – but will it? I have some concerns.

First, the good stuff. The ambition to do something significant along Parramatta Road is exemplary. Partnering between state and local government, ditto. The commitment to affordable housing is also welcome, though rhetoric must be followed by delivery of a significant number of the 8000 homes promised.

Council and government should mandate at least 15 per cent of the 8000 as permanently “affordable” and do so upfront. By telling developers now of this target, they can factor it into the price they offer landowners. It’s a myth that mandatory affordable housing adds to home prices or damages development viability.

Governments seem to have a magical belief that rezoning alone will deliver masses of new housing and thus greater housing affordability, when it’s already clear in Sydney that delivery is slower than expected. If anything is going up because of generous rezoning opportunities, it’s land values.

Then there are the key elements of a successful transformation of Parramatta Road on which the announcement is tentative or silent. Despite rhetoric around renewal, the current plans seem to be limited to only a section of Parramatta Road and to housing when a broader vision is needed.

Currently a sewer for cars, the thoroughfare is in fact a “stroad”; an incoherent mixture of a street and a road, which has led to the sacrifice of both retail on it and urban amenity for all the communities divided by it.

The government boosters for the WestConnex motorway used to argue that it would solve Parramatta Road’s traffic issues. WestConnex, they argued, would enable a reduction of traffic and speeds along Parramatta Road which was vital to its renewal. The new road came, the old sewer stayed. Business as usual for Sydney.

The government should return to that vision – of a repurposed Parramatta Road via a concerted strategy of land use and transport integration. Assisting them are plans by the former Urban Growth agency and a recent document from Committee for Sydney, “Reclaiming Parramatta Road”.

This suggests combining traffic reduction with road-space reallocation for, and new investment in, public and active transport, together with new pedestrian crossings and well-designed stopping places for cars and cycles at key “villages” along Parramatta Road. Leveraging these initiatives with new housing development and a strong urban design and place-led vision is crucial to the revitalisation Sydney’s “longest street” or central boulevard.

George St Sydney, looking west towards Chinatown.

Surprisingly, the joint announcement suggests existing transit capacity is sufficient to absorb the new homes and states only that “throughout the rezoning process, active transport connections” will all be examined.

Examined?

A stronger commitment is required to strategic mass transport investment vital to achieve the transformation the NSW premier and all the councils along the road want. Light rail turned George St from a commercial liability to a global asset, catalysing the creation of Australia’s most walkable boulevard. We can do something like this on Parramatta Road. The 8000 homes should also have limited car spaces or even get subsidies for using mass transit.

How will transport and place-making infrastructure be paid for? A “beneficiary pays” approach. All who gain from new government infrastructure – not just developers but landowners too, who are beneficiaries of government rezonings – should share some of the value they gain with the community. This “strategic contributions” process should be in place quickly so landowners and developers and infrastructure providers can plan on the basis of it.

Parramatta Road can be “reclaimed”. Government needs to widen its vision and integrate its activities. Let Sydney’s central boulevard be the exemplar of how to do this and an inspiration to do more across our city.

Tim Williams is an advisor on urban development and a former CEO of the Committee for Sydney