Review of environmental factors for proposed widening of the Western Distributor, Sydney

The Western Distributor is a major road that runs southwards from the Sydney Harbour Bridge, along the western edge of the Central Business District and around Darling Harbour as the gateway to the western suburbs. The distributor is in the form of an inclined viaduct from the Sydney Harbour Bridge approaches southwards and a roadway from 40 metres south of Erskine Street. This section of the distributor presently provides two lanes southbound and three lanes northbound. The proposal is to provide an additional southbound lane between King Street and Kent Street a total distance of approximately 760 metres. The additional southbound lane would be fitted by widening both the viaduct and roadway sections on eth west side of the distributor. A section of the southbound roadway under the Four Points Hotel would be widened on the west side to provide three lanes. These works would enable the reconfiguration of the carriageway to provide three lanes each way on the distributor with a central median barrier. A feature of the proposal is the fitting of coloured architectural element including cladding on the western side of the Western Distributor to improve visual amenity of the area. The proposal would improve traffic flow, safety and capacity for motorists along this section of the Western Distributor in line with the increased demand on the distributor. Some minor property acquisition and/or transgression into adjacent airspace may be required for the proposal subject to detailed design