The "Brandenburg gateway"

Ms Berejiklian signed a contract within hours of the end of the short exhibition period for the third EIS for the CSELR project, before it had been assessed by Pru Goward's department. No details were released about the contract at the time. I wrote to the newly appointed Leader of the Opposition Luke Foley asking for the Labor Party to call for a Statutory Judicial inquiry into the letting of the contract but party strategists decided against making the tramway an election issue.

The "Brandenburg gateway"

After closer examination of the issues by the new shadow minister for transport Ryan Park, Luke Foley came out strongly against the George Street trams. He said "The government would deliver a Berlin wall down the central spine of Sydney, dividing the city's CBD into east and west". He said "There will be a congestion nightmare permanently".

15 Dec 2014, 8:19 am

Extending Luke Foley's analogy further, the right-hand turn from Druitt Street into Clarence Street would be the Brandenburg Gate.

This was, in fact, one of the issues that I raised in my submission to the original EIS:

"Pedestrianising the section of George Street in front of the Town Hall and forcing all bus services from the Harbour Bridge and Barangaroo to make right-hand turns from the two westbound lanes of Druitt Street into Clarence Street will always be a problem and it can never be alleviated. The car park under York Street was built as part of a deal with City Council and there would be agreements that allow it to exit to Druitt Street. The turn from Druitt Street into Clarence Street is the only effective route into the CBD west of George Street. Plugging Druitt Street to general traffic west of Clarence Street just forces traffic to dog-leg into Market Street. It makes the problems a whole lot worse."

The Assessors at Planning and Infrastructure did not acknowledge that the objections had been raised and did not produce any rebuttal of the arguments. There were many objections that the Assessors did not deign to respond to.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

George Santayana

It is ironic that Constance was a member of the Joint Select Committee on the Cross City Tunnel set up by resolution of the Legislative Council on 16 Nov 2005. He appears to have forgotten everything that the inquiry determined. I have reproduced part of the Auditoe-General's Report on the project presented to Parliament in May 2006 to remind him of the salient findings.

Cross City Tunnel evolution

 The Cross City Tunnel was intended to reduce the number of vehicles crossing the CBD, presumably to allow public buses to traverse the CBD with less constriction. By the time it went to tender the Tunnel had been extended to exit into the portal of the  Kings Cross Tunnel. The project was put on display in a former hardware shop in William Street that had been aquired by the RTA for the Eastern distributor, adjacent to where the drop shaft for the tunnel drillers would be dug. I wondered why the westbound tunnel did not connect to the overpass giving access to Harris Street but the decision to add another lane to the overpass would have been made before the project went to tender.

The plan to extend the tunnels under the Kings Cross tunnel was submitted by the winning tenderer. I cannot recall if it was ever "exhibited".

The lane that saved Darlinghurst

I went on a bike ride to Brisbane just before the Tunnel opened and had to use the Harbour Bridge because of the construction and did not realise that this was to be permanent. The consortium had built a single lane tunnel from the west-bound tunnel, entrance in Paddington, exiting into Sir John Young Cresent and had a contract that prevented access to the Harbour Tunnel and the Cahill Expressway from Crown Street. Residents in Darlinghurst and Surry Hills were expected to drive south to Cleveland Street and pay the same toll as a motorist who had driven on the motorway from Milperra to access a Harbour crossing.

When the Harbour Bridge was built Park Street and William Street had been widened to carry vehicular traffic from York Street to the northern Eastern Suburbs. When the Cahill Expressway was opened general vehicles were eventually prevented from turning into Park Street from York Street forcing them to use the Expressway. Traffic headed for the Harbour Bridge from New South Head Road turned from a two-lane right-hand turn into Riley Street - there was never any charge for this turn. The cunning business plan was to prevent traffic turning from William Street from accessing the Harbour crossings - they would have to pay a tunnel toll. Darlinghurst and Surry Hills residents were collateral damage.

The turn from Druitt Street into Clarence Street could not be blocked since it provided a vital link to the northern CBD west of George Street. Vehicles wishing to avoid paying a Cross City Tunnel toll to access a Harbour crossing had two alternative routes:

1. Turn right from Park Street into Elizabeth Street, passing through the mother of all pinch-points in Elizabeth Street northbound;
2. Turn right from Druitt Street into Clarence Street - the "Brandenburg gateway" -  the pinch-point for bus services between Railway Square and the Harbour Bridge and Metro bus routes

Congestion at the pinch-points during peak periods would eventually force motorists to pay a toll to make a right-hand turn to the Harbour crossings but by this time the bus services through the CBD would be stuffed. The Cross City Tunnel had been promoted as improving the flow of buses through the CBD but it did the opposite - in the words of the CIA it was counter-productive.

Despite the Auditor-General's report to Parliament and a Joint Select Committee set up by the Upper House it was several years before a lane was built on the eastern side of the tunnel exit, connecting the round-about at the bottom of Crown Street to the Cahill Expressway and Harbour Tunnel. The consortium had filed for insolvency and the the new operators chose not sue for damages.

Many unhappy returns
The traffic lanes in William Street were reduced in a further attempt to force vehicles to pay the Cross City Tunnel toll. Traffic returning from the Harbour crossings exited into William Street as before but the lanes east of Palmer Street had also been reduced. When I returned from Brisbane, traffic trying to exit to William Street had banked back to west of the Art Gallery. I had ridden all day from Grafton and my legs had started to seize up - inching up the hill to William Street then up to Darlinghurst Road to cross the tunnel was not pleasant. To reach destinations in Surry Hills you have to back track along the bus routes in Oxford Street to turn left into the the grid. Traffic planners really have it in for Eastern Suburbs bus sevices.

Screw the blue electorates

In a post on 11 Feb 2014 "Curiouser and Nastier" I attempted to deduce which bus services would be redirected to terminate in Walsh Bay. Buses from New South Head Road have for more than a century made a right-hand turn into Elizabeth Street and proceeded to Circular Quay giving access to Martin Place office buildings. The lane from Crown Street to the Harbour crossings has minimised the number of private vehicles making this turn.

Now Baird has confirmed that buses from William Street will be prevented from turning into Elizabeth Street from Park Street and forced to turn into the "Brandenburg Gateway", the most congested pinch-point in the CBD. Not all New South Head Road bus services will make it that far, some will be terminated above Edgecliffe Station.

There is no rational reason for doing any of this to the commuters of the northern Eastern Suburbs. Trams and buses from the Eastern Suburbs have been operating from Circular Quay since the beginings of European settlement in Australia. It is obvious that the only justification for diverting Eastern Suburbs buses from Elizabeth Street is to allow North Shore bus routes to take over the pinch-point in Elizabeth Street northbound at the Old Supreme Court Building.

North Shore rump politicians know that voters from these electorates will vote Liberal no matter what they do to them.

The final solution - total annihilation

The 13 December 2012 brochure gave figures of the number of buses that would be removed from the CBD by the light rail. The most disturbing figure was the complete removal of buses from Foveaux Street and Albion Street.

It is easy to see why the private operators of a tramway through Surry Hills would demand this. Buses using the exclusive bus road through Moore Park and turning into Fitzroy Street avoid the traffic using South Dowling Street and entering the Eastern Distributor. They also avoid the southbound traffic from the Distributor without the need for a multimillion dollar tunnel. They can reach Central Station and Railway Square in less time than a tram even if it has priority at traffic lights.

There used to be a stop in Albion Street near Elizabeth Street but this has been removed leaving the new billboard-free stop at the old Children's Court and the stop between Riley and Crown Streets, and there is a stop in Flinders Street. The photos above were taken between 5PM and 5:30PM last Thursday. As you can see the services are well frequented and the bus lanes are not in the least congested. These services can be readily expanded.

 

There are three bus stops on the inbound services in Foveaux Street. The photos were taken round the same time and the lanes were similarly unobstructed and the stops well frequented.

In fact this route is not used by services to Central Station and Railway Square for reasons that defy rational analysis. These services travel along Cleveland Street and Chalmers Street. The services using this route head for Circular Quay along Elizabeth Street.

The good news for residents of South Eastern Sydney, and bad news for PPPs, is that this route for accessing Central and Railway Square can be reintroduced by a State Government that does not share O'Farrell's obsession with destroying the efficacy of public transport, at a moments notice, no matter how much irreparable damage O'Farrell does to George Street and Elizabeth Street.

We had to wait for the EIS to find out what terrible fate O'Farrell had devised for these services and it turns out to be almost beyond belief.

21 CSELR ESI Technical Paper 1 4.2.2.

Booz & Company proclaims the fate of bus services using the exclusive bus roadway in the usual brusque manner with an entry copied twice into the table shown previously:
"Operates existing route to Anzac Parade, then travels to Edgeclif via Darlinghurst Road and William Street (subject to detailed implementation planning on routing)"

Presumably, buses will turn into Fitzroy Street from the bus road at Drivers Triangle as at present but will be slingshotted into the congested two lanes each way section of South Dowling Street through Paddington. They will be dog-legged along Oxford Street to Darlinghurst Road which takes them to a stop at Kings Cross Station where passengers can transfer to trains with their Oyster (aka Opal) Card. The buses, running on empty, then travel to Edgecliff Station along Kings Cross Road and New South Head Road, never going near William Street despite what the highly paid consultants may say. At Edgecliff Station the buses must make a right-hand turn across the traffic in New South Head Road to reach the bus-rail transfer station on the roof.

The return journey is even more horrendous. The buses must travel along Victoria Road passing though the section in front of St Vincents Hospital that has been reduced to one lane for all traffic in order to provide parking for the BMWs of the plastic surgeons at St Vincents Private.

Of course anyone actually wanting to go to Edgecliff Station would take an Avoca Road bus service to the Bondi Junction exchange and use the Oyster (aka Opal) Card to transfer to the Eastern Suburbs Railway. It is the Bream Street and Bunnerong Road services that do not go past the tram terminals that are singled out for this treatment. The Avoca Road bus route is not congested and can readily be extended to La Perouse.

I said presumably because the map above shows a different route. The rectangular thought bubbles over the map describe the route shown on the map:
"Route 374 would provide access to Edgecliff via Taylor Square/Oxford Street"
"Route L94 now operates to/from Edgecliff via Taylor Square/Oxford Street"

Mitchell Library from Christopher Keating's book

There has been no right-hand turn from Flinders Street into Oxford Street in 46,000 years of human habitation of the continent as far as I can gather. The earliest maps showing the tram lines in Sydney like the one left and the 2003 map of Sydney digitized in the City of Sydney archives show no connection to the east at the Flinders Street intersection. Lanes in the street were not shown on early maps - hardly anyone had a private vehicle.

So will O'Farrell be introducing a right-hand turn into Oxford Street at Taylor Square? Will buses on the return journey dog-leg from Victoria Street to Darlinghurst Road and make a hairpin turn into Flinders Street? Will the pedestrian areas at Taylor Square be obliterated to allow a less acute turn? Is there anything O'Farrell will not do to inflict co-lateral damage on the public bus services to the Eastern Suburbs?

Edgecliff bus/rail exchange from previous post

Will the buses stop at the stop in Bayswater Road on their way through Kings Cross?

The Edgecliff bus/rail transfer station was designed by competent traffic engineers for transfers to buses from the east. It was not designed as a terminus for bus services initially from east of Edgecliff but forced into tortuous routes that make them approach from the west. It was not designed to be a terminus for bus services from the Anzac Bridge.

Edgecliff is being targeted by TfNSW simply because it is one of the few places in or adjacent to the CBD, apart from Circular Quay, where it is physically possible for buses to turn around, and most of the "real estate" for bus terminals at Circular Quay is being obliterated by a tram terminal that does not need space to turn around.

William Street never extended east of Darlinghurst Road, before or after the Kings Cross tunnel. How could Booz & Company and TfNSW be unaware of this and the historic proscription of right-hand turns from Flinders Street? It should be pointed out that the Table and the map containing the wildly conflicting proclamations about the route occur on consecutive pages in the same segment 4.2.2. of Technical Paper 1 Part B, and neither of them give any reliable details.

This can hardly be described as deliberate deception. This is deliberately contradictory gibberish designed to prevent any rational discussion of TfNSW's Project.

I am sounding shrill again. The human brain cannot really deal with professional incompetence on the level exhibited by TfNSW and its consultants.

Just passing through

Bus routes along Oxford Street have no opportunity to transfer passengers to the rail network between Bondi Junction and Circular Quay, but bus routes along South Head Road can transfer passengers to rail at Edgecliff and Kings Cross Stations. Passengers that stay on the bus after Kings Cross really want to reach destinations in the CBD north of Park Street including Circular Quay.

In the past, people would have stayed on the buses because of the difficulties in transferring to the trains but the Oyster (aka Opal) Card changes all that. In the past there was no way of dissuading passengers from staying on the buses until Elizabeth Street and walking to Town Hall Station (the most crowded station on the loop) to catch a train. The Eastern Suburbs line is the only platform not operating at or over capacity during the AM and PM peaks. The Oyster Card changes that too. The Oyster card can impose penalties on passengers who transfer from William Street buses to the tube train services but not to the Harbour Bridge trains at Town Hall Station. It can also give incentives to passengers who transfer from the Eastern Suburbs Line to other train services at Central or Redfern rather than Town Hall. The Oyster Card is truly the solution to the Public Transport congestion in the CBD.

The last stop in William Street, between Crown & Riley Streets

The last bus stop in William Street is a long way from Elizabeth Street (over the horizon in the photo) to give drivers a fighting chance to get across to the right-hand turn lanes at College and Elizabeth Streets. Buses head to Circular Quay, and to Chatswood via the Cahill Expressway during the peak periods because this is where passengers want to go. The next stop is the set-down-only stop in Elizabeth Street that traps drivers in the bus priority lane.

When the Oyster Card is operational for buses it will be possible to terminate more bus services along South Head Road at Edgecliff Station, relieving congestion in Elizabeth Street. Problem solved if no further bus routes are run along Elizabeth Street.

But O'Farrell has no intention of allowing people to go where they want to go.

Trapped in the bus priority lane
From corner with Park Street 

Bus services that run along Victoria Road have for generations entered the CBD from the Western Distributor via King Street and proceeded to Circular Quay along George Street then returned form Druitt Street. But there are efficient alternative terminuses: buses can turn into York Street to a terminus at the Queen Victoria Building, or they can enter from the exclusive bus lane running east along Druitt Street to a terminus in Clarence Street and exit from Market Street.

So what's with the double-ended mauve arrow directing Victoria Road bus services into William Street? This diagram was reproduced in the last post along with the ominous assertions about Druitt and Park Street being the main east-west bus routes.

The answer is that the invading hordes from the north are being brought into the heart of the CBD in order to herd them into the privately-operated cattle cars. Bus services from the north are given priority for the bus stops at the QVB and bus services from the Western Distributor that perforce enter the middle of the CBD are shunted into William Street.

But where will these services terminate? They cannot do a U-turn in William Street, so they must perforce continue to the bus interchange at Edgecliff Station. Alternatively buses could continue to Watsons Bay and commit suicide by driving off the cliff.

Edgecliff Station bus interchange

Entry to the bus interchange at Edgecliff Station is from Ocean Street which provides an efficient terminus for AM and PM peak bus services from New South Head Road east of Ocean Street, but involves a diabolical right-hand turn from New South Head Road for buses terminating from Victoria Road.

Bus blocking traffic

Bus stops in William Street force bus drivers to block a lane of traffic when picking up or setting down passengers as required by the contract with the builders of the Cross City Tunnel. But O'Farrell's plans for Edgecliff bus interchange will further obstruct traffic flows along New South Head Road (already operating bumper to bumper at peak times) before any one has a chance to enter the Tunnel. The SMH reported yesterday that the lenders were getting nervous. O'Farrell could be sending the Tunnel's operators into receivership for a second time. It is worth noting that the public servants who did the modeling for the Cross City Tunnel are possibly doing the infantile modeling for the light rail.

The cunning plan in continuing New South Head Road bus services to Town Hall is to feed passengers onto the cattle cars. Like, people are going to catch a bus to Town Hall then a tram to Randwick rather than drive or catch a bus there, along Avoca Street. People will be encouraged though, to transfer to the loop trains at Town Hall Station.

How do you solve a problem like Elizabeth?

Elizabeth & Market, morning

Elizabeth & Market, evening

The intersection of Elizabeth Street and Market Street is the major crunch point for buses before they hit Phillip Street. Elizabeth Street narrows to two lanes north of David Jones to pass the historic Old Supreme Court where Ivan Milat was tried. During the morning peak buses form a continuous queue from William Street to King Street and beyond, two deep in parts. When going to appointments north of Martin Place in the morning, I have found it is quicker to leave the bus south of William Street, actually south of Bathurst Street, and walk.

Elizabeth Street buses queued to King Street and beyond

The point to note in the photos is that the buses queue in the second lane; for good reason:

BUS PRIORITY LANE ENDS

FORM TWO LANES

MERGE RIGHT

Bus drivers merge right as soon as possible after setting down passengers. If they are trapped in the kerb-side lane they move forward until a fellow bus driver lets them move in front. During the AM peak the second lane is effectively an exclusive bus lane, and the bus lanes are operating at more than peak capacity.

The Transport for NSW brochure asserts breezily that diverting all the bus services along George Street into Elizabeth Street will not create problems because they will paint an extra lane red on each side and deploy phalanxes of motorcycle police to keep traffic moving. This does not change the present situation one iota. If TfNSW is to be believed there will be no vehicular access to the CBD north of David Jones for vehicles from the Eastern Suburbs and the south, other than for buses, during bus priority  periods.

O'Farrell's contempt for the intelligence of the NSW electorate is breathtaking. There are three possible scenarios:

1. The "Project" is a mindless, ideological attack on Public Transport.
2. O'Farrell has a secret agenda for terminating bus services that he dare not allow to be scrutinized.
3. O' Farrell has not got a clue as to what is going on, and is just floating along.

Or,all of the above. I will not deign to comment on what is going on in O'Farrell's mind, but will discuss the dire effects that a George Street tramway will have on whatever bus routes O'Farrell deigns to allow along Elizabeth Street.

Druitt Street north of Clarence Street

The other point to note in the photos is that most of the vehicles turning left into Market Street from the priority bus lane in Elizabeth Street are taxis. Understandably, there is negligible parking adjacent to Market Street. Parking under the Sydney Hilton, The Galleries Victoria and the new ANZ Tower is accessible only from Pitt Street which can be accessed from the east via Liverpool Street, from the west via Broadway and from the north via Bathurst Street. Druitt Street gives access to the same destinations as Market Street - Darling Harbour, Pyrmont, Ultimo and the Anzac Bridge. The Cross City Tunnel has connections only with the Anzac bridge. Taxi drivers know that all the vehicles in the bus priority lanes are turning left so in the evenings they turn into Market Street from the second lane as well, two by two.

George Street, Druitt Street intersection

Bus routes from North Sydney along York Street are spoiled for choice as to how they terminate. Some terminate at Wynyard Park, others at Queen Victoria Building, turning into the general traffic lane in Druitt Street then turning right across a bus only lane into Clarence Street for the trip back. M20 buses terminate at Botany, M40 buses terminate at Bondi Junction and M30 buses, and other routes, terminate at Railway Square. These Mn0 buses were seen as the way of the future before O'Farrell set up Transport for NSW. They are generally bendy buses, using natural gas, and more to the point they could return to the Harbour Bridge along Liverpool Street and Kent Street, which currently carries no bus services, avoiding the crush in Druitt Street (why don't they?)

Full size diagram from brochure

Transport for NSW intends to terminate all these bus services at Druitt Street in order to herd passengers onto cattle cars at the Town Hall.

The brochure lists: Key features of redesigning the bus network in the City Center

• Elizabeth Street will be the main north-south bus route, featuring dedicated bus lanes and stopping lanes ...
• Park Street and Druitt Street will be the main east-west bus routes, providing access for buses only between Clarence Street and Kent Street

That is to say Druitt Street will be closed for all vehicles other than buses. This will force traffic from the Eastern Suburbs needing to access destinations accessible only from Druitt or Market Streets to turn right into Elizabeth Street from Park Street then join the taxis and delivery vans queued in the dedicated bus lanes to turn left into Market Street. 

This will have a devastating impact on bus movements along Elizabeth Street and it cannot be avoided. The only access to the northern CBD grid for traffic from William Street is a right-hand turn into College Street or the right-hand turn into Elizabeth Street. The rest is inexorable.

Bound for Gore Hill, Chatswood et alia

Co-lateral Damage

The Oxford Street bus services are not threatened with termination - their passengers can never be forced to transfer to cattle cars. They are being crushed simply because they use the same route through the CBD as the Flinders Street bus routes, which must be crushed to establish the business model for the privately-operated cattle cars.

There are problems even now when Druitt Street is open for general traffic. The closure of Druitt Street makes these problems intractable. People who depend on the Oxford Street bus services will literally have no where to go.

The bus stops are widely spaced. There is a stop in Oxford Street, the next is in Elizabeth Street south of Bathurst Street and the next is outside David Jones just after the bus priority lane has ended and the road has narrowed to two lanes. There is a set-down-only stop north of Park Street for William Street bus services which is how they get trapped in the priority lane.

There is a solution to the problems if there is no tramway in George Street, that is to say, no extra routes are forced into Elizabeth Street. The solution is to reduce the number of passengers who transfer from buses to trains at Town Hall Station, which operates at over capacity during the peaks, leaving the buses to run on emptied to Circular Quay. This would be accomplished by the Liverpool Street then Kent Street bus routes.

There are currently two such services, the M40 from Bondi Junction to Chatswood via the freeway and the M30 from Railway Square to Gore Hill and there are some minor services that go all the way to Railway Square. To change destinations with the Oyster (aka Opal) Card you just get off at any stop in Kent Street and wait for the right bus - in the opposite direction you get off at any stop in York Street. The Oyster Card knows where you live and where your ultimate destination is and can impose penalties for passengers that catch a bus to Circular Quay and transfer to a Harbour Bridge train at Town Hall Station rather than transferring at Central, say, by charging for a trip to Circular Quay or by imposing a positive disincentive.

The Oyster Card collects data on source and destination on a daily basis and would identify other routes that could be profitably added to these routes, say Spit Junction to Sydney University or further along Parramatta Road or to Botany.

It turns out the solution to congestion in bus routes in the CBD at peak times lies in a late 20th century proximity-sensing electronic card. A 19th century tram system running on electricity from coal-burning solves no problems and generates mind-numbing congestion.

This will be the recurring theme of this blog.