There are some treats I enjoy, but ration myself to a strict diet of once a week. A coffee and croissant for breakfast. An ice-cream from the 7-Eleven on Church Street, but only on a Sunday.
Now I can add another item to the list: driving on WestConnex. It’s become the indulgence I can’t live without. But at a capped price of roughly $11 per trip, strictly limited to once a week, in one direction.
Since the new underground link opened this year between the M4 at Haberfield and M8 at St Peters (previously known as the M5), it’s been undeniably convenient to zip from Parramatta to wherever I need to go.
Already, I’ve left a breakfast in Ermington at 9.35am only to nonchalantly board a ferry at Circular Quay less than an hour later – after joining the motorway and then finding a quick park. Another time, I was working at home until 5.20pm, then made a snap decision to attend a 6pm class in South Eveleigh.
The hardest part is actually leaving Parramatta with all the congestion on Hassall Street and James Ruse Drive. After that, it’s a straight shot to St Peters.
There’s something quite surreal about being in a never-ending tunnel beneath the city with no traffic lights separating you from your destination. The journey is spookily silent; almost soporific. You can’t tell if it’s day or night.
With nothing to do but gently keep the foot on the accelerator, you may as well be driving an autonomous vehicle.
Some of the most delightful suburbs of the Inner West pass by above ground: Haberfield, Annandale, King Street, Newtown.
It’s easy to forget that WestConnex was first recommended a decade ago as the state’s top road priority by Infrastructure NSW, then under the helm of former Premier Nick Greiner. Instead of a direct connection to the CBD, the idea was to create an inner city bypass that would also improve freight connections from Sydney’s west.
The ultimate verdict on the project awaits the completion of further offshoots. These include the current dog’s breakfast that is the Rozelle Interchange; not to mention Sydney Gateway which will link WestConnex with the airport and our main ports.
But one thing is already clear: WestConnex has accelerated the stratification of our city. We’ve become two Sydneys – the ones who can afford to use the tollroad and the rest battling it out on Parramatta or Victoria Road.
It’s a classic example of what economists refer to as price discrimination.
A bit like choosing between the $3 tube of toothpaste at the supermarket or paying up to $12 for something with baking soda or hydrogen peroxide that promises to remove years of stains.
Over time, we’ve become bludgeoned to see our city the same way.
Forking out daily for WestConnex will cost a motorist thousands of dollars over the year (with rebates capped at $750).
Some of us can afford that. But judging by the empty lanes on WestConnex, most cannot. So, we regulate our use.
Driving on it only when absolutely necessary. Maybe once or twice a week. Or the rare occasion when we need to pick up relatives from Sydney Airport.
The price is entrenching a two-tier city, where having financial means buys you entry – literally.
But the benefit for residents of Parramatta and those living further west is that it’s needed infrastructure bringing a sprawling city closer together.
We can use it as much or as little as we like. It is simply there.
Every toll we pay enriches a private company.
The same goes for the generous taxpayer-subsidised toll relief packages.
But that doesn’t mean federal and state governments, both of which have contributed to WestConnex, can wash their hands.
There has to be a dividend to the wider community.
Improving amenity on tired and tattered Parramatta Road. Introducing dedicated public transport lanes (for example, enabling rapid bus transit), as was initially a condition of WestConnex’s planning consent.
Expanding cycling routes. Creating green parks at Rozelle and St Peters to mitigate the spaghetti tangle of roads.
Like it or not, WestConnex is changing Sydney.
And there’s no going back.
Alan is a journalist and communications specialist. He writes a weekly column for Parra News.