Push to beautify our ‘ugliest road’

Planning Minister Rob Stokes said Parramatta Road “has become a scar through the heart of Sydney”.
However he said they have “seized the opportunity to heal it” with a $198 million Parramatta Road Urban Amenity Improvement Program, involving six local councils including Cumberland.
He said the investment would transform the 20 kilometre corridor with new parks, cycleways, plazas and public art.
After receiving $27 million to fund four projects as part of the revamp, Cumberland Council invited tenders for the works in August last year.
Along with public domain improvements, the works involve an extension of Auburn Park, improved pedestrian and safety across the Stubbs Street Streetscape and a pedestrian cycleway overpass on Melton Street at the M4 creating an access ramp, which will also meet disability access requirements.
CEO of the Committee for Sydney, Gabriel Metcalf said that while transforming Parramatta Road isn’t a new idea, the creation of Westconnex is a perfect opportunity to implement change.
In November their report, ‘Reclaiming Parramatta Road’, set out a new vision for a 23km stretch of the road which it said was one of the 10 most congested in Australia and had suffered from decades of neglect, with over two-thirds of its shops vacant.
“The basic test of a good high street is simple – would you feel comfortable having a coffee on the footpath outside a cafe?” he said.
“For Parramatta Road, today that idea would be laughable – but our proposals would return Parramatta Road to a high street and a place where people congregate and spend time, while still maintaining important connectivity across Sydney.”