Waterloo Bus Lane Plan Draws Fire Over Footpaths And Trees
A $22 million Botany Road bus lane proposal has sparked a dispute over reliability, road widening and pedestrian space in Waterloo.
Waterloo Metro station under construction in November 2023. The Botany Road proposal includes connections to the station.
A proposed morning bus lane in Waterloo has become a fight over how much space Sydney should give cars, buses and people on foot. Transport for NSW wants to convert a southbound lane on Botany Road between Raglan Street and Bourke Street into a bus lane operating from 6am to 10am. The $22 million proposal also includes widening southbound lanes at McEvoy Street and making the middle lane a compulsory right turn.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has objected to the loss of footpath space and tree canopy. ABC Sydney reports that she considers the project a road-widening scheme with too little benefit for bus passengers. WalkSydney and the Committee for Sydney have also questioned the approach in an area served by Waterloo Metro and Green Square station.
The direction of the proposed lane is part of the dispute. A traffic study cited by the ABC found morning on-time performance impacts of 6 per cent for northbound buses and 3 per cent for southbound services. The study also noted that northbound routes start farther away, making them more exposed to delays before reaching the corridor.
Transport for NSW says its proposal offers the greatest improvement to bus reliability while maintaining wider traffic performance. It points to population growth in Waterloo and Mascot and better connections to local stations. Community feedback is still being considered, so this is a proposal rather than a finished project. For residents, the question is whether more reliable buses can be delivered without making the walk to them worse.
