Roads Minister Duncan Gay has all but confirmed his government will build a light rail line from Parramatta to Sydney Olympic Park.
Announcing the construction of a westbound off-ramp from the M4 Motorway at Hill Road as part of the redevelopment of an industrial area in Lidcombe, the minister appeared to spill the beans on the government's light rail plans.
"Increasingly this is going to be a residential area, we need to look after them," Mr Gay said when asked about congestion in the Sydney Olympic Park area.
"We will be having light rail, that will be coming through this sector. There are bus routes and this will be an improvement of the road infrastructure which will be linking with WestConnex which will be opening stage one in 2019.
"We're going, in a comprehensive, coordinated way, about putting the transport in place before the residential."
The minister later issued a statement: "While a light rail route to Sydney Olympic Park is under serious consideration, no final decision has been made."
Sources have said the route announcement is on hold until the state government determines how to fund the construction through "value capture", a finance mechanism that seeks to regain the value uplift properties get from being located near public transport.
Two routes - Parramatta to Macquarie Park via Carlingford and Parramatta to Strathfield via Sydney Olympic Park - have emerged as front runners and there has been speculation that the government is considering building both simultaneously using value capture.
Mr Gay's comments came as he said a westbound off-ramp from the M4 at Hill Road would be built by 2019, news that will be welcomed by thousands of residents and workers in the Sydney Olympic Park area.
Residents have long argued the ramp was needed to relieve traffic congestion in the area, including at the DFO/Homebush roundabout, which has been dubbed Sydney's worst.
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An east bound on-ramp to the M4 was included in plans for the WestConnex motorway, but residents were told that an west bound off-ramp would be too difficult and expensive.
The new ramp and upgrades to roads will cost about $200 million but rather than being added to the WestConnex bill, the construction will be funded as part of the redevelopment of a run down industrial area around Carter Street in Lidcombe.
The government has rezoned the precinct to allow for the construction of 5500 homes, a new park and school and space for commercial offices and light industry.
Wentworth Point, a nearby residential redevelopment that has seen thousands of apartments built on a peninsula with one one entry and exit road, has been labelled a planning failure.
But Planning Minister Rob Stokes said he was "supremely confident" that the the Carter Street project would be a success.
"This is a really central location. It makes good sense to build around transit oriented development and that's what this is about," Mr Stokes said.
"What we have got is some decaying former industrial land which is not being effectively utilised. We've got be more efficient in our use of space in Sydney, particularly in areas that are well connected to existing and proposed transport projects".
NSW Opposition leader Luke Foley, who is also shadow minister for western Sydney, said the ramp was a "small step" towards giving Sydney Olympic Park the transport connections it needed. The government, he said, also needed to reinstate direct rail services between the city and Olympic Park via Strathfield.
When asked to confirm Mr Gay's comments that light rail would be built to Sydney Olympic Park, Mr Stokes said the government was still considering the four options.
