National

NSW

Planning

Opinion

Parramatta Road is a sewer for cars: Here’s how to change it

Tim Williams Policy advisor September 25, 2025 — 12.00pm

Whatever you think of Premier Chris Minns’ “war on red tape” as he tries to get more homes built , I give him an A for effort. His energy can’t be faulted. Whether his efforts include wisdom will be tested on a battlefield which has seen defeats of previous warriors for change in Sydney: Parramatta Road, aka Sydney’s 23-kilometre Great Sewer for Cars. Or as urbanists think of it, this big “stroad” – an incoherent mix of street and road, which has sacrificed retail and urban amenity for the communities along it in favour of speeding commuters.

I have already fallen in this war for urban change. Having advised British ministers on

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