Church and Parkes Streets, Parramatta

Reviewed

Project overview

The NSW Government has committed over $825 million to pinch point projects to ease congestion, reduce traffic delays and improve travel times on Sydney's major roads.

Latest news

Jun 2021 - Work completed

Work to upgrade the intersection of Great Western Highway, Church Street and Parkes Street is now complete.

Additional lanes have been delivered which will create more space for turning traffic at the intersection and improve the efficiency of through movements. The upgrade will help reduce congestion and improve journey times for road users in Parramatta’s growing CBD.

Transport for NSW would like to thank the community for their patience and understanding as we worked to complete this important project.

Project information

Background

The Great Western Highway, Church Street and Parkes Street intersection is a critical junction for local and cross-city traffic, with road users on the southern side of Parramatta’s CBD experiencing heavy congestion on and around this busy intersection.

Motorists waiting to turn from Great Western Highway onto Church Street had only one dedicated right-turn lane, which would quickly fill up, causing traffic to bank up in one of the through lanes.

Motorists wanting to use the single right-turn-only lane or the shared right/through lane from Church Street onto Parkes Street were often backed up almost 500 metres. This also caused delays for through and left-turning vehicles.

The intersection is being upgraded to ease congestion, improve travel times and journey reliability for road users.

Project features

Intersection upgrades include:

  • relocating the median island on Great Western Highway to provide an additional right turn lane onto Church Street
  • widening the western side of Church Street to provide an additional right turn lane onto Parkes Street
  • adjusting Church Street’s median strips to create additional turning lanes in each direction
  • relocating utilities
  • upgrading traffic lights
  • reconstructing footpaths
  • line markings.

Benefits

Intersection upgrades will:

  • ease traffic congestion on a key approach to Parramatta’s growing CBD
  • improve eastbound traffic movements from Great Western Highway, onto Parkes Street and towards important connections with James Ruse Drive
  • improve the efficiency of north-south vehicle movements by creating more capacity for right turning vehicles onto Church Street
  • reduce travel times for local residents and commuters.

What is a 'pinch point'?

Pinch points are traffic congestion points, intersections or short lengths of road at which a traffic bottleneck exists, slowing down the broader network. They cause a build‑up of traffic and travel delays at these spots and on the wider road network.

Community information

Community consultation

In October 2017, Transport for NSW (formerly Roads and Martime Services) invited public feedback on proposed intersection improvements at the intersection of Great Western Highway, Church Street and Parkes Street, Parramatta.

No concerns were raised from community consultation and the project was approved to proceed.

View or download the October 2017 call for public comment (PDF, 420Kb).

View or download the February 2018 community update (PDF, 460Kb).

Transport for NSW would like to thank everyone who provided feedback.

Project documents

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Project notifications

Project maps

Media releases

  • March 2020

    Congestion Busting Relief on the way for Parramatta.

Contact us

For further information about this project, please contact:

Email: projects@wardcivil.com.au

Phone: 1800 897 841 (24 hours)