The WestConnex Problem (Rozelle Interchange and Parramatta Road) 

Get 4 months extra on a 2 year plan here: nordvpn.com/builtbeauty. It’s risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee! Hey! Sorry if you noticed this video was a bit more rushed than usual. I’m actually in Melbourne (!) right now with Amy, and I made this really quickly before I got here. I just really wanted to get something out about the WestConnex before I headed off travelling for all of December. It's the fastest I've ever made a video lol. The WestConnex has been in the news a lot lately, after all! There’s not gonna be any more videos for the rest of 2023; this is my last video. I'm travelling for all of December ✈. It’s been a great year for my channel, we’ve gone from 10,000 subscribers to over 34,000 and I’m really really happy about that. Thank you all for your support, it means a lot to me 😊😊 I can assure you that I’m not going anywhere, I’m very keen to return in 2024, I have a lot of video ideas cooking away. So to anyone reading this right now, Merry Christmas, happy New Year, have a great holidays, and I’ll see you next year!

Here in Victoria we use blue instead of green for guidance signs on toll roads. Makes confusion impossible. If your destination is on a green sign it's free and if it's on a blue sign it's tolled.

Thanks for the shoutout! As a professional Parramatta Road hater I got literal chills when you said "there remains one problem: Parramatta Road"

WestConnex is the perfect metaphor for all the governments involved with it; in terms of the planning and design, the "procurement" process, and the resultant traffic clusterf***, even the signage. Peak NSW

Sydney doesn’t deserve to be so corruptly governed, on all levels. There’s just too much money to be scammed that no one on top can make changes for the greater good.

I think part of the issue is not recognising that the westconnex (and surrounding locations on the signs) are NOT the destinations of the vehicles transiting through it. Don’t tell me “drummoyne” or “city” on the signs, instead: TELL ME *where* I’m going through the maze - “Gladesville Bridge”, or “Westbound M4”.

I got my driver's licence in 1963. Paramatta Road was like that then.

I honestly think they should go with Melbourne and Brisbane’s approach with colored blue signs for tolls for example with the “To M8 Toll” section being colored blue with the non toll routes being green.

Yes to Light Rail on Parramatta Road. The bus frequency is so high that light rail is the only option to increase capacity on Parramatta Road.

People unhappily stuck in traffic should always remember “you are traffic”. People always think the traffic is everyone else. I think the Rozelle interchange should be renamed the Gladys in honour of her contribution to badly designed roads. I would like to see a light rail super-loop along the full length of Parramatta Road and Victoria Road with crossovers along Silverwater Road, Olympic Park and Homebush Bay Drive/ Concord Road. This would support higher densities, connect Sydney University, RPAH, WSU, Top Ryde City etc and convert these roads into something closer to boulevards with urban renewal. This could interconnect with train stations such as West Ryde and Strathfield and new metro stations such as Burwood North, Olympic Park etc

Part of the issue is that in the original design much of the city bound traffic exited at Camperdown. To save money this exist was cancelled and no alternative arrangments were made. Very short sighted. The Rozelle interchange was never going to work and the City of Sydney tried to tell the LNP Government 6 years ago. In addition there is going to be more traffic coming into the system when the extension to Kogarah is completed.

When the Sydney light rail could have been build five times over for the cost of this disaster, there's no arguing that the Rozelle Interchange is one of the biggest wastes of money in recent years. They spent $16 billion to make traffic worse.

Hi Sharath, tonight I went to an event organised by Inner West Council where members of the community spoke to Transport for NSW including Howard Collins. It was a very interesting meeting and the council is going to set up an independent advisory board made out of experts in the local community to work on fixing Victoria Road. It was a very interesting meeting and it would’ve been great if you came!

The only credible news source on public infrastructure i trust.

The simple fact is that if you build more roads they are simply going to fill up with traffic. The vast majority of that traffic is cars with one person in them which is incredibly inefficient. Imagine how much mass transit could have been built for this price? The only winner out of this is Transurban, and will be for decades.

oh my god it's just so exciting and makes me so happy when i see something like '1 hour ago' on a building beautifully video. a new video is just incredible i love watching sharath sharing his insane knowledge on civil engineering!!

I genuinely admire how much you care about your city and how you put forward ideas on how to improve it instead of just complaining.

I suppose I have a bit of a different perspective on toll roads as where I'm from (Vancouver, Canada) toll roads are extremely rare, and I've also been to Japan where there really aren't any expressways that don't have tolls. I think they can be a valuable tool for fighting traffic congestion and automobile use, while also being pretty inconsequential to pay for freight or intercity buses. The key is to really make sure that people dislike driving so much on the alternatives that they're willing to either pay the toll, or do something other than drive. IMO this means that you should toll motorways & high traffic roads, and then make sure that everything that's not in that category does not primarily prioritize traffic flow. Bus lanes, bike lanes, fewer general purpose travel lanes in general all great, traffic signals that change frequently to prioritize pedestrians, etc. Taking back the road space to create alternatives that might be better than driving at all. Of course, it's not good when those tolls aren't going to fund public projects, and instead are just going to private shareholders. So I totally get what you're saying. If it were up to me, TransLink (our local unified transit agency, covers both public transit & major road network) would collect tolls from basically all of our bridges and use them to fund transportation projects in general.

Sharath. Your channel has grown and grown so much and your interest in and perception and knowledge of the subtleties of complex infrastructure projects is incredible. You have a huge future in urban and infrastructure planning. I hope that this is recognised and utilised by the appropriate authorities. I have always had a huge fascination with infrastructure and planning. And only wish that i had access to the level of technology and interface that you have today. Make the most of it. You wont regret it. And keep the project analysis and recommendation going. We need you. Best. Hamish.

The same thing with Forest Road and Stoney Creek Road. Since opening the M8 and now tolling the M5 East the traffic on these roads have never been worse.

The way I found out this was open was by driving across the ANZAC bridge towards Annandale while coming home from visiting some friends on the North Shore, and very suddenly finding myself transported to a completely different part of Sydney 🙃 The signs on the ANZAC Bridge were _not_ clear that the lanes to get to Annandale were different, despite it being a common turn off point!

Your channel deserves so much more attention. The content is top notch and very well presented. I've only been following you for about 6 months after finding the video you had on Peats Ridge Road. All your videos are worth watching. I really wish you all the best of luck with the channel growth. You clearly put a great deal of effort into it.

As someone who lives in the Blue mountains and needs to drive in for work it's been a fantastic addition. The drive has shortened by 30+ minutes! It's brilliant! City West link and Parramatta Rd sucked Now they need to build more pt!!!

We're doing the same thing here in Victoria, building massive new freeways for freight purpose. The problem is, the freeways are massively overbuilt. Both the West Gate Tunnel and North East Link consist of 2 new 6-lane freeways PLUS doubling the number of lanes on the freeways they connect to. That is absolutely unnecessary for freight alone.

Hi Sharath. Enjoy the holiday season! Can’t wait for what next year will bring in terms of content. Thanks for bringing these amazing videos to us this year and covering my favourite topic; transport.

It's worth mentioning the Western Harbour Tunnel when open in 2027 will eliminate the need for traffic going to North Shore from using Anzac Bridge and the Harbour Bridge, thus reducing traffic there. Also, once the St Peters interchange is complete, it will be possible to travel from Parramatta to Sydney Airport just under 30 minutes, which is less time than driving from Parramatta to Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek.

Those sign suggestions are really good

Wait till an over-height truck tries his luck in the new interchange 😂

You should do a video about the new plans for Rosehill Racecourse, apparently they're closing it down & building housing, which is great I think!

the government might have sold the roads to transurban so they didnt end up with 'debt', but transurban is expected to bring in 70 bill in revenue by the time that contract is up and theyre getting that much because theyre charging a fortune to use the roads, which people are complaining about, and how is the government easing those complaints? by paying transurban a portion of the toll cost themselves so that users have a capped price

Dense housing on Parra Rd will just add more traffic to a place with too much traffic and do little to bring vibrance to immediate businesses. Saw it around Marrickville station and Norton Street in Leichhardt. The area around Canterbury Station is still awful even with a bunch of massive apartments built on to it. I understand the people around Parra Rd not wanting huge developments, for a start, it stops the area being what attracted people there in the first place. Look around Mascot Station, it's a complete fkn nightmare. Green Square was overdeveloped and chokes the hell out of the already problematic Botany Rd. We need to build out, not up. These old surburbs are being destroyed by overdevelopment. When everything is wall-to-wall apartments, there is no identity.

The road signage around these major toll roads is appalling, moreso when there have been no toll-free grace periods for drivers to recover from costly mistakes. I've been caught trying to avoid the entrances to M4 (at each end) at night when they opened. Poor lighting and blockage of crucial signs by heavy trucks made these very difficult to negotiate. As Prof Ann Williamson from UNSW has suggested - they need to be testing these roads with drivers unfamiliar with the area. There's still no sign from Gardners Rd / Bourke St to direct westbound traffic around the St Peters interchange.

My theory on the Introduction of the M5 Tunnel's new toll, is to ensure that commuters would actually use, and therefore pay the M8 Tunnel Toll, instead of taking the M5 Tunnel and General Holmes Drive for free. Most city destinations takes just as long taking the M5 as it does the M8. The M8 barely gets any traffic as it is now. It is always nearly empty, even when General Holmes Drive is completely blocked up. And for urban renewal, if they really wanted to encourage it, the tolls would be a lot less, which would move traffic onto the toll way, rather than just provide a quick route for people that are willing to sell their kidneys to afford the tolls.

@buildingbeautifully the road has changed who is getting the worse traffic it has basically removed the traffic on the city west link (Parramatta Road to Rozelle) and is a nonstop run since it opened. It used to be a stop and crawl, it was faster to walk on the bay.

As long as tolls exist, people are going to go out of their way to avoid them. I, myself, absolutely refuse to pay a toll.

Thanks for always using your channel to try and help improve Sydney!

The Taverners Hill light rail was a real find for me when I found it walking up Parramatta Rd towards Old Canterbury Rd. I like the quaintness of the stop. A light rail interchange at Taverners Hill along Parramatta Rd would make sense as there is a stairway up from Parramatta Rd to the current L1 light rail stop.

if something has "connex" in its name then it's pretty much destined for failure

4:09 I accept your apology for making me pause the video lol

I live in Balmain I am now trapped as a prisoner in by suburb until 10am everyday (luckily I take the ferry, ferry traffic having trebled in the last 2 weeks). The distance from Balmain to the city is about 3kms, and now takes 45-60mins....... I would take Parramatta rd every day over Victoria rd even on its worst day in history this is beyond a joke. The failure at Rozelle/Balmain WAS deliberate...... around 50,000 people live across Balmain, Balmain East, Birchgrove and Rozelle, forcing all of us and all the busses that were already travelling up Victoria Rd (these were never ever going through the free tunnel) into ONE lane to get onto Anzac bridge through a traffic light was WELL KNOWN TO FAIL, we have been crucified to the alter of transurban. 8 years of local pain to make life better for Parramatta, it now takes less time to get from Parramatta to the city than from Balmain 300m from the Anzac Bridge. We are told over time we will give up trying to use the roads........ and this is the solution for the government both Labor and Liberal, that will serve us right for voting green....... They have no intention to make this liveable we are to be sacrificed for Transurban.

Was waiting for your video about this interchange

This is a brilliant upgrade. Only took me 43 mins to drive from Castlereagh to Darling Harbour on Saturday morning! And I don’t care about the poor yuppies in Balmain haha

Independent Truck Drivers often steer clear of using motorways because they're quite costly, some smaller companies prohibit drivers going on them unless they have to. For instance, traveling from Eastern Creek to Botany (M7,M5,M5 East) can cost a truck about $50 each way, just on tolls. It would be more practical if trucks were charged a flat weekly rate to access motorways

Hope you have a good holiday Sharath you’ve worked hard in the past year.

Excellent, thank you for the information 👍

been waiting for you take on this

Im so glad I stumbled onto this page. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading all the comments/ replies. I don’t drive,never have,never will. One thing that occurred to me is that we seem to be heading for “ super cities”,and the whole 15 minute cities thing,where u live and work and play in close proximity. I feel over time we will be manipulated into that. It’ll simply become too expensive to drive or commute via public transport. Travel time is always factored into our day.We’ve always considered both options when looking where to live. ( as one drives,although is now captain commute,and one relies on public transport) personally ,it’s always about the money and return to “ shareholders”. The powers that be will merrily do what they please, we just need to work around them. I agree there should be more stops re the parramatta light rail ,but that would mean all the developers can’t advertise a short trip to city and therefore “ lose” value on all these dwellings being thrown up. Honestly if I drove to work, it’d be a matter of principle to avoid paying yet another corporate conglomerate far too much money.the average family budget just cannot handle the cost. I’d also like to say to the tradies, I agree, lugging tools around on public transport? And since moving west and using public transport to city, I’ve seen many tradies working on high rise areas travelling in groups to enable a pile of tool boxes ,hard hats,high vis,boots,lunches etc to be taken to sites. My other half is impressed with a capped weekly public transport cost( especially with fuel prices) and has commented on enjoying his time to just relax. We love where we now live,with a lot of building still to happen,so realise population will rise a lot. Trying to resist the whole nimby thing but that’s just a human trait. I think drivers should be more concerned about being forced onto electric vehicles ( which are worse for the environment and much more costly) with banks soon to refuse loans for “ old cars” and insurers also getting their pound of flesh- forcing many to attempt to get work in their locality. We’ve also had a couple friends change from cars to scooters or motorcycles, although it makes me cringe for their safety. This one person per four seater upwards car thing is a worry. Also a few neighbours only have to go into their office twice a week,so there is a few numbers there that aren’t using roads every day. I’ve caught public transport for 40 odd years now in Sydney in three very different areas and overall it’s a good system. The parramatta road thing is a great idea …..in a perfect world. I’d love to see it come to fruition. ATM we are really looking forward to the metro and exploring how to change over and link up. Just a few rambling thoughts.

Maaaate, absolutely lost my mind when you said, "I think the engineers picked up a book called 'how to build a motorway - NOT'." Great content chief.

Great video. I only wish they would build a tunnel for a3 king georges or a6 north south direction to finish the loop around sydney. M7 and m1 is the only north south highway with 30km width of no highways in between. Most of the congestion is now for north south direction in this zone. Whereas east west direction already have m4 m5 and m2 placed around 10km from each other

a light rail on paramatta road would be incredible

Hey man, thanks for the video. Could you make a video on the exit from M8 at St Peters. There is only one exit from M8 main tunnel for both Euston Road and Gardeners Road. However, the overhead signage at the exit says Gardeners Road only - no mention of Euston Road exit. If a motorist misses this exit, thinking there is another exit for Euston Road, he/she will end up in Wiley Park. I wrote to WestConnex pointing this out. Their response in a nutshell shell was - get used to it or use the Plan Your Journey tool!!

Here in South Australia we don't have traffic jams or tolls...but don't come here we're fine without you.

The most confusing thing about the signage, to me, is that the A40 still follows the surface street. It's an A-road! If you want people to use the tunnel, route the A-road through the tunnel! (Last I checked, NorthConnex had the same problem… and not just because it's got a similar dumb name.)

Everyone will know this as "spaghetti junction" from here on out. I guarantee it.

I was eagerly awaiting waiting for this video! Was the free iron cove link worth it?

Excellent vid as always, well explained.

Parra Rd light rail is a win-win even for Transurban! on other note: NordVPN unfortunately does not work in China :(

For traffic congested roads, why don’t we get rid of more intersections to reduce the number of lights?

I am so glad I don't have to drive in Sydney traffic during pick times anymore. (Retired). It's always been a nightmare and the more roads they build the worse it gets.

I travel from Beverly Hills to Botany and back for work. Catching public transport (a train then a bus) takes at least an hour each way and was costing $50 a week 7 years ago when I stopped using it. Traveling by car takes 30 minutes each way and costs me $50 a fortnight even with the current high fuel prices. I used to take the M5 East but now refuse since they started charging a toll for a road that was once free. Going via Stoney Creek Rd may take 10 or 15 minutes longer tham using the tunnel but saving $11 in tolls each day makes it worth it.

Weirdly, the city bound tunnel entrance at Haberfield - start of City West link - doesn't mention the tunnel goes to Anzac Bridge/City. Sign only says Airport/Port Botany. How many cars are getting on the City West link instead of using the tunnel?

Public transport now along Victoria now is so bad now. I now get off the Bus just after Gladesville Bridge and walk to the ferry to the city as it is now way quicker, than traversing Rozelle

I think I drove there the other weekend and the signs, said I was going over the Anzac bridge but it was the tunnel lanes.

I love how on Parra road they put in bus lanes not by making the road wider but by making the lanes smaller 😂

Awesome content, very informative, 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

The signage coming from the airport side to get off at Ashfield etc is basically non existent. And I had know idea what was going on the cross Parramatta Rd onto Fredrick street, what a mess.

Thank you for taking the time to explain what paid journalists appear to be unable to do so :-)

I really like the Committee for Sydney’s recommendation for a new LR line on Parra road. I reckon it should start at circular quay but go to central via Elizabeth Street or College/Macquarie Streets provide some better PT access to the eastern side of the CBD. Either way, a LR would be awesome

The road signs in Sydney have always been hard to understand.

Isn't the only real issue here is that people Don't want to pay tolls, it's a communication problem not a traffic problem

Imagine waking up tomorrow to see the Sydney Morning Herald's headline: 'Minns Unveils Plan for Parramatta Light Rail.' How good!

As someone who's lived on Parramatta Road for 20 years, this is more than profound.

In Victoria, all toll road signage is blue. This way its extremely easy to tell which routes are free and tolled.

I had to drive from Botany to Leichhardt during the week, and thought it best to use google maps to guide me through the interchange. From Alexandria, I entered the M8, then stayed on it until the M4 merge. I was directed to follow signs for Drummoyne. Um… I ended up at Iron Cove bridge then had to go left under the bridge and back onto Victoria Rd, avoid the tunnel, turn right into Darling? Left into Balmain Rd, then right onto city west link before finally reaching Leichhardt. I should’ve just used the x city tunnel and Anzac Bridge instead. Is that still possible?

Thanks!

I have my Google set to avoid toll roads. As someone who travels through Sydney to get somewhere else the $30 in told just isn't worth the 30 minutes I save.

There are little hint signs in the CBD indicating directions to the Harbour Bridge and ANZAC Bridge so it's not unprecedented to have "Hey ANZAC Bridge over here" signage. And of course reinstating the inexplicable removal of Ryde as a primary destination is an obvious thing to do. I'm unclear as to why the A40 route designation must stay on the surface and cannot be moved to the Iron Cove Link tunnel - that would simplify signage and avoid the "For" terminology... just attach A40 to all directional signage to/from ANZAC and Iron Cove bridges.

if they want to develop Parramatta Rd, the NSW govt need to crack down and introduce legislation to eradicate NIMBY. Its been going on for FAR too long in the innerwest

My understanding was that the NSW government signed some document (a non-compete clause of sorts) that doesnt allow for competing public transport along parramatta road (e.g. somrthing that provides an alternative to travelling via tolled roads)

Costs me over $150 a week in tolls to visit my ageing parents out west. If I don’t use tolls it’s up to a 1.5-2 hr journey depending on clusterfrack traffic and merging botttlenecks. And we pay 30% tax. Thanks Sydney.

Can you please do a video about the Town Hall Plaza

I've come to the conclusion that there is a deliberate campaign among traffic sign designers to put up unhelpful, vague and positioned way-to-late signs, if my experience in Adelaide is anything.

I dunno; I feel like claiming “well, it’s done now, why worry about the underlying corruption now” is why we get ourselves into these situations to begin with.

Hey 👋 Brisbane fan here. Wondering your thoughts on the North Tunnel “a congestion-busting road tunnel between Kedron and Carseldine in Brisbane’s north”…?

To keep the traffic flowing, they need to put in lots of red lights and stop signs. No-one stops at these anymore in Sydney, so that may help :P

When will the part 2 for quietest stations come out?

As someone living near the M6 construction, this is so worrying. I’d love you to cover why the NorthConnex area has heavy fines for trucks NOT using it but there aren’t similar fines in the areas around the M8 and there are no proposals for truck fines for the M6 when it opens.

Sharath! I just came back from China and Hong Kong… yes public transport there is very developed, I would call Beijing metro complicated (as a Laowai). Hong Kong is great, make sure to catch the Ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui to Central, iconic. Get an Esim instead of relying on a VPN. VPNS now barely work in China, an unlimited 10 day Esim was only $35 or so, nothing blocked. But, you could also really enjoy a smartphone break as well while being there.

Great video and long-time viewer. I work in the PPP space on the private side (no, not for TCL) and whilst I do agree TCL have a monopoly in the toll road space some of the broader statements about PPPs aren't entirely correct. Yes risk is moved from the public sector to the private in the form of loan the government has taken out from the private side, the concession and construction risk is also transferred (ie operational risk). And the public sector is still in debt to the private lenders. Not to mention PPPs have great use in other public infrastructure not just roads, for example in aus (amongst hospitals, schools, convention centres, housing, waste treatment etc) the Melbourne HCMT and metro tunnel are both PPPs, gold coast light rail, southern cross station and so on. If you want to explore PPPs in transport I would love to provide input and help out on a video. Cheers!!

The tolls are a massive issue, just in Sydney in general. Multiple tolls quickly add up. To drive from, say, Northwest Syd to the CBD (M7. M2, LCT, Bridge) on-peak is something like $22+. One way. Add in a return trip and parking and you could be easily over $100. While I get motorways, particularly with tunnels, cost big money to build and maintain, they also needs patronage in order to be viable and to justify their existence .. making tolls too expensive will just cripple revenue from the start. Better to charge, say, 10,000 cars $1 each versus 5,000 cars $2 each, for example. Another massive issue: The inner west. The people there are .. special. I was in an inner west FB community group a long time ago and they were vehemently against Westconnex. They were all "the money should be spent on public transport". They have the paradigm of living ~10min from the city. They had zero concept that the road was built for people beyond the inner west, not people in the inner west itself, and that public transport isn't suitable for everyone (eg tradies). Absolute braindead idiots. Meanwhile, Northconnex, realistically the Pennant Hills Rd bypass, was built with, to my knowledge, zero controversy, because the locals simply aren't dumb. Also: Residential along Parra road? Ehh... Even if Parra road is transformed, it's always going to be a main arterial road and .. who wants to live next to that? They'd be demolishing all of those decrepit buildings anyway. While I'd perhaps advocate for widening the road slightly, but I'd also think they should be using much of the space currently occupied by buildings to create green spaces, and maybe even cycle lanes/paths etc. Having Parra Rd be a light rail corridor is an interesting proposal. Create a bit of a buffer between the road/area and any resi developments. Also, you have to consider flight paths, as planes fly low over the inner west. Finally: Why can people see the obvious problem with funnelling 10 lanes into 4 .. but not the equally obvious and fundamentally equivalent problem of wanting to grow Australia's population, particularly via immigration, 10 times faster than we can build houses?

Having been forced to go from South to North up Parramatta road before the tunnels existed, i couldn't understand how it was so bad vs Melbourne. And then the random tunnels i took that were flooded and copied the roads next to it. Just the whole city needs to be ripped up and started again. And remove tolls. The rot started with Jeff Kennett, the CityLink that was only meant to be a 25 year contract iirc. Conveniently was extended when they widened it. Just like the rest of the freeways attached were. It's so frustrating.

I love it, save so much time!!

Don't forget to invite your better half along for the holidays. Good source of credit and someone to share adventures with.

I'm surprised that they didn't follow the example and used a different colour scheme for the toll section of road paths.

Transurban usually have a clause that nothing like heavy rail or light rail can be built in competition with its toll roads. The toll roads would probably be given priority to use other feeder roads over the pre-existing local roads. I'd be buying shares in Transurban too like the minister did

Wow making traffic worse in Sydney than it already was. that is an achievement in itself. Hopefully long term with the new projects it gets better. I like taking the train when i am Sydney, airport to the opera house for a beer in 40 minutes is always a win. Great video mate!!!

Remember Sharath, not every motorist can use public transport. Thousands of goods and services providers can't be expected to lug tools and machinery around on public transport to, from work and inbetween jobs for the day As someone who largely uses the M4 as a service provider, this network is a game changer. No more sitting in the city west link in standstill traffic When the proposed/visionary rail and roads links are finished (2050) Sydney will be a much better city to commute around Great video as always!

We needed to tax cars heavily with one person driving in a 5 seater. Car manufactures should have been pressured to build small commuter cars.

Well said.

The North Connex tunnel to join the M1 (at Hornsby) to the M2 (at Pennant Hills) to ease traffic on Pennant Hills Road has been successful. It has taken all the trucks off Pennant Hills Road and eliminated the 20kph crawl. Not every new motorway is a disaster.. Equally, the light rail in the CBD has not been a success. (How many years late, and how many businesses made bankrupt because of closed-off streets?)