Southern Arterial Route

The Southern Arterial Route is a proposed and partly implemented arterial road corridor in inner city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Conceived in the 1970s and 1980s after a cancelled urban expressway scheme, the arterial corridor was partially implemented in the 1980s-1990s as a high capacity one-way pair through the now high-density suburbs of Ultimo, Chippendale, Redfern and Waterloo.

The current route design as a paired one-way road system was first formally detailed in the 1987 Environmental Impact Statement for the Department of Main Roads Pyrmont - Alexandria traffic management proposal, though there were similar proposals in 1969 and 1983.

The project attracted significant community opposition and remains incomplete, with later proposals either to extend the arterial south or remove it (revert it to two-way operation). Only two of three stages were completed due to strong community opposition. Stage 1 covered Ultimo to St Paul's Place / Cleveland Street. Stage 2 was originally planned to connect St Paul's Place / Cleveland Street to Bourke Road, Alexandria, however, was only completed to Henderson Road. Stage 3 was cancelled in 1993.

The 1993 Citizen's Response summary stated "if people count, Stage 3 of the Southern Arterial will not be built", and "on the same grounds, Stage 2 will be undone or significantly modified." It recommended that "Ideally we need a solution to the problems of Stage 2 which does not involve the evils of Stage 3."

In the decades since there have been numerous proposals (or references to unpublished proposals) to extend the one-way pair further south, or partially revert it to two-way operation. Parallel underground motorways, heavy rail and metro lines have been completed since the original proposal.

Directly adjacent to the arterial route, Waterloo station opened in 2024, and the Waterloo renewal project will build over 3,000 new apartments. By 2030, Green Square to the south of the corridor will be the densest urban area in Australia.

The Sydney Morning Herald has covered the project in detail, with articles covering the project proposals, road opening, residents, council and editorial backlash, views by political figures, on funding announcements or mentions in passing.