The requirement to improve public transport on Parramatta Road comes from Mr Stokes’ planning condition B34. Loading The condition states that "at least two lanes of Parramatta Road, from Burwood to Haberfield, are to be solely dedicated for the use of public transport unless an alternative dedicated public transport route that provides an improved public transport outcome for the area, when compared to two dedicated public transport lanes on Parramatta Road, is approved.” The condition does not impose a deadline. But failing to meet the condition might not only be a legal breach, it would also undermine much of the analysis used to justify the motorway. Traffic modelling prepared for the M4 East’s environmental impact statement – and which was in turn used to assess the pollution impact of the motorway – assumes there would be dedicated bus lanes between Burwood and Haberfield as soon as the project was opened.

Those lanes, which do not exist, are assumed to improve bus travel times by 14 minutes. For the pollution and traffic modelling, that assumption increased the attraction of public transport and lowered surface traffic and pollution levels. A spokesman for Roads and Maritime Services, which is being absorbed into Transport for NSW, said: “The government is not in breach of this condition.” But the spokesman did not say when improved public transport services would be delivered. “We recognise appropriate and effective public transport options for this corridor should be implemented as soon as possible.” Compliance documents show Transport for NSW is giving itself up to five years to meet the condition. The department is targeting completion dates ranging from “12 to 60 months from the opening of M4 East.”

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said last week the 5.5 kilometre M4 East tunnels between Homebush and Haberfield should be open to traffic by August. Mr Stokes’ announcement in 2016 of the planning condition was met with scepticism at the time. "We can't trust that those conditions will be met," anti-WestConnex campaigner Pauline Lockie, since elected as an independent to Inner West Council, said then. On Sunday, Cr Lockie said: “Of course they haven’t met it. It was never going to happen.” The three-lane tunnels are almost complete. Credit:AAP Contacted for this story, Labor’s transport spokeswoman, Jodi McKay, said: “They were required to have some form of public transport in place when the M4 East tunnel opens, and if that is not the case then they are clearly in breach of the consent conditions.

Loading “This will be a test of the Minister for Planning as to whether he's going to favour the government agency or actually bring them to account.” After serving as the education minister for the past two years, Mr Stokes was returned to the planning portfolio after last month’s state election. The Herald contacted Mr Stokes and the Department of Planning and Environment for a comment on whether the condition had been breached. A spokesman from the department said: “The condition does not specify a timeframe.