‘Boulevard of broken dreams’: could Parramatta Road really become Sydney’s Champs-Élysées?

With congestion, noise and tailpipe pollution more prominent than ever, it’s mostly car yards, speciality outlets such as bridal shops and a smattering of pubs and other services that remain on Parramatta Road – besides beyond the For Lease signs. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Abandoned shopfronts, bleak car yards, crumbling concrete, raw sewage and a reliable stream of traffic and smashed bus mirrors.

It sounds more like a war-ravaged dystopia than a key artery through Australia’s largest city – but premiers and planners have vowed to turn it into the Champs-Élysées of Sydney.