Their construction will force the closure of car parking at Rydalmere wharf and Ermington boat ramp for three years. While the wharf will remain open,the boat ramp will be closed for about three years.

The bridge construction will also require “short-term closures” of Parramatta River’s navigational channel,disrupting the F3 ferry service and other vessels between Wentworth Point and Rydalmere.

The proposed bridge at Camellia will result in closures of the river channel for four months,and the Wentworth Point bridge for up to three months.

Almost 21 hectares will be permanently required for the second stage of the project,including about six hectares of privately owned land. A further 13 hectares are expected to be needed during construction,including the temporary use of land from about seven privately owned properties.

The light rail line will have 14 stops and end at the Carter Street high-rise development next to Olympic Park. An 8.5-kilometre walking and cycling path will be built parallel to the tram corridor.

The government committed $602 million to start building thesecond stage in the budget in June,ending several years of doubt about whether it would press ahead.

The budget also revealed that the cost of the first stage of the line from Westmead to Carlingford via the Parramatta CBD hadblown out by $475 million to $2.875 billion.

Lobby group Business Western Sydney called on both the government and opposition to commit to fully funding the second stage ahead of the state election in March.

“Communities along the Parramatta River such as Wentworth Point and Melrose Park will be expecting a crystal-clear commitment from candidates in the upcoming election,” executive director David Borger said.

The Liberal-held electorate of Parramatta will be one of the battleground seats at the election,after a change to electoral boundaries reduced the party’s margin.

Transport Minister David Elliott said the second stage would provide a much-needed public transport link between greater Parramatta and the Olympic Peninsula. “Labor has refused to commit to the Parramatta light rail stage two project,despite calls from the local community and the NSW government investing $602.4 million in June,” he said.

But Labor transport spokeswoman Jo Haylen said the government had let down communities like Wentworth Point,Camellia and Melrose Park.

“Now they will be waiting until 2031 before they get a transport service even though they will be getting massive population growth,” she said.

Parramatta's Labor lord mayor Donna Davis said a five-year delay for such an important project would have serious consequences for the housing and development planned along the light rail corridor.

“Major precincts such as Melrose Park are being rezoned to higher densities to potentially accommodate over 20,000 new residents once fully redeveloped. Those new residents are rightly expecting transport links that connect them to work and study,” she said.

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