Opera house gets safety tune-up

Sydney's iconic Opera House is well known for beautiful singing, less so for the agonised screams of hapless visitors...

But it's been revealed that tourists are injured regularly in accidents on and around the forecourt, including being hit by trucks and falling down steps.

The situation has sparked a $152 million plan to improve safety, taking trucks away from the venue's expansive forecourt and diverting them into tunnels.

Opera House CEO Richard Evans said there was a mishap almost every day at the landmark site.

"Anyone who spends any time at the Opera House and here on the forecourt is aware of the multiple incidents that happen here on a daily basis," he told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

"There have been 200 reported incidents, many of which have necessitated ambulances coming ... many of these people are tourists, and then ended up getting flown home. It's really not a great situation."

The NSW government announced the cash would be earmarked in Tuesday's state budget.

Premier Kristina Keneally said there were currently about 1000 heavy vehicle movements per week on the forecourt, bringing big vehicles into areas crowded with pedestrians.

A tunnel will be built from Macquarie Street to a new underground loading dock, removing the potential for accidents.

A new scenery platform lift is being built underground to load and unload sets.

Other tunnels will be built connecting the loading dock to new lifts for food and drink deliveries.

The Opera House attracts 7.4 million visitors a year, Ms Keneally said.

"This is unquestionably the most significant building of the 20th century, and the work we are doing will ensure that it stays that way," she told reporters.

Opposition leader Barry O'Farrell accused state Labor of neglecting the Opera House.

"What's happening at the Opera House is essentially catch-up maintenance and work that's been ignored for a decade and a half," he told reporters on Sunday.

The Tourism & Transport Forum welcomed the safety work but said it was only part of the upgrade needed at the Opera House.

"The next step must focus on improving performance spaces and comfort for patrons, to ensure that the Opera House continues to deliver world-class cultural and artistic experiences," the forum's executive director Brett Gale said in a statement.

The work is due to get under way in 2011, for completion by mid-2013.

The venue will remain open during the construction.

Source: AAP