WORK will start in early 2015 on Sydney’s biggest ever motorway project – the 33km West Connex, which will link Western Sydney and South Western Sydney with the city, airport and Port Botany, Premier Barry O’Farrell will announce today.
The cost of the motorway will be $11.5 billion and distance-based tolls will be introduced to pay for the road but up to a maximum cap no greater than that of the M7, of about $7.70.
It will run from Parramatta, to the City West Link, to Alexandria, down to Roselands.
Work on the M4 East element of the road – a 5km, two-way tunnel with three lanes from Homebush Bay Drive to the City West Link – will start by mid-2015 and finish 2019.
Work on the M5 East Airport link – from Beverly Hills to St Peters will start in 2016 and end in 2020.
To join the two to make one motorway, the M4 South will be built – an 8.5km, 2×3 lane tunnel from Haberfield to St Peters. It will start in 2018 with the entire motorway finished 2023.
The existing M4 will also be widened and tolled. Work will begin on taking that road from three to four lanes from January 2015 and be complete by early 2017.
Like the M7, the motorway will operate under distance-based tolling so drivers will be tolled from each entry point, but there will be a cap. In the case of the M7, motorists are charged 36.73 cents per km up to the cap.
The government says the business case for the project shows it will cut the trip from James Ruse Drive to Sydney Airport from 60 to 20 minutes and the journey from the CBD to James Ruse Drive from 50 to 25 minutes.
The government says it also is committed to revitalising the tired Parramatta Rd, which it says will be made possible by an expected 3000 trucks using the M4 East tunnel.
After Infrastructure NSW recommended the road last October, the O’Farrell government has committed $1.8 billion to the project and Prime Minister Tony Abbott $1.5 billion over four years, with most of the rest to come through the private sector via the tolls.
But the government is not ruling out providing more public funds for the project should the tolling not cover the remaining cost.
“WestConnex is a game-changer for Sydney – it will save motorists time by making travel between Sydney’s west and the east easier,” Mr O’Farrell said.
“This delivers on our election commitment and means relief is now in sight for Western Sydney motorists.
“WestConnex will inject $20 billion into the NSW economy including 10,000 construction jobs and hundreds of apprenticeships for young people.”
Joining Mr O’Farrell in his first full day as Prime Minister to make the announcement on the project will be Tony Abbott.
“I want building the roads of the 21st Century to be a hallmark of my Government and getting cracking on WestConnex was a solemn commitment that I made to the people of Western Sydney,” Mr Abbott said.
“So I’m excited that, just a day after forming Government, building WestConnex will be a reality.
“For too long, Sydney has been let down by bad Labor governments, but building WestConnex is proof that Federal and State Coalition Governments can work closely together to deliver better infrastructure for Sydney.”
Roads Minister Duncan Gay said: “WestConnex will remove up to 3,000 trucks a day from Parramatta Road and put them in underground tunnels, returning the surface roads and land uses to local communities.”
The NSW government said WestConnex was the “largest infrastructure project in Australia” and
would “help motorists avoid up to 52 sets of traffic lights, creating a saving of 40 minutes on a trip from Parramatta to Sydney Airport and halving the travel time from Parramatta to the CBD to 25 minutes”.
Announcing an “urban revitalisation package” for Parramatta Rd, Mr Gay said the it was “Sydney’s most hated road – long stretches of Parramatta Road are characterised by heavy congestion, high traffic noise, failing retail businesses, low quality commercial premises and an absence of pedestrians”.
“WestConnex would bring enormous benefits to Sydney by triggering urban revitalisation along the 20km Parramatta Road corridor between Broadway and Parramatta.
“Under the plan new trees will be planted, unsightly power poles will be removed and wires buried underground and footpaths widened.
“WestConnex will do for Parramatta Road what the Eastern Distributor did for Surry Hills and Redfern by taking heavy traffic off inner-city streets and allowing those suburbs to come alive with new investment, housing, cafes, restaurants and businesses.
“A crucial element of the urban revitalisation strategy is better access to public transport.
“Parramatta Road is currently so congested it has become a barrier for pedestrians, buses and cars.”
The government will today release a summary for the business case of the project today, arguing that the business case as a whole cannot be released because it is “commercial in confidence”.
The project is also expected to include new on-ramps in the Parramatta area.
[divide]Source: Daily Telegraph