THE Berejiklian government will commit to three new major motorways for Sydney in the state Budget next week with almost $40 million in planning money for links to alleviate growing gridlock on the way to the city’s southern and booming western fringes.
The planning funds will be directed to the M6 in the south, the M9 Outer Orbital and the M12 — the eventual link road between the M7 and Badgerys Creek Airport.
In all, there will be a $1 billion package for Western Sydney roads construction in 2017-18 as well as a whopping $3.3 billion next year for the WestConnex motorway.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s government will put $2.09 million of planning money towards planning an M9 Outer Orbital, which would run west of the M7 from Box Hill in the north to Macarthur in the south.
There will also be $21 million in planning money for the M12, which is the connection between the Northern Road and the M7. There is a 2020 start date due on that project and completion is expected once the Western Sydney Airport is built in 2025.
There will also be $15 million in planning money for the M6 or F6 — the proposed motorway down through Sutherland and the Shire towards Wollongong — which will provide relief for commuters who now have to negotiate local road networks.
There will be $21 million in the Budget for Smart Motorways on the M4 and M1 motorways — a traffic-handling system which improves flows on those motorways.
An upgrade of the Northern Road will have funding for completion of Stage 1 and commencement of construction for Stage 2, with an extra $200 million in 2017-18 for that project.
The Budget also includes construction money to complete Narellan Road, Schofields Road Stage 2, and Bringelly Road between Camden Valley Way and King Street Stage 1.
There will be construction money to complete smart motorways on the M4 from Reservoir Road to Mamre Road and from Reservoir Road to Pitt Street, as well as money for the Jane Street and Mulgoa Road upgrade and for the second stage of Bringelly Road.
The Budget will also contain $7 million for a replacement Windsor Bridge and pre-construction and planning money for the new M5 ramps and the Pitt Town bypass.
Funding for 2017-18 includes $648 million of the already-announced package for road upgrades to support the Western Sydney airport.
There is also $246 million to reduce congestion and address critical pinch points — including the Smart Motorways program on the M4 — and $153 million for Western Sydney growth roads, which include the Narellan Road and Schofields Road upgrades. There will also be $20 million to continue construction of the shared pedestrian and cyclist bridge over Nepean River at Penrith, $11 million for Riverstone traffic improvement and $4.5 million to widen Campbelltown’s Appin Road.
The government believes it needs to get moving on Western Sydney roads infrastructure, saying more than half of all new jobs in Sydney will be in the boom region by 2031.