The Federal Government has committed to providing funds towards the Westconnex road project, if planning currently underway identifies a detailed business case and direct routes through to the CBD and Port Botany.
This is part of our commitment to support jobs and growth in Sydney.
This infrastructure commitment is also helping western and south-western Sydney residents to cut back on travel times and improve the quality of life they can enjoy with their families.
The Federal Government has already provided an initial $25 million - announced in last year's Budget - to the NSW Government to undertake initial planning work and identify a process for bringing it to market.
The Federal Government will provide a detailed offer to the NSW Government in the coming budget.
The NSW Government's current proposal does not connect motorists along the M4 motorway directly to the City nor does it does take freight directly to Port Botany from the M5. Infrastructure Australia will continue working with the NSW Government to ensure the project achieves these objectives and is delivered in a way that ensures best value for tax payer's money.
Our first priority is to work with the NSW Government to resolve these issues and ensure the early planning work can identify detailed routes which will take people to the City and freight to Port Botany.
The Federal Government believes that new tolls should not be imposed on existing un-tolled roads.
The congested western and south western Sydney road network will put the handbrake on the state's economic future, with the cost of urban congestion in Sydney expected to rise to $7.8 billion by 2020 if no action is taken.
Currently, over 200,000 vehicles use the M4 and M5 every day. Over the next twenty years, one out of every three new jobs created in Sydney will be along the M4 and M5.
All levels of government need to make sure that the western and south-western Sydney roads network is able to support future jobs and growth.This funding commitment comes on top of the $3.2 billion we have already invested in the Sydney basin. That includes:
• $840 million for the Northern Sydney Freight Corridor Upgrade (underway);• $172 million for the Port Botany rail improvements (underway);• Construction of a new intermodal at Moorebank (in planning);• $980 million for the construction of the Southern Sydney Freight Line (completed);• $93 million to widen the F5 at Campbelltown (completed);• $300 million to upgrade the Great Western Highway (underway).
Work is also underway on a joint $17 million project under our National Smart Managed Motorways Program to help the M4 function better by looking at putting in new variable speed limit signs, traffic lights on entry ramps, better lane control, closed circuit TV and variable message signs.
Over the last five years, the Federal Government has more than doubled annual infrastructure spending in NSW, from $132 to $265 per person.
All up, the Federal Government is investing $11.6 billion in NSW under the Nation Building Program - which is more than 30 per cent of the federal transport infrastructure budget.