Federal Member for Banks, David Coleman MP, joined the Prime Minister, the Hon. Tony Abbott and the Premier of New South Wales, the Hon. Mike Baird this morning to announce a number of major milestones for WestConnex M5 East.
“It was great to announce important new features of the WestConnex today, including new twin tunnels which will double capacity along the M5 East corridor and provide motorway access to north of Sydney Airport”, Mr Coleman said.
“As Sydney’s population grows and travel demand continues to increase, these improvements are crucially important for the future of Sydney’s motorway systems. WestConnex will duplicate the M5 East saving more than 20 minutes on the trip to the city in peak hour,” Mr Coleman said.
The Australian Government is providing a total of $1.5 billion in grant funding to the WestConnex project. The Government will also provide a concessional loan of up to $2 billion to accelerate delivery of WestConnex M5 by up to 18 months.
Also announced today was a new interchange at an industrial site at St Peters, which reduces the impact on nearby residential areas. The New M5 section of the WestConnex project runs approximately 11 kilometres from the existing M5 East at Beverly Hills to St Peters and will provide links to the Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport and Port Botany precincts.
The planning application for the New M5 tunnels to St Peters has been lodged and the environmental impact statement is due to go on exhibition in late-2015, after selection of the preferred design and preferred tenderer in mid-2015.