Sydney roads are to get a $200 million facelift in some of the city’s busiest traffic corridors after a record wet winter.
The NSW Government says the funding deal will lift greater Sydney’s total road maintenance funding for the next financial year to $488m.
Potholes and other road maintenance needs will be targeted under the extra funding; more than 5100 potholes were repaired across Sydney in August and September.
NSW Premier Chris Minns says: “We know how frustrating it is for drivers to deal with damaged roads and potholes, especially after one of Sydney’s wettest winters on record.”
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey says roads are “essential” to state prosperity.
“This $200 million blitz across Sydney’s busiest corridors is delivering a safer, fairer road network.”
Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison says “not only are we delivering new major road projects, we’re also fixing the roads families rely on every single day”.
“This work might not get ribbon cuttings but we take enormous pride in safe, reliable travel for everyone who uses our road network.”
Transport for NSW Deputy Secretary Road Maintenance and Resilience Matt Fuller says they “are winning the battle against potholes and weather damage”.
“After a massive year of repair work, we’re entering the optimal season for major pavement upgrades. Our frontline teams work around the clock, through storms and crashes, to keep Sydney connected.”
Work will be prioritised based on traffic volumes, location and severity of the pothole, and the road’s importance to freight, bus services, and emergency access.
ELECTRIC BUSES TO HIT THE ROADS
Macquarie Park will host Sydney’s first purpose-built electric bus depot after the government awarded the contract to build the $145m facility to Fulton Hogan Construction.
The government is moving to phase out its 8000-strong diesel and gas fleet over the next 20 years.
The new depot, funded 50:50 by the NSW and Commonwealth governments, is expected to start early in the New Year and be operational in 2028.
The Macquarie Park depot will be located alongside the M2 on Talavera Road from which 150 buses will service areas from the northwest suburbs to Ryde, Parramatta and lower north shore.
The depot will employ 160 staff while each electric bus can travel up to 300 kilometres on a single charge.
In September, Brookvale became the first of Sydney’s 11 bus depots to be fitted out for the electric changeover with Australia’s first gantry-mounted fast-charging station installed.
Leichhardt and Kingsgrove are expected to have electric bus chargers next year.
The new depot will feature standard (75kW) and fast (150kW) plug-in chargers.
More than 1200 new electric buses are due by 2028 (up to 300 hitting the road in coming months), the government says.
Click here for NSW Transport’s website.
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