A new M12 motorway in Western Saturday will open to traffic very early this Saturday as the new international airport gears up to open later this year.
After four years in the making, the $2.1 billion16-kilometre motorway will connect Elizabeth Drive in the east to The Northern Road in the west with an intersection-free 100 km/h run straight to the airport precinct (Western Sydney Aerotropolis).
NSW Premier Chris Minns says the new motorway will ease traffic congestion on local roads, cut travel times and improve connections with the rest of the city’s road network.
His Roads Minister, Jenny Aitchison, says about 25,000 vehicles a day are expected to use the road.
“We’ve learnt from other new corridors: signage, line-marking and lane guidance have been tested at key connections and drivers can preview the route using online driver animations so they can hit the M12 with confidence from day one,” she says.
NSW Senator Tony Sheldon says: “I’ve raised my kids in Western Sydney for more than 15 years so I know firsthand how much time people here spend on the road just trying to get to work, school or sport.”
He says the motorway will take the pressure off local roads and make daily travel easier for all involved “meaning less time sitting in traffic and more time being where you want to be”.
Federal MP for Werriwa Anne Stanley says: “Western Sydney families know the cost of congestion: it steals time from dinner tables, weekend sport and being with the people you love. The toll-free M12 gives that time back.”
State MP for Leppington Nathan Hagarty says residents had waited long enough.
“The Liberals and Nationals left Sydney with ‘toll-mania’ and the Minns Government was determined the M12 would open toll-free; that’s exactly what we’re delivering,” he says.
MP for Liverpool Charishma Kaliyanda says the M12 is now an “essential link” for families, workers and businesses across Western Sydney wanting to connect to the new airport precinct.
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ABOUT THE M12
The final part of the M12 (a M7/M12 Interchange at Cecil Hills) is due to open mid-year and deliver a motorway-to-motorway, intersection-free link with the M7.
The $2.1 billion project is funded by $1.63 billion from the Commonwealth and $408 million from the state government.
More than 10,000 people were involved in building the new motorway with its 17 bridges and 18,500 trees planted.
MORE WEST SYDNEY NEWS: New shuttle bus link between Metro and airport
