Western Sydney airport infrastructure development continues with $2bn road
The $2.1 billion highway to Sydney’s new international airport will open to motorists early Saturday morning; almost eight months before the first passenger flights began.
After four years of construction, the ribbon will be cut on the main section of the 16-kilometre M12 motorway on Monday morning, before the first motorists make their way early on Saturday.
The 14-kilometer section of the M12 will connect Elizabeth Drive in the east to Northern Road in the west, allowing drivers to travel directly to the airport area at 100 kilometers per hour without passing through junctions.
The final component to open in mid-June will be a major interchange connecting the M12 to the M7 motorway at Cecil Hills near Bonnyrigg.
The M12 has two lanes in each direction and consists of 17 bridges, the longest of which is a 700-metre span over South Creek. Up to 30,000 vehicles a day are expected to travel along the M12.
A steel sculpture up to 30 meters high was built next to the M12 motorway, where the motorway connects to the airport. Designed by homegrown design studio Balarinji, the “Big Emu in the Sky” sculpture will be the centerpiece of the journey to and from the airport and will serve as a welcome to the land of Dharug.
The bill for building the M12 has risen steadily since late last decade, when it was budgeted at $1.25 billion, mostly under the previous Coalition government.
While the cost of property acquisition was shown as the main reason why the budget increased to 1.8 billion dollars in 2019, design changes made two years later increased the budget to over 2 billion dollars.
Premier Chris Minns said the direct switch to Western Sydney Airport would ease pressure on local roads, reduce travel times and improve connections with the rest of the city’s road network.
“Starting Saturday, thousands of motorists will have the chance to use this new motorway for the first time to get where they need to go faster and easier,” he said.
Federal Transport Minister Catherine King said the M12 would play a critical role in transporting passengers to the new airport terminal and delivering cargo to aircraft.
The first cargo plane is planned to take off from Western Sydney Airport in July, and it will be opened to passenger flights at the end of October.
A 16 kilometer shared path for pedestrians and cyclists has been built along the M12, connecting the existing road at Cecil Hills near the M7 with the Northern Road at Luddenham. It includes a dedicated bicycle and pedestrian path to the new airport.
The federal government covers 80 percent of the cost of M12, and the state pays the rest and delivers the project.
Toll road operator Transurban also told investors last month that the section of the M7 motorway, widened to two to three lanes in each direction, would be opened in phases from the end of this month to June.
The 26 kilometer work of the M7 required the widening of 41 bridges along the line between Richmond Road at Oakhurst and the M5 motorway at Prestons.
As part of an agreement with Transurban to widen the motorway and build a new interchange with the M12, motorists will pay tolls on the M7 for a further three years until 2051.
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Matt O’Sullivan is the transport and infrastructure editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
