The issue of a second airport for Sydney and where it should be located has vexed successive governments for more than half a century. Yesterday, Federal Cabinet confirmed that the site for Western Sydney’s new airport will be Badgerys Creek, the site originally mooted by the Hawke Government in 1986.
Although the Western Sydney airport will not be fully operational for a decade, planning for the new airport will start immediately with construction likely to start in 2016. The federal Government has envisaged that most of the cost of the new airport will be met by a private sector operator.
To underpin the development, the Prime Minister today announced that the Australian and New South Wales Governments have agreed on a shared plan to invest more than $1 billion over the forward estimates and $3.5 billion over 10 years in major infrastructure upgrades that will boost the local economy of Western Sydney. The shared plan includes significant upgrades to major and local roads such as:
- Bringelly Road – upgrade to four lanes from Camden Valley Way to the Northern Road
- The Northern Road – upgrade to a minimum of four lanes from Narellan to M4 Motorway
- Elizabeth Drive Corridor – construction of a new four lane motorway from the M7 Motorway to the Northern Road
Improve interchanges connecting Northern Road and Elizabeth Drive with arterial roads
Local Roads – $200 million for local road upgrades
The first contracts for Bringelly Road are expected to be put to tender in July with planning on the Northern Road also substantially progressed.
The shared Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan will jointly fund the road infrastructure project through an 80/20 funding split between the Australian and NSW Governments. The Federal Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Jamie Briggs, and the NSW Minister for Roads and Ports, Duncan Gay, will have responsibility for delivering the infrastructure plan including planning and prioritisation of the funding of existing projects. Future projects to be considered for funding at later stages of the program include:
- A link from the M4 to the Airport
- Prospect Highway
- Moorebank Precinct
- Werrington Arterial
Work will also begin immediately to reserve a corridor for a future extension of the South West Rail Link to the Airport and to the South West Growth Centre. Enabling work, including a station box for a future rail link, will be completed during construction of the airport.
Employment generated from the Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan is expected to amount to 4,000 direct jobs in addition to the tens of thousands of jobs expected from the airport development.
