“This is an absolutely crucial project. It’s on budget and on time – ready for when the Western Sydney Airport opens,” he said.
Combined with thenew airport and an$11 billion metro rail link,construction of the 16-kilometre M12 motorway,which will be two lanes in either direction,underscores the sheer scale of the infrastructure under way in the area once dominated by rolling countryside.
Under the previous government,the cost of the M12 rose bymore than $400 million to $1.8 billion in 2019 due to a jump in land values around the airport site. Majordesign changes two years later increased the cost to $2 billion.
Located north of the massive Western Sydney Airport site,the M12 project was deemed by Infrastructure Australia to be one of the nation’shighest priority projects. The state government is paying for 20 per cent – or $400 million – of the project’s cost and the Commonwealth the rest.
The M12 will link the M7 at Cecil Hills to the Northern Road at Luddenham and provide motorists direct access to the curfew-free international airport,which is about 50 kilometres from the Sydney CBD.
M12 project director Deanne Forrest said the early stages of construction,which had been under way for more than a year,had been disrupted by wet weather.