The NSW Government has lodged the initial planning application for the WestConnex motorway, after approving the business case showing the project will deliver major benefits for the NSW economy.
WestConnex is the largest infrastructure project in Australia, and will link western and south-western Sydney with the city, airport and port in a 33 kilometer continuous motorway.
NSW Premier and Minister for Western Sydney, Barry O'Farrell, said the motorway would ease congestion, deliver liveable and connected communities, and create jobs across Sydney.
"WestConnex is a game-changer for Sydney – it will save motorists time by making travel between Sydney's west and the east easier," he said.
"WestConnex will help motorists avoid up to 52 sets of traffic lights, creating a saving of 40 minutes on a trip from Parramatta to Sydney Airport and halving the travel time from Parramatta to the CBD to 25 minutes."
Mr O'Farrell said the motorway would also inject $20 billion into the NSW economy including 10,000 construction jobs and hundreds of apprenticeships for young people.
The NSW Government confirmed the $11.5 billion (2012 dollars) project will be built in three stages with the M4 widening to start first and be completed in 2017.
In terms of how the motorway could affect the property market in and around western Sydney, Roads Minster, Duncan Gay, said the project would "enable urban revitalisation to occur along the 20 kilometer-long corridor between Broadway and Parramatta, creating new jobs, stimulating productivity and delivering new homes in this key growth area of Sydney."
"This is similar to the revitalisation of Surry Hills and parts of Redfern following the construction of the Eastern Distributor [Motorway]," he explained.
Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson, pointed to the project's potential to drive urban renewal.
"The best time to drive major urban renewal is when large infrastructure projects like WestConnex are under way," he said.
"The Urban Taskforce believes that this corridor can accommodate 100,000 new apartments and 100,000 new jobs and that there are many sites available for redevelopment now."
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