WestConnex: Rising toll charges will put drivers on the road to ruin says NSW Opposition
EXCLUSIVE: SYDNEY’S drivers will be slugged with a soll rise on the WestConnex of more than 25 per cent by the time it is completed in 2023, the opposition claims.
NSW
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SYDNEY’S drivers will be slugged with a staggering toll rise on the WestConnex of more than 25 per cent by the time it is completed in 2023, the opposition claims.
The $4.56 toll on the first stage of the project will rise 26 per cent to $5.76 when it is finished, Labor leader Luke Foley said. The new WestConnex M4 toll — due to be introduced this week after an initial grace period — was put at $3.75 when announced in 2012 but is much higher due to inflation.
And in just five years’ time, the opposition argues, people from Western Sydney will be paying at least $5.54 for the small M4 widening section.
It is built into the road’s contract that the toll will rise by 4 per cent or CPI, whichever is greater, annually until 2040. Australia’s CPI — or inflation rate — was just 1.9 per cent in 2016-17.
“This is nothing less than a tax on Western Sydney motorists that will see regular road users paying an additional $2000 a year in tolls,” Mr Foley said.
“It’s a triple whammy for Western Sydney motorists — new tolls on untolled roads; toll increases well above the rate of inflation and tolls right out until the 2060s. Sydneysiders have already paid for this road — that’s why Labor lifted the tolls seven years ago.”
The opposition has made no secret of its intention to exploit cost-of-living issues in NSW in the lead-up to the 2019 state election, including on road tolls. This is despite Labor having not committed to taking any tolls off motorways and Mr Foley committing in The Daily Telegraph earlier this year to complete WestConnex.
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The maximum capped toll per trip for the entire WestConnex will be $8.60, using today’s figures, but each individual leg will not be much less than that when the motorway is complete. For example, using today’s figures, a trip on the new M5 will cost $6.19, and the M4-M5 link $6.50.
A spokeswoman for WestConnex Minister Stuart Ayres compared the $8.60 cap to the $22 it took for someone to travel from Western Sydney via the M7, M2 Lane Cove Tunnel and Harbour Bridge.
“This is Fake Foley at his best — opposing a toll he plans to keep. Western Sydney simply can’t trust him,” Mr Ayres said.
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