Carved through paddocks, a $2 billion motorway linking Western Sydney Airport to major arterial routes is more than one-third complete and groundwork under way on 14 of the 17 bridges needed for the project.
While wet weather hampered the project in its early stages, Roads Minister John Graham said the toll-free M12 motorway was on track to be completed before the opening of the new airport at Badgerys Creek in late 2026.
The 16-kilometre M12 motorway will link the M7 to both the new airport and the Northern Road.Credit: Rhett Wyman
“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 the new 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 by more than $400 million to $1.8 billion in 2019 due to a jump in land values around the airport site. Major design 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’s highest priority projects. The state government is paying for 20 per cent – or $400 million – of the project’s cost and the Commonwealth the rest.
Roads Minister John Graham tours the M12 construction site on Thursday.Credit: Rhett Wyman
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.
“Late last year it was a bit of a problem, so we did have a slow start. But we’ve now really made up time, and we’re basically ahead of program,” she said.
“We’ve had a really good dry winter. You can see the progress with the earthworks around here.”
Viaducts are also under construction for a metro train line to Western Sydney Airport.Credit: Rhett Wyman
With the pouring of 52,000 tonnes of concrete due to start late this year, Forrest said contractors were close to overcoming the most challenging parts of the project.
Of the 17 bridges, the longest will be a 700-metre span over South Creek. Their construction has involved transporting girders from the north coast to the motorway site for installation.
Construction of a large interchange linking the M12 to the M7 motorway will also begin later this year.
Some 17 bridges are being built for the M12 motorway.Credit: Rhett Wyman
A review of the state’s $116 billion infrastructure pipeline led by former senior roads bureaucrat Ken Kanofski influenced the government’s decision to defer a number of projects, including a major tunnel planned in the Blue Mountains as part of an upgrade to the Great Western Highway.
Kanofski’s report has been stamped cabinet in confidence, and Graham said it was unlikely to be released.
Another review by the federal government of the nation’s infrastructure projects is also due to be completed within the coming weeks.
Graham said the roads planned around the airport, as well as rapid bus links, were among key issues the state government had been in discussions with the Commonwealth about.
“This Western Sydney Airport project is crucial for them. And it’s in both governments’ interest to see the infrastructure well planned around that airport precinct,” he said.
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