David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

A big issue for many people in my electorate is congestion on the M5. Importantly, this is being addressed through the WestConnex project. In February this year, the King Georges Road Interchange upgrade at Beverly Hills was completed. That has marked a very important first step towards resolving one of the worst traffic pinch points in Sydney. The lengthening of the on- and off-ramps at Beverly Hills was completed to increase capacity and to enable traffic to flow more smoothly. The federal government provided $1.5 billion in cash towards the WestConnex project and a $2 billion concessional loan to the state government to help make this happen more quickly. Tunnelling has begun on the duplication of the M5 East tunnels between Kingsgrove and St Peters. That will mean a doubling of the capacity on the M5 East. When those tunnels are completed in 2020, it will have a huge positive benefit in reducing travel times in my electorate, between places like Beverly Hills, Padstow, Revesby, Riverwood and other areas and the city. The travel times are expected to drop very substantially. WestConnex is a very important project for my community. I look forward to its further progress in the coming years.

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