Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Late last year, with Prime Minister Turnbull, I visited NorthConnex to witness the progress of the most important infrastructure project in my electorate. The visit coincided with the project's first tunnel breakthrough. The residents of Berowra are a step closer to returning Pennant Hills Road to local people so that it's no longer known as the worst road in Australia. Pennant Hills Road is very dangerous. Just this morning, staff in my electorate office woke to find the particular incident of a retaining wall outside my electorate office completely broken as the result of an accident on Pennant Hills Road. On bad days it can take more than an hour to travel the six kilometres from Hornsby to Pennant Hills, and the appalling state of the road means many people use the rat runs, which are clogged up too.

For too long my constituents have had to sit in gridlock for daily errands. Bad traffic congestion means people are stuck in cars and spending less time at home with their families. That's why NorthConnex is so important. It will take 5,000 trucks off Pennant Hills Road every single day and return Pennant Hills Road to local people. December's breakthrough means that we're now less than two years away from reclaiming our road for shopping trips and school drop-offs.

While Berowra residents couldn't be more excited, their enthusiasm is matched only by the enthusiasm of the NorthConnex workers I met. Alongside the Prime Minister, I caught up with many of the 1,500 workers who are proud to see this congestion-busting breakthrough firsthand. NorthConnex will reach its construction peak this year, when there'll be 1,800 to 2,000 workers on site every day. A total of 15,000 people will work on NorthConnex. It's a concrete example of the record jobs growth we've seen under the Turnbull government. At the breakthrough, it was great to see the pride the workers had in NorthConnex, with many snapping selfies and filming the moment the road header, named Michelle, bored through between the southern interchange and the Wilson Road compound. Michelle is one of 20 road headers on site, advancing through the ground at a speed of 350 metres per week.

NorthConnex provides another bonus to our constituents. The spoil from this tunnelling is being excavated and re-used in our community. One of the many flow-on benefits from NorthConnex is the realisation of a vision to help the abandoned Hornsby quarry become a park, a place of relaxation and recreation for the community. More than a million cubic metres of excavated rock and soil from NorthConnex will be used to partially fill the quarry, establishing Hornsby Park as the region's premier new parkland.

Be it cutting the congestion, the extra employment or the promise of parkland, NorthConnex is delivering on multiple fronts for the people of Berowra, and there are broader benefits for the people of New South Wales. Motorists choosing to use NorthConnex will save 15 minutes of travel time and cut 21 sets of traffic lights out of their journey. These motorists include many commuters coming from the Central Coast. Their daily journey will no longer need to include Pennant Hills Road. It means a journey of over 1,000 kilometres, often through urban areas, without ever being held up by a traffic light. People and freight will get to their destinations faster.