Transforming travel and communities Whether it is saving up to 56 minutes on a journey along the M4 in the evening peak, or 30 minutes between Liverpool and Sydney’s southern CBD in the M8 Tunnels, WestConnex is saving customers valuable time. We recognise the importance of offering our customers a choice about the route they take and have digital calculators available on the Transurban Linkt customer website so motorists can weigh up the benefits of taking a toll road over the free alternative. Creating jobs More than 40,000 workers have been involved in delivering WestConnex, boosting job opportunities across a range of industries. The project will create an estimated more than $20 billion in benefits to the state, with around 2,000 contracts signed with NSW subcontractors and suppliers to date. More than 40% of the 10,500 workers involved in the M4-M5 Link Tunnels, which are currently being constructed, are from Western Sydney. Around 510 contracts, worth more than $950 million, have been signed with NSW subcontractors and suppliers on that Project. Over the Project lifespan, WestConnex is creating 500 apprenticeships. Our M4 and M8 delivery partners established the WestConnex Training Academy at Homebush in partnership with providers such as TAFE NSW. The academy focuses on quality, recognised training for workers including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, women, young people and school leavers, Western Sydney residents and people with disabilities. This training is continuing with similar programs offered on the M4-M5 Link Tunnels Project.
Benefits for freight industry and environment Around 80% of freight in Greater Sydney is moved by road and the WestConnex network provides critical connections to ports, airports and intermodal terminals. WestConnex provides considerable benefits for heavy vehicles, by avoiding stop/start traffic. This offers significant operating cost savings, increased safety, reduced fuel consumption, greater travel-time reliability, smoother travel and less wear and tear on the vehicle. Giving streets back to communities With thousands of heavy vehicles a day using the M4 Tunnels and and no longer driving on local streets—a trip on Parramatta Road is now much faster.
For local communities that means less noise and improved safety in their neighbourhood. Air quality on Paramatta Road has improved by 10-15% as a direct result of the M4 Tunnel opening and less stop start traffic on surface roads. Construction of WestConnex also paved the way for transformation and regeneration opportunities across local communities. The M8, which opened in 2020, has been a catalyst for the renewal and reuse of one of Sydney’s most under-utilised sites, the former Alexandria landfill. The former rubbish tip has undergone extensive remediation works in preparation for the construction of St Peters Interchange. The St Peters Interchange site includes around 6 hectares of open space with another 2.5 hectares being returned to the community after the M4-M5 Link Tunnels open in 2023.
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