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M12 Motorway

New South Wales
M12 Motorway; New South Wales
	Current alignment of Elizabeth Drive at Badgerys Creek.
General information
Type	Motorway (Under construction)
Length	14 km (8.7 mi)
Opened	2026 (expected)
Route number(s)	M12
Major junctions
East end	Westlink M7 (M7); Cecil Park, Sydney;
West end	The Northern Road (A9); Luddenham, Sydney;
Location(s)
Major suburbs / towns	Cecil Park, Cecil Hills, Mount Vernon, Kemps Creek, Badgerys Creek, Luddenham
Highway system
	Highways in Australia; National Highway • Freeways in Australia; Highways in New South Wales; ; ;

The M12 Motorway, initially known as Western Sydney Airport Motorway, is an under-construction east-west motorway in Sydney, Australia, linking between the M7 Motorway and The Northern Road, as part of the Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan. The four-lane motorway is planned to be 14 km long and to be built at a cost of $1.75 billion (with both State and Federal funding). It is aimed at providing direct access from the M7 Westlink Motorway to the new Western Sydney Airport situated at Badgerys Creek.^[2]

The motorway began construction in August 2022 and is expected to open prior to the Western Sydney Airport opening in 2026.

Alignment

The M12 Motorway will run between M7 Motorway and The Northern Road, including an exit to the access road towards the Western Sydney Airport. The motorway will have 4 lanes, with provision to be widened to 6 lanes. It will also be toll-free.^[3]

Elizabeth Drive

The existing road, Elizabeth Drive, is a two lane, single carriageway road linking the Hume Highway at Liverpool, with The Northern Road at Luddenham. It is one of several key thoroughfares in Western Sydney. The new motorway will be located north of Elizabeth Drive and will run parallel to it.

History

Planning

On 17 June 2014, as part of the State Budget, the NSW Government announced a $5.5 billion road package for Western Sydney. It included $6 million for planning the Western Sydney Airport Motorway. The Budget was also the first time the name of the motorway was referred to.^[4] However, in recent years, government media and press releases simply refer to it as M12 Motorway.

The project was granted planning approval in April 2021.^[5]

Construction

Major construction commenced in 2022 and is expected to be completed prior to the Western Sydney Airport opening in December 2026.^[6]^[7]^[5]

The construction of the motorway was split into three sections. In June 2020, the companies shortlisted to build two of the three sections were announced:^[8]

6-kilometre (3.7 mi) west section including the connection to the airport: Acciona, Fulton Hogan, and CPB Georgiou Group joint venture
7.5-kilometre (4.7 mi) central section from west of South Creek to Duff Road: CPB Georgiou Group joint venture, and Seymour Whyte

In May 2022, Seymour Whyte and CPB Georgiou Group joint venture were announced as the contractors for the central and west sections respectively. Procurement of the east section (connection with Elizabeth Drive and the M7) will occur later in the same year.^[9]

Construction began in August 2022 on the west and central sections however the planning started as early as 2019.^[10]

References

^ "Badgerys Creek airport: Sydney's bold plan is taking wing". Daily Telegraph. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
^ "New Motorway – M7 to The Northern Road". Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
^ "M12 Motorway - Community Update October 2019" (PDF). Roads and Maritime Services. NSW Government. October 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
^ "Budget Paper 4 – Infrastructure Statement" (PDF). NSW Treasury. 17 June 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Planning approval fast-tracked for new M12 motorway in Sydney". The Hon Paul Fletcher MP - Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
^ "Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan". (Federal) Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
^ "M12 Motorway". Roads and Maritime Services. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
^ "M12 Motorway". Transport for NSW - Roads and Waterways. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
^ "M12 motorway set for take-off with contractors announced". NSW Government. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
^ "Community update – Start of work - August 2022 - M12 Motorway" (PDF). Transport for NSW - Roads and Waterways. August 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2022.