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The money raised from the WestConnex sale will be used to pay for its final stage.Credit:Ben Rushton

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) chief concern was that Transurban’s ownership of WestConnex and seven of Sydney’s nine existing toll roads would give it an advantage when bidding to build future motorway projects.

But ACCC chairman Rod Sims said the regulator found there would not be a substantial lessening of competition for future toll roads in Sydney following Transurban'sundertaking to release detailed traffic data if it won control of WestConnex.

“We are satisfied that with this undertaking others will be able to compete for new toll road concessions in NSW if Transurban succeeds in its bid for WestConnex,” he said. “In our view,we have levelled the playing field. This removes a key barrier to others competing.”

The court-enforceable undertaking will require Transurban to publish 15-minute interval toll data for each quarter for all of the toll roads in which it has an interest in Sydney.

However,the regulator's decision is a blow to those who harboured major concerns about the extent of Transurban's reach over toll roads in Sydney,such as the country's peak trucking group.

A Transurban-led consortium and another spearheaded by one of Australia's largest infrastructure investors,IFM,have been duelling for more than a year for WestConnex.

The regulator's approval clears the way for NSW Treasury,which is handling the sale,to decide the successful bidder within days. The Transurban-led consortium is thefavourite to win the largest infrastructure deal in the country this year.

After speaking to NSW government officials on Thursday,Mr Sims said the impression he got from they was that they believed they “better get our skates on[to decide the outcome of the bid process] because all of the focus will be on us”.

In scrutinising the WestConnex sales process,the regulator found that the state government could help to level the playing field for those competing for future toll road projects.

“As the sole granter of toll road concessions in NSW,in many respects the degree of competition for concessions depends on the government,” Mr Sims said.

The Berejiklian government is selling a 51 per cent stake in WestConnex.Credit:AAP

“Our investigation indicates that state governments do have tools at their disposal to promote competition for toll road concessions.”

The NSW government is understood be seeking to raise at least $5 billion in net proceeds from the sale of a 51 per cent stake in the 33-kilometre WestConnex toll road.

The money raised will be used to pay for thethird stage of the toll road project, which includes twin tunnels between Haberfield and St Peters in Sydney's inner west.

In noting the regulator's findings,NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the government would continue to assess the bids for WestConnex based on “all available information” but he declined to comment further.

While giving Transurban the green light,the ACCC has raised concerns about the government using the unsolicited proposal process to build toll roads.

The ACCC found that competitive bid processes for new toll roads were more likely to result in positive outcomes for taxpayers and motorists.

“Accepting unsolicited proposals for new toll road concessions generally leads to higher costs to taxpayers,drivers,or both,” Mr Sims said.

The$3 billion NorthConnex tunnel project linking the M1 and M2 motorways in Sydney's north is the result of an unsolicited proposal from Transurban.

Transurban welcomed the ACCC's decision but declined to comment further because of the WestConnex sales process.

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