The federal government expects construction to start in late 2022 and finish by the middle of 2026.
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The federal money is for two separate sections in a broader state government plan that could connect the sections with the longest road tunnel in Australia,as reported byThe Sydney Morning Herald last week.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro outlined the plan for the 11-kilometre tunnel with a cost estimate of almost $8 billion,saying it would be the final piece in a long ambition for a dual-lane highway across the mountains.
The western end of the tunnel would emerge near Little Hartley,the point at which the federal government will help fund the highway upgrade to Lithgow.
Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Michael McCormack said the Great Western Highway upgrade would bring “enormous benefits” in road safety and construction jobs.
Asked whether the federal government would help fund the tunnel in a future budget,Mr McCormack said he was “more than happy” to discuss the project with Mr Barilaro.
“I’m certainly looking forward to chatting with John as I so often do in a very convivial way to see what we can do to realise that dream,” he said.
“This could be a transformational game-changer for the Central West.
“The figure has been put at around $8 billion[for the tunnel] but who knows,that’s just a back-of-the-envelope figure at the moment and there wouldn’t be much change out of it.”
(Mr McCormack and Mr Barilaro have clashed in the past,reaching a point where the Deputy Premier called the Deputy Prime Minister a “failed” leader last May).
The federal plan for the Pacific Highway is to spend $48 million,on top of $12 million from the state,to build a bigger interchange with roads to Harrington and Coopernook,north of Taree.
This project is due to start in the middle of 2023 and finish about one year later.
Another commitment is $400 million to upgrade the Princes Highway south of Nowra between Jervis Bay Road and Sussex Inlet Road,adding to $100 million from the state government.
Construction is due to start late next year to upgrade what is a two-lane,undivided road with few opportunities for overtaking.
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A separate project on the Princes Highway will upgrade the Jervis Bay Road intersection at a cost of $100 million,on top of $25 million from the state. Unlike other projects in the federal budget list,this involves an allocation of existing funding.
The NRMA has called for years for the widening of the Mount Ousley interchange near Wollongong,a key congestion point it identified in 2018.
The overall federal plan contributes $3.02 billion in new funding to NSW projects,in line with $2.997 billion for Victoria.
The federal budget will also include commits to specific road upgrades along a major corridor stretching from Toowoomba in Queensland to Seymour in Victoria,through the NSW Central West.
However,the government has previously announced $510 million towards this project,with $300 million to the NSW section,$160 million to Victoria and $50 million to Queensland.
The budget will include additional funding for other projects that already had federal support,including a further $18 million for Appin Road south of Sydney,$19 million for the Far North Collector Road Network near Nowra,$400,000 for road upgrades in the Eurobodalla region on the far South Coast and $1.7 million for the Whipstick Bridge upgrade at Wyndham,near Eden.
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