New South Wales
The Australian Government has allocated A$3bn ($2.36bn) to fund road upgrades in New South Wales. Credit: Jamar Penny / Unsplash.

The Australian Government has allocated A$3bn ($2.36bn) to fund road upgrades in New South Wales and support the state’s economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.

New South Wales will use A$2.03bn ($1.59bn) from the allocated budget for the Great Western Highway upgrade between Katoomba and Lithgow and the construction of the east and west sections.

Around A$400m ($314m) will be spent on the Princes Highway Corridor for the Stage I works from Jervis Bay Road to Sussex Inlet Road, and A$100m ($78.7m) on the Jervis Bay Road Intersection works.

A total of A$240m ($188m) will be invested on the Mount Ousley Interchange, and A$48m ($37.7m) for upgrading the junction of Pacific Highway and Harrington Road at Coopernook.

The funding includes A$87.5m ($68.8m) for upgrading the M5 Motorway junction between Moorebank Avenue and Hume Highway.

Around A$52.8m ($41.5m) has been earmarked for Manns Road junction upgrades at Narara Creek Road and Stockyard Place.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “From upgrading the Great Western and Princes highways to improving the key road connections in the outer suburbs and regional areas, these projects will support more than 6,500 direct and indirect jobs across New South Wales.

“Our record funding commitment is creating jobs and boosting business investment while securing Australia’s Covid recovery.”

These projects are expected to both enhance the safety of the commuters and reduce travel times while supporting thousands of jobs across the state.

In February, Transport for New South Wales announced it would trial technology for boosting global positioning system (GPS) signals to improve safety and reliability in Sydney’s road tunnel network.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) agreed to amend some key federal laws and was said to have provided funding for the trials.

If successful, the trials could lead to a licensing arrangement for devices that could be rolled out across Sydney’s road tunnel network.