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M6 Motorway (Sydney)

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This article is about the motorway in New South Wales, Australia. For other motorways, see M6 § Roads.

M6 Motorway

New South Wales
General information
TypeMotorway  (Under construction)
Length4 km (2.5 mi)
Opened2025 (expected)
Route number(s)
Major junctions
North end M8 Motorway
Arncliffe
South end
Highway system

The M6 Motorway is an under-construction motorway in Sydney, New South Wales consisting of twin, 4-kilometre long tunnels linking the M8 Motorway at Arncliffe to President Avenue at Kogarah.[1] This section (referred to as "stage 1") started major construction in November 2021 and is expected to open in late 2025. The possibility of future extensions to the south will be accommodated by providing stub tunnels in the project.

The project will include new shared cycle and pedestrian pathways, as well as a new pedestrian bridge across President Avenue. There will also be an upgrade of the Princes Highway and President Avenue intersection. As part of the motorway, a motorway control centre and tunnel ventilation facilities will be built.[1]

The government's long term plan for the motorway includes two further sections: "Section B" would run from the southern end of Stage 1 to the existing freeway-grade section of Taren Point Road in Taren Point, and "Section C" would connect Taren Point Road with the A1 road (Princes Highway) in Loftus.[2] In June 2022, the NSW Government announced that some proposed major infrastructure projects including Stage 2 of the M6 Motorway, the Beaches Link and the Great Western Highway Blackheath to Little Hartley Tunnel would be shelved indefinitely, due to market constraints and labour shortages.[3]

History

Early proposals

See also: Princes Motorway § Northern extension

Princes Motorway, formerly F6 Southern Freeway, is an existing motorway linking Sydney and Wollongong, with its northern terminus currently at Waterfall. There had been previous proposals to extend the F6 northwards into inner Sydney since the 1950s, but no proposal has come into fruition. Only the six-lane Captain Cook Bridge and a short connecting section of Taren Point Road to the south were built and opened in May 1965 as part of the F6 extension proposal.[4]

In the mid 2010s, the F6 extension project was revived under the Liberal-National coalition state government. As part of modifications made during the planning stage of the WestConnex project, stub tunnels was added to the New M5 (now M8) tunnel to allow for an extension connection to it by the F6 extension.[5][6] In June 2016 the Roads & Maritime Services commenced geotechnical analysis to determine underground rock and soil conditions on the former F6 corridor from Waterfall to the Sydney Orbital Network at Rockdale with a view into developing a possible link between the Princes Motorway and the Orbital Network.[7] It was further reported in October 2016 that any extension would be known as SouthConnex.[8]

Current proposal

In June 2017, it was revealed that the state government had reviewed a 3.6 billion dollar railway tunnel between Thirroul and Waterfall on the Illawarra railway line that could reduce travel time between Sydney and Wollongong by 22 minutes, but that railway improvements were being sidetracked in favour of improving and extending the Motorway.[9] Later in September 2017, a state government leak showed the extent of the route, to be carried out in multiple sections which would largely follow the original planned route. The leaked document referred to the road as South Link. Sections included tunnels to the northern side of the Captain Cook Bridge, a bridge duplication allowing for motorway traffic to use the existing bridge and local traffic to keep access. To the south of the bridge, a surface motorway would run through current parks and reserves which had been left for the original route, then run along the route of the current Princes Highway with tunnels bypassing the towns of Heathcote and Waterfall before joining the existing freeway.[10][11]

In October 2017, the government announced it will proceed with Stage 1 of the F6 extension, which will run via two 4 km tunnels linking the New M5 (now M8) tunnels at Arncliffe to President Avenue at Kogarah.[12] Stage 1 was originally planned to start construction in 2020 and open to traffic in late 2024.[13]

In October 2019, the government announced a name change of the extension to "M6 Motorway", removing its reference to the defunct F6 name. The renaming to a different route number was due to general renaming of roads in NSW to reflect newer alphanumeric route numbers. Additionally the decision was made not to connect the future southern end of M6 at Loftus to the northern end of the M1 Princes Motorway at Waterfall, resulting in the two motorways to remain separated in the short-term.[14] The completion date of Stage 1 was also pushed back to late 2025, with major construction planned to begin by early 2022.[15] In December 2019, planning approval for M6 Stage 1 was granted.[16]

In June 2022, the NSW Government announced that some proposed major infrastructure projects including Stage 2 of the M6 Motorway would be shelved indefinitely, due to market constraints and labour shortages.[3] The government states that there is no timeline, funding commitment or planning approval for the planned further sections (section B from Carlton to Taren Point, and section C from Taren Point to Loftus) but the road corridor reserved since 1951 for future sections of the M6 will remain in place.[17]

Construction

Prior to the start of major construction, associated construction works began on open spaces near the M6 corridor in August 2020. These include upgrades to Ador Park and McCarthy Reserve at Rockdale, and Brighton Memorial Playing Fields at Brighton-Le-Sands.[18] The upgrades are due to the upcoming construction impacts on the open space and recreational facilities at Rockdale Bicentennial Park.[19]

In May 2021, the design and construction contract for Stage 1 was awarded to CIMIC Group's subsidiaries CPB Contractors and UGL, in a joint venture with Ghella.[20] Major construction of Stage 1 began on 29 November 2021.[21]

Tolls

Toll prices are proposed to be $2.44 each way when the first stage of M6 opens. However, as all traffic will have to utilise the M8, motorists will also have to pay WestConnex tolls in addition to the M6 toll.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b "M6 Stage 1 Web Portal". Transport for NSW. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  2. ^ NSW Government, M6 - Stage 2
  3. ^ a b "NSW government puts Beaches Link and Blue Mountains tunnel on ice". ABC News Australia. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  4. ^ "F6 Southern Freeway : History and Development". Ozroads. Retrieved 30 August 2010.[self-published source]
  5. ^ Saulwick, Jacob (3 September 2015). "Multimillion-dollar compensation brawl brews over WestConnex St Peters interchange". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  6. ^ WestConnex – Updated Strategic Business Case (PDF). Sydney Motorway Corporation. November 2015. ISBN 978-1-925421-39-2. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  7. ^ "Fact sheet: F6 Corridor Geotechnical Analysis" (PDF). Roads & Maritime Services. Government of New South Wales. June 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  8. ^ Patterson, Ian (17 October 2016). "Sydney's missing F6 motor link to the south on road to reality". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  9. ^ Robertson, James; O'Sullivan, Matt (27 June 2017). "Minister's answer undercut by cabinet documents on Sydney-Wollongong rail tunnel". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  10. ^ Trembath, Murray (28 September 2017). "Update: The F6's biggest impact area". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  11. ^ Sydney, Nine News (27 September 2017). "Cabinet documents leaked to #9News show hundreds of homes and parks could be swallowed up by a new Sydney motorway. #NSWPol @CoKeefe9 #9Newspic.twitter.com/aP77oNOcPO". @9NewsSyd. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  12. ^ "F6 Extension - Stage 1". Roads and Maritime Services. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  13. ^ "F6 Extension Stage 1 Community Update" (PDF). NSW Government. April 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Opening of new motorway in Sydney's south running 12 months late". Sydney Morning Herald. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  15. ^ "Sydney's south on the move with the new M6". NSW Government. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  16. ^ "Stage one of M6 motorway from Arncliffe to Kogarah receives formal approval". The Leader. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  17. ^ NSW Government, M6 - Stage 2
  18. ^ "Work starts on new open space around future M6". Transport for NSW. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  19. ^ "M6 Stage 1 - Have Your Say on your new recreational facilities" (PDF). Transport for NSW - Roads and Maritime. December 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  20. ^ "Major Contract Awarded for M6 Stage 1" (PDF). M6 Stage 1 Web Portal. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  21. ^ "Construction Begins on the M6 Motorway". NSW Government. 29 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  22. ^ "Construction to begin next year on new Sydney motorway tunnel". Sydney Morning Herald. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
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