M2 upgrade set to go ahead

The New South Wales Government has begun talks on plans to upgrade the M2 motorway in Sydney's north.

The road is an important link for the city's fastest growing region, carrying more than 100,000 cars a day.

Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal says he hopes to reach an in-principle agreement with Transurban before the end of the year.

The negotiations will focus on widening both carriageways, providing a park-and-ride bus interchange, permanent cycleways and converting the motorway to fully cashless tolling.

Mr Roozendaal says the changes should ease congestion.

"When this full upgrade goes ahead those lanes will be widened more to the appropriate widths and we'll have the safety experts tell us that you can expect the speed limit to go back up to the appropriate safe speed limit," he said.

"You'll probably see the removal of that speed camera, which was placed there before the tunnel to enforce that speed limit as well."

A peak infrastructure group says the plan is a necessary step to ensure the city's road network can cope in the future.

Brendan Lyon from Infrastructure Partnerships Australia says developing efficient public transport is important, but improving the road network remains a priority.

"If you don't increase the capacity of motorways, people will still travel by car but they'll travel through suburban streets," he said.

"That makes it unsafe and unpleasant for residents, and it makes it highly inefficient, taking people a long time to get to work."

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Thu 10th July 2008 - 01:45pm