A RADICAL plan to make the M5 East motorway tunnel one-way for east-bound traffic is among options being considered for the WestConnex project.
Roads Minister Duncan Gay said it was just one of the ideas being considered and "might not happen".
Such a plan would seem to require improved links to Sydney Airport and Port Botany to take some of the extra traffic and would have implications for traffic on The Grand Parade, General Holmes Drive and Southern Cross Drive.
Mr Gay touted the idea while speaking to the Leader at Arncliffe, where Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Premier Mike Baird signed a funding agreement to accelerate the 33-kilometre WestConnex motorway, which will link the M4 and M5.
The federal budget provided a $2 billion loan to the state government at a concessional interest rate.
Work on "duplicating" the M5 East will start next year and is due for completion in 2019 — two years ahead of schedule.
The M5 East will be widened to four lanes between King Georges Road and Bexley Road, from where a new six-kilometre tunnel will be built to St Peters and Sydney Airport.
Mr Gay said one problem with the existing M5 East tunnel was the steep incline for west-bound trucks at the Bexley end.
"One of the things we are looking at, [although] it may not happen, is coming the other way in that tunnel," he said.
Mr Gay explained this would mean all four lanes becoming one-way and the new tunnel between Bexley and St Peters providing four lanes in the opposite direction.
"Having the extra funding allows us to look at various options," he said.
"There may be different options with exits and different options with routes."
NRMA deputy president Michael Tynan, who is stepping down from that role in July, said it was ‘‘encouraging to see the government considering various options and not having a closed mind’’.
STARTING PLAN
Roads Minister Duncan Gay said in a statement the plan for WestConnex (M5 East) generally comprised:
Upgrading King Georges Road, Beverly Hills, and M5 interchange.
Widening to four lanes each way between King Georges Road and Bexley Road.
A tunnel from St Peters to join the widened M5 East surface section. Connections to St Peters and Sydney Airport precinct are planned to be two lanes in each direction.
The procurement process, which will start in July, will determine the design, construction and operation of the roads and whether private sector financing will be integrated or obtained separately.
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