A new, toll-free motorway, costing between $2.2 and $2.6 billion, will be built from the New M5 interchange at St Peters to the international and domestic airport terminals.
While the state government announcement addresses a major criticism of WestConnex, Labor said there was still no connection to Port Botany and the result would be “traffic mayhem”.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said agreement had been reached with Sydney Airport Corporation for the project, named Sydney Gateway.
Sydney Gateway will also include duplication of a three kilometre section of the freight rail line between Port Botany and Mascot, which the federal government announced funding for earlier this year.
The motorway, which the state government aims to have completed in 2023, will involve relocating and reconfiguring Airport Drive, which runs into the international terminal.
Major upgrades will also be carried out on Qantas Drive and Joyce Drive around the domestic terminal.
Ms Berejiklian said the connection would cut road travel times to the airport and ease traffic congestion in the area.
Opposition Leader Luke Foley the government had “delivered a recipe for traffic mayhem” around the airport by failing to extend WestConnex to Port Botany, six kilometres away.
The new road link takes the cost of WestConnex from the original forecast of $10.6 billion to almost $20 billion.
