M7 Widening

[Hubert Lam]

Now on the TfNSW (Roads & Waterways) page:

https://roads-waterways.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/westlink-m7-upgrade/index.html

[Nihat]

Long time coming. It is congested at nearly all hours and plenty of accidents. Needs to be done by the time the airport is open which it should. 

On Wed, 25 May 2022 at 21:37, Hubert Lam <hub...@lamfamily.info> wrote:

Now on the TfNSW (Roads & Waterways) page:

https://roads-waterways.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/westlink-m7-upgrade/index.html

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[Brendan Terrett]

Ah yes, the old 'perpetually extend the toll concession' trick. Really, the M7 will probably need to be widened to eight or ten lanes, not the inadequate six lanes they're proposing. Give it ten more years and we'll need a Warringah Freeway-esque multiple carriageway arrangement between the M12 and the M5 to deal with the traffic!

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[Paul R]

It's about time, but probably should've been done in the first place.

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Paul Rands
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On 25/05/2022 21:37, Hubert Lam wrote:

Now on the TfNSW (Roads & Waterways) page:

https://roads-waterways.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/westlink-m7-upgrade/index.html

[Adrian Biankin]

No more nice grassy median :(

[Nihat]

yep it will end up like the m5 with a concrete barrier in the middle. not great from an urban design perspective. ive always thought eastlink was one of the best designed and planned motorways in australia. adequate lanes from the start and a very pleasurable drive.  

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[#130km/hforthehume]

And not long after it'll need to be widened to four lanes, though really another motorway should be built somewhere between A3 and A6 so Westlink M7 is not a standalone north-south motorway in that area.

[AlienChex]

I’ve always thought A6 should have sections where it’s motorway grade so there’s a better direct route between Newcastle and Wollongong

[Michael Mak]



Looks like it’s only widened to 3 lanes each way from M5 to M4 (not the bridge that goes over the M4) then from M4 to the Richmond Road off ramp? So from Richmond Road to M2 it will remain 2 lanes each way? 

From memory, new bridges will need to built too, as existing ones are only wide enough for 2 lanes each way? 

The whole motorway should have been built 3 lanes each way from the start, with room to extend it to 4-5 lanes in the future. 

Michael 

Sent from my iPhone

On 26 May 2022, at 12:13, Nihat <lbj2...@gmail.com> wrote:



yep it will end up like the m5 with a concrete barrier in the middle. not great from an urban design perspective. ive always thought eastlink was one of the best designed and planned motorways in australia. adequate lanes from the start and a very pleasurable drive.  

On Thu, 26 May 2022 at 10:42, Adrian Biankin <abia...@gmail.com> wrote:

No more nice grassy median :(

On Thursday, May 26, 2022 at 12:38:21 AM UTC+10 Paul R wrote:

It's about time, but probably should've been done in the first place.

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Paul Rands
li...@paulrands.com
WWW: http://www.expressway.online/

On 25/05/2022 21:37, Hubert Lam wrote:

Now on the TfNSW (Roads & Waterways) page:

https://roads-waterways.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/westlink-m7-upgrade/index.html

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[Luke W]

If it means they can ban trucks from the right lane in those parts (a la the F3 as far as Gosford) - it can only be a good thing. It seems so many mornings (northbound at least) are bogged down by them trying to climb up the hill leading up to Elizabeth Drive, and the resulting congestion ends up knocking the speed limit to 60 or 70 as a result. They're trying to enforce a right lane ban via VMSes but it's hard to justify on a two-lane road.

They probably needed the capacity to Richmond Road too with the big Marsden Park industrial development, too. Although doing that and not touching the Light Horse junction also seems to be pinning hopes on trucks switching to the M4 route out of Port Botany once Westconnex and the Sydney Gateway gets done - no guarantee of that yet.

I don't believe the M12 traffic will be of much concern until the Aerotropolis starts getting built out sufficiently - maybe the ten years spoken of below will be on the money but I suspect it might take longer for it to be of concern... with the first stage of the airport as it is I'm a bit skeptical of what the demand will be initially.

[Paul R]

I think they will need to begin considering the M2 extension as well. Lots of new suburbs already creating a lot of issues on arterial roads such as Richmond Rd and similar roads. I think the extension of the metro should also be considered as well.

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[Adrian Biankin]

Wasn't the M7 kinda a continuation of the M2?

[Paul R]

The Richmond Rd to Gore Hill Fwy was

Paul Rands
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www.expressway.online

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[Nihat]

Planning documents for widening:

https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/projects/m7-motorway-mod-6-widening

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[davis]

The most interesting thing about that is how, because the M7 was delivered as a single planning approval, this widening is just being treated as a modification to the existing approval, thereby short-circuiting a whole heap of work and consultation.

[AlienChex]

It’s laughable how underplanned the M7 was. This road opened in 2005, they should have had the foresight to know there would be enormous western growth back then. It will take years and more money to make it 3 lanes

[Peter Freeman]

Which sounds like an efficient and cost-effective way to deal with this upgrade. There are virtually no externalities to consider (the ones relating to M12 interchange will be dealt with under M12 EIS etc) since all work will be within the current ROW.

[Luke W]

Although the priority at first was to get the trucks off the surface roads (particularly Pennant Hills Road), not so much for us plebs. Part of why, from memory, trucks weren't charged any more than cars initially. (Of course Transurban got a little greedy and now triple tolls like everywhere else.)

Although it was thought that it would be a helpful way for freight traffic to bypass Sydney - it also provided a very easy connection from Port Botany via the M5 East. With how many trucks clog up some of the climbs (northbound direction for me), I have to wonder how many have come from outside Sydney as opposed to being local traffic off the port. I guess it's a bit hard to know from this distance.

I wonder why that's why they're not so worried about fixing the portion under Light Horse - once Westconnex Stage 3 and particularly Sydney Gateway opens, I suspect a lot of trucks heading from the port will be pushed to take the M4 rather than the M5. That alone may clear up some of the worst bits in the short term. They probably still need the extra beef though due to freight traffic the Aerotropolis near the new airport (via the M12) will likely generate in time.

[Nihat]

That's one way of looking at it, construction will start virtually immediately. But a more thorough upgrade is needed such as making it a smart motorway and upgrading ramps for example. There seems to be still space in the median so another lane up the hill toward Elizabeth Dr could have been something they looked at.  

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[Peter Freeman]

Yes, such extra improvements will eventually be required, and could be done concurrently with this 3-laning. However, they will still be mainly within the current footprint, so still virtually free from external effects in the planning and permission sense.

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From: aussie-...@googlegroups.com <aussie-...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Nihat <lbj2...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, 22 August 2022 16:31
To: Aussie Highways <aussie-...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Aussie Highways] Re: M7 Widening

 

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