It’s been talked about for more than half a century, now the NRMA wants to see some action on the F6 extension.
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NRMA president Kyle Loades has labelled the extension the group’s “number one priority across the state”.
Mr Loades wants the state and federal governments to join forces and build the “missing link" in the road network.
“There are 20,000 commuters and motorists daily who travel north for work and that will only increase over the coming decade or so as the population increases,” Mr Loades said.
“The reality is when this project is built it will save Illawarra motorists significant time and it will be much safer.
“From southern Sydney through to the Illawarra the congestion gets worse by about 10 to 15 per cent every year.
“It will get down to a crawling pace unless we can alleviate that congestion and this is the one solution for that.”
Now tagged SouthConnex by the NSW government, the extension would run from Waterfall and link up with WestConnex at St Peters.
If built, the extension would let motorists skip 60 sets of lights from Loftus to St Peters.
This project has been in the pipeline for decades.
- NRMA President Kyle Loades
Parts of the extension – such as the Captain Cook Bridge at Taren Point – have already been built and a corridor has been reserved for the rest of the motorway since 1954.
Since June, Roads and Maritime Services have been undertaking geotechnical surveys in four sections of the road corridor.
The work involves drilling a small hole to extract a rock core sample.
A Roads and Maritime Services spokeswoman said testing of the collected samples began on Monday.
This analysis will eventually form part of a business case which the NSW government will use to decide whether to proceed.
“I have made a point of putting it under a microscope to see if the benefits stack up, just like I did with all of the projects we have under way in NSW," Roads Minister Duncan Gay said.
“I look forward to receiving the business case once this work is completed to see where the F6 upgrade ranks as a priority along with all of the other road needs across the state.”
Mr Loades said the extension would remove freight from suburban roads in southern Sydney.
“However, at the most basic level it’s about getting our members home to their families faster and safer,” he said.
“This project has been in the pipeline for decades and I can’t think of a better reason to make it a reality.”
