Fed: Work to soon begin on Western Sydney Orbital

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Fed: Work to soon begin on Western Sydney Orbital

CANBERRA, Feb 17 AAP - Construction will soon begin on the $1.5 billion Western SydneyOrbital following the signing of contracts, it was announced today.

Federal Transport Minister John Anderson and his NSW counterpart Carl Scully announcedthe finalisation of the contract with the Westlink consortium to design, build, maintainand operate the 40km Western Sydney Orbital.

The road is expected to significantly reduce traffic on western Sydney's roads andcut travel times by up to an hour.

But motorists will be forking out hefty tolls to use the roadway.

Toll collection will be electronic and charged at 25 cents per kilometre, with a $5toll cap, but the price will be subject to adjustments in line with inflation.

Construction is expected to begin soon with the road due to be completed in four years.

"When completed in 2007 there will be a total of 17 interchanges and motorists ableto travel from south of Liverpool to Pennant Hills in less than 30 minutes saving overan hour," Mr Anderson said in a statement.

The orbital is expected to take 60,000 cars, including 10,000 trucks, off western Sydneyroads. with motorists bypassing 56 sets of traffic lights.

AAP sal/sb/was/ts

KEYWORD: ORBITAL