Australia's AUD 380 Million M5 Westbound Upgrade Enters Traffic Staging Phase

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 21, Transport for New South Wales announced the latest construction arrangements for the M5 Motorway westbound upgrade. From September 27 to October 10, staged traffic changes will be implemented on the section between Moorebank Avenue and Hume Highway, including lane closures, ramp closures and night works, to provide construction conditions for the ongoing M5 westbound upgrade. The project has a total investment of AUD 380 million, funded equally by the Australian Federal Government and the New South Wales Government at AUD 190 million each. Main construction commenced in May 2026 and is scheduled for completion in 2029.

During construction, daytime works will be scheduled from 7:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday and from 8:00 to 13:00 on Saturdays. Night works from 18:00 to 7:00 the following day will also be arranged on September 28 and 29, as well as October 1, 6 and 7. The Moorebank Avenue eastbound off-ramp, westbound off-ramp and westbound on-ramp will be closed in batches on different dates from 21:00 to 5:00 the following day, with detours, local lane closures and traffic control implemented on site.

The M5 westbound upgrade primarily involves upgrading the motorway interchange between Moorebank Avenue and Hume Highway. The project will build a new approximately 300-metre-long, three-lane bridge over the Georges River, the Southern Sydney Freight Line and the T2 and T5 rail lines, and reconfigure the traffic movements for M5 westbound vehicles heading to Hume Highway. The works will also remove the existing weaving section between Moorebank Avenue and Hume Highway, add lanes, and construct new shared pedestrian and cycle paths.

The existing Georges River bridge carries more than 2,500 trucks per day from the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal Precinct. The new design will separate M5 westbound traffic heading to Hume Highway from traffic merging onto the M5 from Moorebank Avenue, and relocate the westbound exit. The New South Wales Government estimates that after the upgrade, approximately 2,600 vehicles per day will no longer need to cross lanes within the existing weaving section to enter or exit the motorway.

The design and construction contract is being delivered by Seymour Whyte Constructions, with Jacobs involved in design optimisation. The works also include the Moorebank Avenue underpass, the Moorebank Avenue intersection upgrade and related ramp upgrades. Liverpool City Council has previously cooperated with the project to implement a partial long-term closure of Lakewood Crescent. On-site construction includes piling platforms, piling, piers, retaining walls, abutments and bridge girder structures.