Liverpool council is launching a massive petition to put pressure on the state government to urgently upgrade the chronically congested Fifteenth Ave and support the thousands of homes newly built and planned for development in the area, including 7,000 in the Austral area alone. The council's campaign will also develop a community-supported vision for what the new road should look like.
Fifteenth Avenue is a strategic but single lane stretch of road travelling east and west through the Liverpool suburb of Austral, with the new Western Sydney International Airport in one direction and Liverpool City CBD in the other. It's clear this road is inadequate to meet the current or future infrastructure requirements for the area.
New Fifteenth Avenue Needed Because Thousands of New Homes Built Every Year
"Housing is Sydney's biggest problem, and Liverpool is leading the state with $1.6 billion in development applications determined in the last year alone," said Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun. We need our road infrastructure to grow with our population.
"It is unfair and unsafe that people in our community have to wait 45 minutes to travel 300 metres by car every morning.
"Liverpool City Council urgently calls for the state government to upgrade Fifteenth Avenue now to support the thousands of new homes being built every year. We're building the housing, now it is up to the state government to do their jobs and fund the roads these new residents need.
"We call on the NSW government to redirect to Fifteenth Avenue the $309 million it wants to spend to add 2,500 seats at Penrith stadium.
"The state has the money to fix Fifteenth Avenue, if they simply choose to redirect money from the luxury of new stadium seats towards the necessity of access to new affordable housing.
"Some 26,000 new, affordable homes are being built in this area. Many of those residents will have no way in or out other than the already congested, two-lane Fifteenth Avenue."
Council Is Proactively Developing Vision for Fifteenth Avenue
"The current situation is that the state's Transport for NSW has promised to upgrade the road, but not set a date," the Mayor continued. "It's has become too urgent to wait longer. That's why we're launching this campaign. We need to make sure the road goes to the top of the agenda.
We need the state government to upgrade Fifteenth Ave now rather than spend the funds on Penrith Stadium.
Once the campaign launches, sign the 15th Avenue petition here.
Fifteenth Avenue Facts
- The suburbs around Fifteenth Avenue are getting lots more people: totalling 63,000 more residents by 2041.
- The new airport will add millions, with 5 million passengers per year coming through the airport from opening day. It begins operating in 2026, only 1.5 years away.
- This year, Council has made improvements, but for the road to be properly upgraded, it will cost at least $500 million. The State Government has committed $50 million, or 10% of the total.
- Council wants the road declared a State Road and for the NSW state government to commit to upgrading it urgently.
- Council is also determined that the route is upgraded with footpaths, cycleways, and rapid bus services linking to Liverpool CBD via the existing Liverpool–Parramatta T-way along Hoxton Park Road.
