THE Hawkesbury has received funding for a number of infrastructure projects in the 2018-19 NSW Budget, with the headline being $7 million to begin planning a third crossing of the Hawkesbury River.
Member for Hawkesbury and state Treasurer Dominic Perrottet announced the project on June 19, which will include $25 million in funding for the plans over four years.
The crossing will be between Richmond and North Richmond.
Two large scale rail projects will also have implications for Hawkesbury residents should they ever be built.
The government has announced a new proposed rail link between the CBD and Parramatta, that will connect with the T1 Wetsern line.
The Sydney Metro West will travel between the two business centres via Olympic Park, and it is proposed to have underground connections with the T1 Western line at Westmead and Parramatta.
The government said it was conducting geotechnical work for the business case, and it has reserved $3 billion from the Restart NSW fund for early works, land acquisition and tunneling, with another $28.1 million allocated for the business case.
Meanwhile, funding has also been allocated for the already announced North-South Rail link, to connect northwest and southwest Sydney via the Western Sydney airport.
The first stage of the project is a rail line between St Marys and the Western Sydney Airport, but will eventually connect Schofields with Leppington.
The project is part of the Western Sydney City Deal, a joint federal, state and local project.
The controversial Windsor Bridge replacement project has received a further $21.5 million in the 2018-19 Budget, following on from the $7 million allocated in last year's budget. According to the The Budget Paper No.2 Infrastructure Statement, the estimated total cost of the project is $137 million, with about $34 million already having been spent.
The Pitt Town bypass has been allocated $6.5 million, while according to the paper $2.178 million has already been spent on the project.
Mr Perrottet last year said the funding would bring the project to be 'shovel ready'. A spokesperson for Mr Perrottet told the Gazette the project would begin construction at some point in 2019.
The Bells Line of Road Corridor Improvement Program has been allocated $28 million in this financial year.
The Bells Line of Road Stage 2 (Chifley Road) project has been allocated $1.5 million, with just under $6 million having already been spent on the project.
The Bandon Road Link between Windsor and Richmond roads has been allocated half a million dollars.
