THE Abbott government will provide a $2 billion loan to speed up construction of Sydney's WestConnex road project.
The concessional loan, to be included in next week's federal budget, will fund the second stage of the motorway linking Parramatta with Sydney Airport, allowing it to be completed a year earlier than planned.
Stage two will widen the M5 East and build a 6km tunnel link between St Peters and the airport.
The extra $2 billion in funding will allow both stage two and stage one - the widening and extension of the M4 - to be built at the same time.
Construction on stage two is expected to be completed by 2019.
The loan comes on top of $1.5 billion the Abbott government has already pledged to the project.
When completed, the WestConnex is expected to cut travel times between the airport and Parramatta by 40 minutes.
Assistant Infrastructure Minister Jamie Briggs said the low-interest loan would create thousands of jobs and bring stage two's completion forward by up to 18 months.
By fast-tracking the project the government hoped the final stage of WestConnex - an 8.5km tunnel linking stages one and two - may also be brought forward.
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That's going to be great! About time the M4 was extended all the way to the city!
