The toll – added to the previous free section of the M5 East from King Georges Road to General Holmes Drive – is being charged as part of the new WestConnex M8 which provides twin tunnels from the M5 East at Kingsgrove to St Peters.
However, the State Government is being called on to reverse its decision and at least introduce a toll-free period to assist people with the current uncertainty and allow them to get used to the M8.
At the request of Cr Steve Tuntevski, Canterbury Bankstown Council will write to the State Government expressing its disappointment and calling for removal of the toll and the introduction of a toll-free period on the M8.
Cr Tuntevski says the toll is an “expensive hit on families” and it’s also causing new traffic problems with drivers avoiding the M5 East and using nearby local roads.
“I want to send a loud and clear message to the NSW Liberal Government – Canterbury-Bankstown residents say no to this unfair new toll on the old M5 East,” he said.
“At the last State election, the Liberals promised a new hospital, instead they’ve given us new toll on an old road. Residents have been duped.”
State MP for Canterbury, Sophie Cotsis, agreed, saying she is already seeing the impacts of the toll.
“I haven’t seen traffic this bad on local roads in 20 years,” she said.
NSW Labor Leader Jodi McKay and the Shadow Minister for Roads, John Graham, met Paul Read, the owner of a Kingsgrove plumbing business who’s instructed his staff to avoid the M5 tunnel to minimise costs.
Mr Read’s five workers travel between Kingsgrove, the eastern suburbs and the city every weekday. His previous toll bill was $960 a month. That’s doubled with the opening of the M5 toll and he says the added cost is unsustainable.
