D1.3.1 Work with local government and the Commonwealth Government to plan connections between regions and economic gateways in the Greater Metropolitan Region.

There are several medium to long term projects requiring further planning and assessment in the Metropolitan Strategy context of connecting Sydney and the regions of the Hunter, Illawarra, Blue Mountains and Central Coast and the economic gateways of Sydney Airport and Port Botany.

Potential projects, subject to funding availability, could include:

• improved rail connections to the regions;
• an eastern extension of the M4 Motorway;
• a possible motorway-standard National Network link between the F3 freeway at Wahroonga and the M2 Motorway at Pennant Hills, subject to Federal funding;
• widening of parts of the M4 Motorway, including sections which pass through the Parramatta-City corridor, between Parramatta and Strathfield; and
• widening of parts of the M5 Motorway and the M5 East.

In the short term, the Government will investigate:

• the need for a road corridor reservation between the F3 freeway north of the Hawkesbury River and north western Sydney and the M7 Motorway, as a second major road route between Sydney, the Central Coast and further north; and
• the future use of the existing F6 corridor reservation.

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