Fifteenth Avenue in Austral has no turning lanes, no deceleration zones, no space to overtake, a bungled roundabout, no traffic lights and ends in the middle of bushland.
And, yet, it is set to become one of western Sydney’s most important roads, connecting Liverpool to the new Western Sydney International Airport. It is intended to be central to greenfield areas where residential developments have become essential to easing the housing crisis.
Austral’s Fifteenth Avenue is a traffic nightmare, with only one lane in each direction.Credit: Hannah Anderson
Already, thousands of people have piled into the surrounding suburbs, transforming a once quiet semi-rural region on the edge of the city into a thrumming construction zone, filled with new developments, schools and businesses.
But the road itself has struggled to keep up.
The road’s plight has not been ignored by government, with the Albanese and Minns governments promising to invest a $1 billion to upgrade it. The governments said the upgrade would “create a critical transit corridor from Liverpool to the new Western Sydney International Airport”.
Tony Campisi, though, has watched it go from a quiet backstreet into a “dangerous” and “terrible” road, and is warning that something needs to change.
Campisi owns and operates a deli and butcher on Fifteenth Avenue, which stretches from Hoxton Park into Austral in Sydney’s far south-west, and he says the skyrocketing development in the area has overwhelmed the region’s infrastructure.
“You literally cannot move during peak hour,” he says. “It becomes a parking lot, and anyone trying to turn or overtake is making a dangerous move, and can grind everything down to a halt. Sometimes it takes over 90 minutes to get through it in the afternoons, cars as far as the eye can see.”
Fifteenth Avenue has no deceleration zones from which to turn right. It has ditches along the side that prevent safe overtaking, and a conga-line of trucks and large vehicles that make their way to construction sites all day.
Tony Campisi on the roof of his deli on Fifteenth Avenue.Credit: Sam Mooy
“It’s become a terrible, dangerous road. It’s primitive, really,” Campisi said. “We have had thousands of people move into this area in the last five to six years, bringing with them a lot more cars. But the infrastructure has remained the same as it was 50 years ago. This road is too thin to properly service us now.”
His thoughts were echoed by a local builder, who asked to remain anonymous so he could speak freely and avoid jeopardising his relationship with government authorities.
“There aren’t even gutters here on the side of the road, it’s just dirt and ditches. By 8.20am, it’s a complete schemozzle.
“And what happens in an emergency, if an ambulance is needed? How will they get through? This is what happens when you develop the land and forget the infrastructure.”
Upgrades are set to include expanding the road to two lanes in each direction, with land protection spaces for future bus lanes, traffic lights at multiple intersections, turning lanes and improvements to the sidewalk.
The government estimates the upgrade won’t be completed until mid-2031.
“God help us for when they start construction,” the builder said.
A spokesperson for Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison said the minister bemoaned that Fifteenth Avenue had been “neglected” for “way too long” and said work had begun on adding an extra lane to nearby Cowpasture Road, but could not promise anything for Fifteenth Avenue itself.
“For way too long Fifteenth Avenue has been neglected. That’s why the federal and NSW governments have invested $1 billion into upgrades between Devonshire and Cowpasture Roads. That planning is under way and we expect to have a contractor announced next year and work begin in 2027.
Liverpool council bungled the rollout of this roundabout, nicknamed the Austral “Diamondabout”.Credit: Nine News
“In the interim we have already started early works which will ultimately ease congestion by adding an extra northbound lane on Cowpasture Road between Fifteenth Avenue and the M7, while extending right hand turn lanes into Cowpasture Road when heading east from Fifteenth Avenue.”
It comes after Liverpool council revealed it spent more than $130,000 on a diamond-shaped roundabout on Fifteenth Avenue that it removed days after installation.
The avenue made headlines across the country after footage showed drivers struggling to navigate the diamond design, with aerial footage showing some drivers performing three-point-turns to get out.
The population in Austral has grown from about 3000 in 2016 to more than 18,000 in 2025.
Tony Estephen, director at the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, said the area has become “one of the worst development areas ever put together.”
“This was not planned properly, at all. They should have realised the demand, should have built the road first, and slowly developed the area. Instead, we have become a laughing stock.”
The Sydney Morning Herald has opened a bureau in the heart of Parramatta. Email parramatta@smh.com.au with news tips.
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