New South Wales Roads Minister Duncan Gay and the Chairman of the WestConnex Delivery Authority (WDA) Tony Shepherd AO announced last week the appointment of Dennis Cliche to the position of Chief Executive Officer.

Minister Gay said he was delighted to have such a wealth of experience in Mr Cliche and Mr Shepherd leading Australia's largest transport infrastructure project. Mr Gay said:

"I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Dennis Cliche as Chief Executive of WestConnex. He has a distinguished career in the Australian infrastructure industry.""Mr Cliche brings a wealth of public transport and motorway management expertise to the Authority, currently holding the position of Chief Executive at ConnectEast in Victoria and previously as CEO of both TransdevTSL and Yarra Trams."Mr Cliche's prime experience for the role is successfully managing the operation of a large, modern Australian toll road and tunnel."In particular, his strong PPP experience and understanding of intermodal transport networks will provide critical insight to the project."This will be invaluable as we prepare for the continued progress of the WestConnex project."We are focused on delivery and we are on track to start work construction on the first stages of fixing the M4 and M5 next year," Minister Gay said.

Mr Shepherd said the leadership and broad international experience of Mr Cliche and his team will help ensure the WDA gets the best possible outcome for this hallmark project. Mr Shepherd said:

"Mr Cliche has demonstrated capability across a broad range of industries and geographies and has a successful track record in private, listed, government and multi-national transportation and infrastructure industries."I also acknowledge the ongoing contribution of Robert Rust who will continue as Chief Executive before taking on the role as Chief Operating Officer."Mr Rust will continue to act in the role until 11 August when Dennis will officially start."We have an exceptional team leading WestConnex with Mr Rust and Mr Cliche providing extensive international experience and innovation to deliver this world-class motorway project."

WestConnex is expected to inject $20 billion into the state's economy and create 10,000 jobs during the construction phase.

WestConnex will save 40 minutes on a typical journey between Parramatta and Sydney Airport by bypassing up to 52 sets of traffic lights, helping the city cope with an expected population increase of 1.3 million in the next 20 years.