Western Harbour Tunnel

New South Wales
General information
TypeMotorway  (Under construction)
Length6.5 km (4.0 mi)
Opened2028 (expected)
Route number(s)
Major junctions
North end
South end
Location(s)
Major suburbs / townsNorth Sydney, Waverton, Birchgrove, Balmain & Rozelle
Highway system
Beaches Link & Gore Hill Freeway Connection

New South Wales
General information
TypeMotorway  (Proposed)
Length9.2 km (5.7 mi)
Route number(s)
Major junctions
North end
 
South end
Location(s)
Major suburbs / townsBalgowlah, Seaforth, Northbridge, Willoughby, Naremburn
Highway system

The Western Harbour Tunnel & Beaches Link is a planned underground motorway scheme in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It consists of a series of motorway tunnels running north-south between Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation (A8) at Balgowlah and the WestConnex at Rozelle Interchange, providing direct access from the Northern Beaches to the Inner West at Rozelle[1] The six-lane motorway is planned to be approximately 18 km long and to be built with both State and Federal funding.[2]

Major construction of the Warringah Freeway upgrade and the 6.5 km Western Harbour Tunnel began in late 2021 and 2022 respectively, with an expected completion in 2028.[3][4] The 2021-22 NSW Budget allocated $6.3 billion to the project, with a contract for the second stage of tunnelling works awarded in December 2022 for $4.2 billion.[5][6]

In June 2022, the NSW Government announced that the Beaches Link section of the project would be shelved indefinitely, due to market constraints and labour shortages.[7]

In September 2023, the newly-elected Minns Labor Government cancelled the Beaches Link portion.[8]

Components

The scheme (from south to north) consists of:[9][10]

  • Western Harbour Tunnel and Warringah Freeway Upgrade (under construction; expected completion in 2028)
  • Beaches Link and Gore Hill Freeway Connection (shelved indefinitely; previously expected completion in 2028)[11]

The Western Harbour Tunnel will be built as tunnels with 3 lanes each direction. The now-cancelled Beaches Link was also planned to be built as tunnels with 3 lanes each direction, with the exception of the 2.5 km branch between Beaches Link and Wakehurst Parkway which was planned to have two lanes in each direction. The now-cancelled Gore Hill Freeway Connection was also planned to have two lanes in each direction.

Alignment

The Beaches Link would have consisted of two branches, the main branch starting from Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation at Balgowlah and the second branch starting from Wakehurst Parkway at Seaforth. Both branches join in Seaforth, and the tunnel crosses Middle Harbour to Northbridge to the west of the current main crossing, the Spit Bridge. From Northbridge, it will connect with Gore Hill Freeway and Warringah Freeway in its southern end.[12]

A new connection road would have been built at Balgowlah linking between Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation, the Beaches Link tunnel entrance and exit, and Sydney Road. The road would have divided the former Balgowlah Golf Club grounds.[12]

The Beaches link has been cancelled and will not go ahead.[8] Provisions and tunnel stubs will be built at the northern portal to allow for future expansion.

Western Harbour Tunnel

The Western Harbour Tunnel will start at Warringah Freeway at Cammeray in the north, joining up with the southern end of Beaches Link. The tunnel crosses Sydney Harbour between Balls Head and Birchgrove, and ends at the Rozelle Interchange in the south, with connections to City West Link and the M4–M5 tunnels towards the M4 and M8 motorways.[13]

History

Planning

The Western Harbour Tunnel & Beaches Link is aimed at reducing the level of traffic congestion in the greater Sydney area. The Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel corridor currently carry 80 percent of all vehicles crossing Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River, greatly increasing traffic congestion.[2] The Government of New South Wales has pledged $77 million in funding to evaluate the design and construction feasibility of the project. The design phase began in early April 2017[2] and is scheduled to be completed by mid-2018.[14]

The Beaches Link section follows similarly to abandoned extensions of the Warringah Freeway in the 1960s and 1970s and bypasses the heavily congested Spit Bridge.

Community engagement and the environment assessment for both components were undertaken during 2020 and 2021.[15] The Western Harbour Tunnel received planning approval in January 2021.[16]

Early work activities commenced in March 2021, while major construction of the Warringah Freeway upgrade and the Western Harbour Tunnel began in late 2021 and 2022 respectively.[17][18]

In June 2022, the NSW government announced that the Beaches Link section of the project would be shelved indefinitely, due to market constraints and labour shortages.[19] It was eventually cancelled by the new Labor government in September 2023.[8]

Tenders

In December 2020, the NSW Government announced a shortlist of a potential Development Partner to assist with the procurement and delivery of the Western Harbour Tunnel project.[20] The potential Development Partner will not be managing the financing of the project. The shortlist is:

The announcement of the potential Development Partner was expected to be made in 2021. It was reported in September 2021 that a search for the Development Partner had been quietly scrapped.[21]

In the same month, separate to the Development Partner project, the design and construction contract for the Warringah Freeway upgrade was awarded to CPB Contractors and Downer EDI.[22] The tunnelling contract for the first stage of the Western Harbour Tunnel between Rozelle and Birchgrove was awarded to the John Holland CPB joint venture on 19 January 2022.[23] The joint venture was already constructing the Rozelle Interchange as part of WestConnex, which the Western Harbour Tunnel would be connected to. On the same day, a shortlist for the second tunnelling stage of the Western Harbour Tunnel was announced:[24]

The $4.2 billion stage 2 contract was awarded to Acciona in December 2022, with this stage expected to commence work in 2023 and last for five years.[6]

Western Harbour Tunnel construction

Construction on the first stage of the Western Harbour Tunnel began in mid-2022, which included 1.7 km of tunnel excavation at the project's southern end.[25] Construction on stage 2, which includes the use of Tunnel Boring Machines under Sydney Harbour, is expected to commence in 2023.[26]

In November 2022 it was reported that the government had changed the planned construction method for the harbour tunnel component.[27] The government abandoned plans to use immersed tube construction, instead opting for deeper tunnels using Tunnel Boring Machines.[27][28]

Cost

In 2017, the forecast cost for both the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link was A$14 billion.[29] Both freeways will be tolled.[30]

The 2021-22 NSW Budget allocated $6.3 billion for the Western Harbour Tunnel.[5] The Warringah Freeway upgrade contract was awarded at a cost of $1.18 billion.[31]

Operations and maintenance

In April 2022, the state government signed a 15-year contract with Ventia for the asset management, operations and maintenance of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel and the future Western Harbour Tunnel.[32] Tolling arrangements of both tunnels were unrelated to the new agreement.

References

  1. ↑ NSW. "Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link". Roads and Maritime Services. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "Project - Infrastructure Pipeline". Infrastructure Pipeline. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  3. ↑ "New Sydney Harbour tunnel gets green light, construction starts 2022". Sydney Morning Herald. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  4. ↑ "Western Harbour Tunnel and Warringah Freeway Upgrade - Community Update - January 2021" (PDF). Transport for NSW - Roads and Maritime. Transport for NSW. January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Western Harbour Tunnel - Stage One - Infrastructure Pipeline". infrastructurepipeline.org. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  6. 1 2 NSW, Transport for (1 December 2022). "Major milestone for Sydney's new harbour tunnel". www.transport.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  7. ↑ "NSW government puts Beaches Link and Blue Mountains tunnel on ice". ABC News Australia. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 "'Irresponsible' Northern Beaches link cancelled by Minns government". 9 News. 8 September 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "Western Harbour Tunnel - Project update" (PDF). Roads and Maritime Services. August 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  10. ↑ "Beaches Link - Project update" (PDF). Roads and Maritime Services. August 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  11. ↑ "Sydney's Beaches Link toll road to open two years later than initially proposed, report reveals". ABC News. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  12. 1 2 "Beaches Link and Gore Hill Freeway Connection - Community guide to the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)" (PDF). Transport for NSW. December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  13. ↑ "Western Harbour Tunnel and Warringah Freeway Upgrade - Your guide to the Environmental Impact Statement" (PDF). Transport for NSW. January 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  14. ↑ "Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link" (PDF). Roads and Maritime Services. November 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  15. ↑ "Project timeline". Roads and Maritime Services. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  16. ↑ "Planning approval for Western Harbour Tunnel". Transport for NSW. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  17. ↑ "New Sydney Harbour tunnel gets green light, construction starts 2022". Sydney Morning Herald. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  18. ↑ "Western Harbour Tunnel and Warringah Freeway Upgrade - Community Update - January 2021" (PDF). Transport for NSW - Roads and Maritime. Transport for NSW. January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  19. ↑ "NSW government puts Beaches Link and Blue Mountains tunnel on ice". ABC News Australia. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  20. ↑ "Development partner shortlist for Western Harbour Tunnel". Transport for NSW. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  21. ↑ "Sydney's new harbour road tunnel at risk of delay after contract U-turn". Sydney Morning Herald. 13 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  22. ↑ "Major Milestone for Warringah Freeway Upgrade". Transport for NSW. 11 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  23. ↑ "Construction of Western Harbour Tunnel to begin in mid-year". Transport for NSW. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  24. ↑ "Stage is set for second package of Western Harbour Tunnel Project". Transport for NSW. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  25. ↑ "Stage 1 Tunnelling | Western Harbour Tunnel | Transport for NSW (RMS)". caportal.com.au. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  26. ↑ "Stage 2 Tunnelling | Western Harbour Tunnel | Transport for NSW (RMS)". caportal.com.au. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  27. 1 2 O'Sullivan, Matt (3 November 2022). "Major U-turn in construction plans for Sydney's Western Harbour Tunnel". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  28. ↑ "ACCIONA to design and build Sydney's Western Harbour Tunnel". www.acciona.com. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  29. ↑ "The toll tunnel to Sydney's northern beaches is set to cost $1 billion per kilometre". Business Insider. 18 July 2017.
  30. ↑ "Sydney's West Harbour tunnel gets approval". The West Australian. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  31. ↑ O'Sullivan, Matt (12 September 2021). "Sydney's new harbour road tunnel at risk of delay". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  32. ↑ "Asset Manager confirmed for Harbour Tunnels". Transport for NSW. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
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