Motorists facing tolls on both sides of Harbour Bridge
SYDNEYSIDERS could face a new northbound toll on the Harbour Bridge and Tunnel as part of a second Western Harbour Tunnel crossing and motorway to the northern beaches. The $14 billion project was unveiled by Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
NSW
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SYDNEYSIDERS could face a new northbound toll on the Harbour Bridge and Tunnel — and even a new southbound toll on the Eastern Distributor — as part of a second Western Harbour Tunnel crossing and motorway to the northern beaches.
Details of the massive $14 billion project were unveiled by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian today, who said early works will start before the end of the year.
The Western Harbour Tunnel will create a new western bypass of the city, with underground motorways to run from an interchange at Rozelle, under the harbour and onto the northern beaches.
For the first time underground motorways will connect the northern beaches to the rest of the city.
The Premier did not rule out tolling motorists travelling northbound across the Harbour Bridge and Harbour Tunnel, saying “I don’t want to rule out anything at this stage”.
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“There will obviously be tolls on these roads … the extent of them and how much they will be will be determined once we’ve done the work,” she said.
“I don’t want to rule out a toll on the reverse side of the Harbour Bridge because we‘ve not ruled that out yet. We’re looking at all the options available.
“We will always give people a free option.”
Road experts believe tolling both ways is inevitable, otherwise traffic will simply flood the existing toll-free north bound route on the Harbour Bridge.
Asked if the project would end up adding five new tolls to Sydney, Ms Berejiklian said she “highly doubted” that was the case, “it would be wrong to suggest that”.
Roads Minister Melinda Pavey said the motorway and crossing would enable motorists to get across the city without going into the CBD, describing it as a “liberated way out of congestion”.
“A generation changer … that will ultimately increase by 50 per cent the capacity to go from North Sydney to Sydney and across the inner-west,” she said.
She said travel times would be slashed, cutting a journey from Olympic Park to North Sydney by 13 minutes. Brookvale to the CBD will drop by 27 minutes, and the trip from Dee Why to the airport drops 41 minutes.
She said 37 properties would be taken over by the project, down from a previous figure of 71 homes to go.
Ms Berejiklian said ventilation stacks had been moved away from schools and where people live, with some to be placed on the Warringah Freeway.
The project will also include upgrading 4km of Warringah Freeway.
Subject to planning approvals, major construction is due to begin in 2020 with the tunnels expected to open to traffic by 2026.
The Rozelle interchange will include an underground tunnel connection to the M4M5 link tunnel, with three lanes in each direction.
The Tunnel ramps will surface at City West Link and it will provide an alternative route for traffic bypassing the CBD that currently uses the Anzac Bridge, the Western Distributor and the Harbour Bridge.