Northern Beaches Hospital road upgrade: major milestone will be complete by the end of the year

A key construction milestone in the long-awaited road upgrade around Northern Beaches Hospital will be completed by the end of the year.

Construction work on the almost completed Warringah Rd underpass, part of the road network upgrade around Northern Beaches Hospital. Picture: Transport for NSW

• Man, 61, in court in ‘hillbilly heroin’ charges
• ‘Free worm farms being sold on eBay’

Excavation of the new congestion-busting Warringah Rd underpass will be finished by the end of this year, transport officials have confirmed.

The 1.3km “slot” is part of the $500 million upgrade to the road network around Northern Beaches Hospital.

An aerial view of construction work on the Warringah Rd underpass. Picture: Transport for NSW

Up to eight-metres deep, the four-lane 70km/h underpass is being built below Warringah Rd and avoids traffic lights at the intersections with Wakehurst Pkwy, Hilmer St and Forest Way at Frenchs Forest.

Transport for NSW senior project manager, Scott Little, said it was designed to increase capacity and improve traffic flow for the tens of thousands of motorists who use the popular route each day.

Work on the Warringah Rd underpass is set to finish by the end of the year. Picture: Transport for NSW

Surface mining machines have been slicing through sandstone, ironstone, soil and other material while burrowing under three new road bridges an two pedestrian bridges.

Workers are also installing special decorative concrete panels along the underpass that depict bubbles caught in a crashing wave.

Mr Little said the bubble motif was in keeping with the road upgrade project’s “Gateway to the Beaches” design theme. The metal screens on the pedestrian bridges also feature the bubble design.

Concrete panels on the side of the almost completed Warringah Rd underpass, depict bubbles inside a crashing wave as part of the "Gateway to the Beaches" urban design theme. Picture: Transport for NSW

“Since work started on the underpass in October last year, more than 130,000 cubic metres of soil, rock and other material has been removed, with excavation now 95 per cent complete.

“While the remainder of the material is removed from the underpass, crews will continue to form the support walls and the new roadway.”

An artist's impression of the completed Warringah Rd underpass, at the intersection with Forest Way. Picture: Transport for NSW

The material dug out of the underpass is taken to a former Belrose landfill site.

“Once all excavation is completed by the end of this year, work will ramp up at both ends of the underpass,” Mr Little said.

He also foreshadowed temporary changes in traffic conditions from early January while work is carried out.

An artist's impression of the completed Warringah Rd underpass. Picture: Transport for NSW

Temporary lane closures will be in place along Warringah Rd during the January school holidays while traffic volumes are lower.

The whole roadworks’ project is scheduled to be finished in mid-2020, weather permitting.