Beaches Link tunnel to bypass Mosman and cut cross-Sydney travel time

A tunnel under Military Rd is part of a Mosman bypass vision included in the Rebuilding NSW plan released yesterday by NSW Premier Mike Baird.

Morning peak hour traffic on The Spit bridge looking South into Mosman.

No  MORE mind-numbing meandering along Military Rd, bumper-to-bumper.

That is the vision of a “Mosman bypass” included in the Rebuilding NSW plan released yesterday by NSW Premier Mike Baird.

Documents attached to the plan show a $2 billion to $3 billion tolled tunnel linking the beaches to a new generation of city motorways, skipping the Spit Bridge and relieving congestion on arterial roads like Military Rd.

Mr Baird said it is great news for the beaches and also promised money for Bus Rapid Transit.

“At last we are connected to the Sydney Motorway network and whilst it is longer term we will do all we can to bring it forward,” he said.

NSW Premier Mike Baird pictured during a press conference in Sydney on the state infrastructure plan. Photo: Tim Hunter.

The new tunnels could funnel cars in to the city via the Warringah Freeway.

A feasibility study by Infrastructure NSW on the ambitious tunnel, called the northern beaches link, has been finished.

It found the best route for the road would run underground from Seaforth to the Warringah Freeway, where it would meet up with a new harbour crossing, the western harbour tunnel, which was also announced yesterday. That tunnel would link the inner west, near Rozelle, with the inner north, around Cammeray, while also connecting with the Warringah Freeway.

Traffic waits for the spit bridge to go up.

Together, they would provide motorists with routes into the city and links between Sydney’s north and west that bypass the CBD. The beaches link is a long-term project and the Rebuilding NSW plan allows for further studies. Infrastructure NSW recommends “potential investment” in the next two decades.

REBUILDING NSW

■ “Mosman bypass” tunnel planned from Seaforth to Neutral Bay
■ Would run underground beneath Military Rd
■ $2-3 billion project would join up with proposed western harbour tunnel
■ Still on the drawing board and not slated to start until after the new harbour tunnel