Motorist reversing, late lane changes: welcome to Sydney’s spaghetti junction

A motorist trying to reverse and others making last-minute lane changes have been the worst incidents on the opening day of Australia’s most complex underground junction, which authorities say has gone relatively smoothly.

The major test for drivers navigating the Rozelle interchange’s 16.6 kilometres of road tunnels will be on Monday when traffic surges during the morning peak.

Cars exit one of the tunnels from the Rozelle interchange on Sunday.Credit: Anna Kucera

About 15 motorists queued to be the first to use the final stage of the $17 billion WestConnex motorway when the interchange opened to traffic shortly after 5am on Sunday. They were escorted through the motorway junction by police.

Transport for NSW co-ordinator general Howard Collins said a motorist tried to reverse, and a few drivers made lane changes at the last minute during the day. However, he said 99 per cent of users had navigated the interchange correctly and kept to the speed limit.

“Whilst it looks like a bowl of spaghetti from above, the Rozelle interchange is actually quite a simple decision-making process,” he said.

“It’s either turn left or go to the right. You have two choices as you enter many of these tunnels. It isn’t complex – just observe those signs and check that you know your route.”

Transport for NSW co-ordinator general Howard Collins (right) and Transurban’s Scott Hodder at the WestConnex control centre at St Peters.Credit: Anna Kucera

Collins warned drivers that attempting to reverse out of entrances to motorway tunnels was “very dangerous” and against the law. “Continue your journey. Even if you’ve made a mistake, there will be a relatively easy route out, and then you can get back on track,” he said.

Transurban, which operates WestConnex, said a motorist pulled up and tried to reverse on a ramp from the Anzac Bridge as they were about to enter a tunnel in the interchange for the M4 motorway.

In the days after Sydney’s M4 East tunnels were opened in 2019, some drivers reversed or stopped just short of entrance for a new three-lane eastbound tunnel at Homebush to avoid copping tolls.

Motorists have been warned to expect traffic congestion at key merge points for the interchange during morning peaks on the City West Link and Victoria Road.

Three emission stacks for the underground motorway interchange at Rozelle.Credit: Anna Kucera

Pinch-points are expected to occur where citybound traffic from the M4 exits the interchange and hits the City West Link during morning peaks, as well as where vehicles leave the M8 and merge with traffic using a new 1.1-kilometre tunnel bypass of Victoria Road onto the Anzac Bridge.

Collins said authorities expected some congestion on the Anzac Bridge and other roads for the next six months because it would take time for “traffic volumes and pinch-points to settle down”. The busiest weekday on Sydney’s roads now tended to be Tuesday.

He urged motorists to check they were in the correct lane, and avoid veering into other lanes at the last minute, noting that more than 800 cameras kept watch over the WestConnex tunnels.

The new 1.1-kilometre tunnel bypass of Victoria Road – linking the Iron Cove and Anzac bridges – is free for vehicles, but motorists are tolled when they pass through the rest of the interchange and connect to other parts of WestConnex.

WestConnex’s distance-based tolls are capped at $11.11 for cars and motorcycles, and $33.32 for trucks and other heavy vehicles. About 100,000 vehicles a day are forecast to use the spaghetti junction.

The interchange connects motorists to the M4 and M8 tunnel extensions, the City West Link, the Anzac Bridge and Western Distributor, the Iron Cove Bridge and, by 2028, the planned Western Harbour Tunnel.

A new park covering 10 hectares above the interchange is due to be opened in several weeks.

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