Two mega projects - Western Harbour Tunnel and the Warringah Freeway Upgrade - were today joined for the first time as a 95-tonne road header broke through the final centimetres of rock separating them.
Working on what is known as Western Harbour Tunnel Stage 2, road header machines have so far cut through approximately 1,000,000 tonnes of rock - the equivalent weight of almost 7,000 blue whales (or 200,000 school buses).
The breakthrough marks a major milestone in the two, state significant infrastructure projects.
Since mid-2021, the Warringah Freeway Upgrade has been working to create the space on one of Australia's busiest roads for the Western Harbour Tunnel to connect to the surface.
The 6.5 kilometre Western Harbour Tunnel is due to open to traffic in 2028 and importantly, will remain in public ownership.
This is the first new road harbour crossing in almost 30 years.
Once complete, Western Harbour Tunnel will ease congestion for drivers who use the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Harbour Tunnel, Anzac Bridge and Western Distributor.
The Western Harbour Tunnel will connect the Warringah Freeway to the WestConnex M4 and M8 at Rozelle Interchange helping drivers bypass the CBD and making it easier, faster and safer to get around Sydney.
As the Warringah Freeway Upgrade progresses with building new bridges, ramps and underpasses, and a dedicated bus lane to the CBD, two giant tunnel boring machines will be delivered later this year to the Western Harbour Tunnel and be assembled deep below Birchgrove.
They will excavate twin, three-lane tunnels beneath Sydney Harbour connecting tunnels at Birchgrove with those at Waverton.
The Western Harbour Tunnel and Warringah Freeway Upgrade projects are expected to support around 7,500 full-time equivalent jobs during construction.
Work on the Warringah Freeway Upgrade is now more than 70 per cent complete with project completion expected in late 2026.
FAST FACTS
Using Western Harbour Tunnel will save drivers:
- up to 20 minutes from Sydney Olympic Park to North Sydney
- up to 20 minutes from Leichhardt to North Sydney
- up to 15 minutes from North Sydney to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport
Western Harbour Tunnel will reduce traffic:
- on the Western Distributor by 35 per cent
- the Sydney Harbour Tunnel by 20 per cent
- the Sydney Harbour Bridge by 17 per cent
Warringah Freeway Upgrade
- Will implement over 120,200 significant traffic switches on one of Australia's busiest roads during construction
- Improve four east-west cyclist and pedestrian transport connections via bridges over the Freeway between Neutral Bay and North Sydney/Cammeray
- Simplify and streamline lanes for motorists, making it safer and easier to access the CBD
- Create a dedicated bus lane, removing merges and improving reliability for bus journeys across the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Premier Chris Minns said:
"For the first time, there is light at this end of Western Harbour Tunnel - literally."
"The breakthrough represents a significant moment for these two complex major projects and is the first time the twin mainline tunnels of the Western Harbour Tunnel have joined with Warringah Freeway.
"The Warringah Freeway Upgrade and Western Harbour Tunnel will transform the way people move across our city.
"They will carry tens of thousands of vehicles per day, helping to improve journey times and reliability for people using Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel."
Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison said:
"The Warringah Freeway is one of the busiest and most complex road networks in Australia, and the upgrade has been likened to doing open heart surgery while trying to run a marathon. It requires new lanes, bridges, overpasses and ramps to be built in and around live traffic while also minimising impacts.
"Both the Warringah Freeway Upgrade and Western Harbour Tunnel are highly significant, strategic projects that will improve Sydney's integrated transport infrastructure, benefit bus passengers and support the movement of people well into the future.
"We'd like to thank drivers and the local community for their patience while we have been carrying out this work.
"The delivery of this tunnel portal right in the middle of one of Australia's busiest roads is an incredible achievement and we applaud the hard work of everyone working on these projects."
