The first tunnels of Sydney’s mammoth WestConnex project is set to open tomorrow (Saturday, 13 July) at 2 a.m. The twin tunnels, connecting Homebush with Haberfield are three lanes wide in each direction, are 5.5 km long and are expected to take around 10,000 trucks off the busy Parramatta Road.
The new M4 will have a maximum-distance based toll of $7.89 and the maximum toll for the section between Homebush to Haberfield tunnel will be $4.27. The NRMA is calling for a toll-free period, at least for a month as soon as the new motorway opens.
The tunneled section is expected to save 20 minutes while driving from Parramatta to Sydney’s CBD. The tunnels connect to the widened M4 and bypass 22 sets of traffic lights. The government predicts it will cut overall traffic on Parramatta Road by 53 per cent by 2021.
The $3.8 billion, 5.5-kilometre twin tunnels are three lanes in each direction – extending the widened M4 to Haberfield and bypassing 22 sets of traffic lights.
“This is yet another major project which will allow people to spend less time in traffic and more time doing what they want,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in a statement on Wednesday.
The 33-kilometre WestConnex motorway is made up of three sections: the widened M4 motorway and new M4 East tunnels; another M5 East tunnel, to be opened early next year; and the new M4-M5 tunnel linking the two, to be completed by 2023.
