CityLink is a network of tollways in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia, linking the
Tullamarine
Tullamarine is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Brimbank, Hume and Merri-bek local government areas. Tullamarine recorded a population of 6,733 at t ...
,
West Gate and
Monash Freeway
The Monash Freeway is a major urban freeway in Victoria, Australia, linking Melbourne's CBD to its south-eastern suburbs and beyond to the Gippsland region. It carries up to 180,000 vehicles per day and is one of Australia's busiest freeways ...
s and incorporating
Bolte Bridge,
Burnley Tunnel
The Burnley Tunnel is a tollway tunnel in Melbourne, in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, which carries traffic eastbound from the West Gate Freeway to the Monash Freeway. It is part of the CityLink Tollway operated by Transurban. Runni ...
and other works. In 1996,
Transurban
Transurban is a road operator company that manages and develops urban toll road networks in Australia, Canada and the United States. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
Transurban is the full owner of CityLink in Melbour ...
was awarded the contract to augment two existing freeways and construct two new toll roads – labelled the Western and Southern Links– directly linking a number of existing freeways to provide a continuous, high-capacity road route to, and around, the
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
. CityLink uses a
free-flow tolling
Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of toll booths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The m ...
electronic toll collection system, called
e-TAG
e-TAG is a free-flow tolling electronic toll collection system used on all tollways throughout Australia. It was originally developed by Transurban for use on their CityLink tollway in the late 1990s, with the system since adopted by all to ...
. CityLink is currently maintained by
Lendlease Services.
History
The first mention of a southern and western inner city bypass was in the
1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan
The 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan was a road and rail transport plan for Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, instituted by Henry Bolte's state government. Most prominently, the plan recommended the provision of an extensive ...
. The plan advocated for reservations and set aside sinking funds for the new inner city freeway system. It was one of the few freeways connecting to the inner city (along with the
Eastern Freeway to Clifton Hill) which was not later abandoned.
The proposal to build CityLink was first announced in May 1992 and received the State Government's formal approval in mid-1994. The contract was awarded in 1995 to a consortium of Australia's
Transfield Holdings
Transfield Holdings is a privately owned Australian investment company with experience in industrial services, infrastructure, and renewable energy.
History
Transfield Holdings's origins can be traced to 1956 when an Italian-born immigrant ele ...
and Japan's
Obayashi Corporation
is one of five major Japanese construction companies along with Shimizu Corporation, Takenaka Corporation, Kajima Corporation, and Taisei Corporation. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is one of the Nikkei 225 corporations. Its head ...
, named Transurban Consortium.
Transurban
Transurban is a road operator company that manages and develops urban toll road networks in Australia, Canada and the United States. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
Transurban is the full owner of CityLink in Melbour ...
was formed in March 1996 to operate CityLink when completed. The total value of the project was estimated in 1996 at about $1.8 billion, and the
concession
Concession may refer to:
General
* Concession (contract) (sometimes called a concession agreement), a contractual right to carry on a certain kind of business or activity in an area, such as to explore or develop its natural resources or to opera ...
to operate the road was initially due to expire in 2034. This concession has since been extended, and is now due to expire in 2045.
CityLink was built by the Transfield Obayashi joint venture under contract to Transurban between 1996 and 2000. The design and construction of the Western Link was subcontracted to
Baulderstone Hornibrook
Baulderstone, formerly Baulderstone Hornibrook, was an Australian construction company.
History MR Hornibrook
In 1926, Manuel Hornibrook founded a construction company in Brisbane. Amongst its notable projects were the Story Bridge and William Jo ...
, and the supply of the electronic tolling system was subcontracted to Translink Systems, a company jointly owned by Transfield Holdings and Transroute of France. The ongoing operation and maintenance of City Link was subcontracted by Transurban to Translink Operations, also jointly owned by Transfield and Transroute, which would manager the performance of CityLink assets. In May 1999, the operations were reorganised, with Transurban taking over the customer service operations from Translink Operations, who would retain responsibility for management of the tolling system, roadside assistance and maintenance.
The CityLink project was eight times larger than any other road project in Melbourne of that time. Toll plazas for manual tolling were deemed impractical, and delays associated with plaza operations would have decreased the advantages of using the new road. The decision to use only
electronic toll collection was made in 1992; at a time when there was little practical experience of such systems. The first of the sections opened to traffic in August 1999, with tolling commencing on 3 January 2000 before final completion occurred on 28 December 2000 with tolling commencing the same year.
When CityLink opened in 1999, the Southern Link was signed as M1 and the Western Link was signed as Metropolitan Route 43. Metropolitan Route 43 previously terminated at the Tullamarine Freeway/Calder Freeway interchange but it was extended along CityLink to end in Port Melbourne. Whilst National Route 79 officially remained part of the Western Link from the opening until 2013 (as the previous Tullamarine Freeway carried this designation from Calder Freeway to Flemington Road), CityLink signage did not show any National Route 79 signage and was exclusively signed as Metropolitan Route 43. With Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s, Metropolitan Route 43 slowly began transition to M2 and was finally replaced with M2 in 2018. Despite this, a number of Metropolitan Route 43 shields remain visible to this day.
The passing of the ''Road Management Act 2004''
granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to
VicRoads
VicRoads is a government joint venture in the state of Victoria, Australia. In the state, it is responsible for driver licensing and vehicle registration. It is owned and operated through a joint venture between the Victorian government and a ...
. CityLink is a privately-owned and operated tollway, but in June 2004, VicRoads became responsible for managing the CityLink concession contract and the state's assets (such as physical infrastructure including roads, bridges, tunnels and the tolling system operated by CityLink, due to be transferred to the state at the end of the concession period) under that contract, in an effort to improve the integration of CityLink with the rest of the road network.
Later in 2004, it re-declared the Tullamarine Freeway to terminate at Mount Alexander Road (sign-posted as
Bulla Road) in
Strathmore, south of
Essendon Airport
Essendon Fields Airport , colloquially known by its former name Essendon Airport, is a public airport serving scheduled commercial, corporate-jet, charter and general aviation flights. It is located next to the intersection of the Tullamarin ...
:
CityLink's Western Link officially begins east of this interchange in Strathmore, and ends with its interchange with
West Gate Freeway
The West Gate Freeway is a major freeway in Melbourne, the busiest urban freeway and the busiest road in Australia, carrying upwards of 200,000 vehicles per day. It links Geelong (via the Princes Freeway) and Melbourne's western suburbs to ...
in
Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne is an inner-city List of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of ...
. At the same time, VicRoads also re-declared the West Gate Freeway to terminate at Princes Highway East (today
Kings Way
Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former alignments of the hi ...
) in
Southbank, and the
Monash Freeway
The Monash Freeway is a major urban freeway in Victoria, Australia, linking Melbourne's CBD to its south-eastern suburbs and beyond to the Gippsland region. It carries up to 180,000 vehicles per day and is one of Australia's busiest freeways ...
to commence in
Kooyong:
CityLink's Southern Link officially runs between these two points at Southbank and Kooyong.
Infrastructure
Existing roads
Previously, the city centre was served by three separate freeways:
*The
South Eastern Freeway
South Eastern Freeway is a freeway in South Australia (SA). It is a part of the National Highway network linking the state capital cities of Adelaide, SA, and Melbourne, Victoria, and signed as National Highway M1. It carries traffic over t ...
(today the Monash Freeway), which had begun approximately 2 km south-east of the city, and connects Melbourne to the outlying rural
Gippsland
Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...
area;
*The
Tullamarine Freeway
The Tullamarine Freeway (commonly referred to as "The Tulla"), is a major urban freeway in Melbourne, linking Melbourne Airport to the Melbourne City Centre. It carries up to 210,000 vehicles per day and is one of Australia's busiest freeways. T ...
, which had begun approximately 5 km north-west of the city, and links Melbourne to
Melbourne Airport
Melbourne Airport , colloquially known as Tullamarine Airport, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne, and the second busiest airport in Australia. It opened in 1970 to replace the nearby Essendon Airport. Melbourne Airport is ...
, and also joins the
Calder Freeway
Calder Highway is a rural highway in Australia, linking Mildura and the Victoria/New South Wales border to Bendigo, in North Central Victoria. South of Bendigo, where the former highway has been upgraded to freeway-standard, Calder Freeway li ...
, which links Melbourne to
Bendigo
Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital.
As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...
;
*The
West Gate Freeway
The West Gate Freeway is a major freeway in Melbourne, the busiest urban freeway and the busiest road in Australia, carrying upwards of 200,000 vehicles per day. It links Geelong (via the Princes Freeway) and Melbourne's western suburbs to ...
which began in
Southbank in the city's south, crossed the Yarra River over the
West Gate Bridge
The West Gate Bridge is a steel, box girder, cable-stayed bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, spanning the Yarra River just north of its mouth into Port Phillip. It carries the West Gate Freeway and is a vital link between the inner ci ...
and joined to both the
Princes Freeway
Princes Freeway is a Australian freeway, divided into two sections, both located in Victoria, Australia. The freeway links Melbourne to Geelong in the west, and to Morwell in the east. It continues beyond these extremities as the Princes H ...
(linking to
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
) and the
Western Ring Road
The M80 Ring Road (also known as simply the Ring Road or by the name of its constituent parts: Western Ring Road and Metropolitan Ring Road) is a currently incomplete urban freeway ring road around Melbourne, Australia. This article will dea ...
in
Laverton North
Laverton North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Laverton North recorded a population of 119 at the 2021 census.
Located on ...
.
CityLink saw the linking of all three of these freeways: extending both the South Eastern and Tullamarine Freeways to join the West Gate Freeway. This also subsumed an existing portion of both the South Eastern and Tullamarine Freeways into the new project: while these portions were widened and upgraded, as part of the CityLink project they were also tolled, attracting criticism from road users.
New roads
Western Link
The elevated Western Link extended the existing Tullamarine Freeway, lengthening it to terminate it five kilometres further south at the West Gate Freeway in Port Melbourne, for a total distance of 12.9 km.
It included a new major bridge (the
Bolte Bridge, named after former
Victorian Premier Sir
Henry Bolte
Sir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG (20 May 1908 – 4 January 1990) was an Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of Victoria. To date he is the longest-serving Victorian premier, having been in office for over 17 consecutive years.
E ...
) over the
Yarra River
The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia.
The lower stre ...
in the
Docklands district; a long elevated section over
Dudley Flats
Dudley Flats was a locality in Melbourne, Australia, in the 1920s–1950s, which supported a homeless camp during the Great Depression.
Location
It was located near the Melbourne docks beyond Dudley Street, south of Footscray Road, and on ...
and
Moonee Ponds Creek
Moonee is a coastal suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for ...
and a tube-like
sound barrier
The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, th ...
in
Flemington where the road passes close to a number of community housing towers. A short distance to the north of the sound tube, a massive sculptural work was placed, called the
Melbourne International Gateway, consisting of a giant yellow beam hanging diagonally across the road (nicknamed the "Cheesestick") and a row of smaller red beams alongside the road (the "Zipper", or "rack of lamb"). The existing portion of Tullamarine Freeway between Flemington Road and Bulla Road was subsumed into the Western Link, and was also widened, with a
transit lane
A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers, i ...
being added in each direction between Flemington Road and Pascoe Vale Road.
This section of Freeway was originally designated in the
1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan
The 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan was a road and rail transport plan for Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, instituted by Henry Bolte's state government. Most prominently, the plan recommended the provision of an extensive ...
as part of the F14 Freeway Corridor.
Southern Link
The underground Southern Link directly connects the ends of the West Gate and Monash Freeways into one continuous through-way, for a total distance of 8.0 km.
This link comprises the
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
and
Domain Tunnel
The Domain Tunnel is a road tunnel located in Melbourne, Australia, which carries traffic westbound from the Monash Freeway to the West Gate Freeway, running under the Yarra River and Kings Domain. The tunnel is part of the CityLink Tollway ...
s which pass under the
Royal Botanic Gardens and the Yarra River, each tunnel channelling traffic in different directions. The existing portion of South Eastern Freeway between Toorak Road and Batman Avenue was subsumed into the Southern Link, and was also widened.
This section of Freeway was shown in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as part of the F9 Freeway corridor as a surface-level road.
Batman Avenue
The Exhibition Street Extension – not a part of the initial project, as it had been promoted as a bypass that would keep cars out of the
CBD – consisted of a new four-lane, divided road extending south from the intersection of
Flinders
Flinders may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Flinders Peak, near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula
Australia New South Wales
* Flinders County, New South Wales
* Shellharbour Junction railway station, Shellharbour
* Flinders, New South Wa ...
and
Exhibition Street
Exhibition Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district, central business district of Melbourne, Australia. The street is named after the International Exhibition held at the Royal Exhibition Building in 1880, and was pre ...
s in the
CBD and spanning the
Jolimont rail yards to connect with Batman Avenue near
Melbourne Park
Melbourne Park is a sports venue in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Since 1988 Australian Bicentenary, Australia's bicentenary, Melbourne Park has been home of the Austra ...
Tennis Centre. Construction was managed by
VicRoads
VicRoads is a government joint venture in the state of Victoria, Australia. In the state, it is responsible for driver licensing and vehicle registration. It is owned and operated through a joint venture between the Victorian government and a ...
on behalf of the
Department of Infrastructure and began in November 1997, for a total distance of 1.9 km
completed to coincide with the opening of CityLink.
The alignment of Batman Avenue, previously following the northern bank of the Yarra River north of
Swan Street to terminate at
Swanston Street
Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of the main streets of the Melbourne central business district and was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertically ...
just north of
Princes Bridge
Princes Bridge, originally Prince's Bridge,, ''...he wished that it might be distinguished by the name of "Prince's Bridge," in honour of the Prince of Wales, whom he hoped would yet be the Sovereign of their colonies...'' is a bridge in centra ...
, was re-routed to follow this new road; the
route 70 tram, previously using this alignment, was also re-routed to run on a dedicated median behind the Melbourne Park complex and re-join the new road before it crossed the rail lines,
commencing along this new route from 7 June 1999. It was officially opened as Batman Avenue on 1 November 1999; the former alignment is now a pedestrianised walking track. Costing $30 million, the access road was built as part of CityLink and therefore attracts tolls.
CityLink–Tulla Widening (2015–2018)
Project overview
The freeway had extensive upgrades between 2015 and 2018, including the addition of lanes as part of the CityLink Tulla Widening Project.
Original proposal (2014)
The original project was announced in April 2014 by then-Premier
Denis Napthine
Denis Vincent Napthine (born 6 March 1952) is a former Australian politician who was the 47th Premier of Victoria. Napthine was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, representing the electoral district of Portland fro ...
as an unsolicited proposal by
Transurban
Transurban is a road operator company that manages and develops urban toll road networks in Australia, Canada and the United States. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
Transurban is the full owner of CityLink in Melbour ...
, with Transurban providing the bulk of the funds for the upgrade. The original design would have involved the widening of the entire Western Link of Citylink up to Bulla Road (Stage 1) and the Tullamarine Freeway from Bulla Road to Melrose Drive (Stage 2). In addition, Transurban's tolling concession was extended by a year, to 2035. Work on the original upgrade was expected to commence construction early–mid 2015, and was expected for completion by early–mid 2018. The original project was designed to complement the former
East West Link project which was cancelled after
Daniel Andrews won government at the
State election in November 2014. This led to the original project being postponed, scrapped and modified (with no provisions for the now defunct East West Link).
Final proposal (2015–2018)
In August 2015 a new proposal to widen the Citylink and Tullamarine Freeways was put into action by the recently elected Premier
Daniel Andrews. The project consists of two stages which would increase the road's daily capacity as well as shorten trips between Melbourne Airport and the CBD during morning peak and afternoon peak times. The following upgrades started in October 2015 (Stage 1) and May 2016 (Stage 2). The entire project is completed by late 2018.
The upgrade involves the construction of a new lane in each direction from
Melbourne Airport
Melbourne Airport , colloquially known as Tullamarine Airport, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne, and the second busiest airport in Australia. It opened in 1970 to replace the nearby Essendon Airport. Melbourne Airport is ...
to Power Street, upgrades to the
Bell Street,
Flemington Road
Flemington Road is a major thoroughfare in the inner suburbs of North Melbourne and Parkville in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs for 2 km in a northwest–southeast direction, from the southern end of Mount Alexander Road, Flemington, ...
, English Street and Mickleham Road intersections, and the creation of a dedicated lane between the Calder and Tullamarine Freeways to Bell Street, to reduce
weaving
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...
. Speed limits will be lowered on parts of the freeway during construction work, and after construction, as a result of lane narrowing. The project will also install an electronic freeway management system, involving CCTV cameras, a variable speed limit, and electronic message signs.
Controversy has arisen due to the proximity of Strathmore Secondary College to the new ramp at Bell Street. The removal of a tree as part of the Flemington Road intersection upgrade also resulted in public protest.
Stage 1 (Bulla Road to Power Street)
* Lane use management signs to manage which lanes are open
* Variable speed limit signs above all lanes
* Ramp signalling – stop and go traffic lights to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion as traffic enters the freeway from on-ramps
* CCTV cameras – to monitor for incidents, help response times and minimise disruptions
* Travel time information signs so people can plan their journey
* Electronic message signs – to notify road users of planned changes or disruptions
* Automatic incident detection system – to alert road managers of incidents in real time
* Two dedicated lanes inbound to Bell Street from the Tullamarine Freeway and Calder Freeway
* New Bell Street to Pascoe Vale Road
* Improvements to Flemington Road/ Mount Alexander Road Freeway Interchange
* Additional outbound lane between Moreland and Ormond Road
* Ramp widening between Bolte Bridge and West Gate Freeway
* One additional inbound lane between Montague Street and Ingles Street
* One additional inbound lane between Montague Street and Power Street
Stage 2 (Melbourne Airport to Bulla Road)
* A new structure with dedicated lanes from the Tullamarine Freeway and Mickleham Road to the M80 Ring Road inbound to ease congestion and reduce traffic weaving
* An extra lane entering the Tullamarine Freeway city bound from Mickleham Road
* Reconstruction and widening of the English Street overpass and all ramps to increase capacity into and out of Essendon Fields
* Ramp signals on the city bound entry from Kings Road in Taylors Lakes to the Tulla Calder interchange to regulate the flow of traffic getting onto the Tullamarine Freeway from the Calder Freeway
Extra lanes
Part of the upgrade is adding more lanes between Melbourne Airport and the West Gate Freeway. Between the Citylink (Western Link) and the West Gate Freeway, one additional lane in each direction will be added consuming the current emergency lanes as well as lower the current speed limit from 100 km/h down to 80 km/h.
Tolling system
There are no toll booths along the entire length of the system, so traffic flow is not impeded.
CityLink uses a
DSRC
Dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) are one-way or two-way short-range to medium-range wireless communication channels specifically designed for automotive use and a corresponding set of protocols and standards.
History
In October 1999, ...
toll system called
e-TAG
e-TAG is a free-flow tolling electronic toll collection system used on all tollways throughout Australia. It was originally developed by Transurban for use on their CityLink tollway in the late 1990s, with the system since adopted by all to ...
, where an electronic transponder is mounted on the inside of vehicles' windscreens. Gantries constructed over each carriageway record registration plates and detect the e-TAGs, and deduct toll amounts automatically from the account linked electronically to each tag. Where a tag is not detected, the vehicle's registration is recorded using an
automatic number plate recognition
Automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR; see also #Other names, other names below) is a technology that uses optical character recognition on images to read vehicle registration plates to create vehicle location data. It can use existing close ...
system and checked against a database. For infrequent use of the system one can buy a Daypass – by phone, online, at any
Australia Post
Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post o ...
outlet or at participating service stations. A Daypass can be bought in advance or afterwards (until midnight three days later). If payment has not been made, the vehicle's registered owner will be sent a late toll invoice in the mail, and if the late toll invoice is then not paid a fine will be issued by
Civic Compliance Victoria
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...
.
In 2018 CityLink tolling accounts were rebranded as
Linkt
Linkt is Transurban's e-TAG tolling brand in Australia. Linkt first replaced the Roam Express brand in Sydney in 2017, followed by the go via brand in Queensland in May 2018, and then the Citylink brand (tolling system only) in Melbourne in ...
,
as part of parent company Transurban combining their existing retail brands.
The concession period held by Transurban is due to end in 2045, after which the ownership of the road will be transferred to the state. It was originally due to end in January 2035, but was extended as part of a deal with Transurban to build the
West Gate Tunnel
The West Gate Tunnel, originally known as the Western Distributor, is a four kilometre toll road currently under construction in Melbourne, Australia, to link the West Gate Freeway at Yarraville with the Port of Melbourne and CityLink at Dockl ...
project.
[
]
Toll points
Multiple toll points are located along the CityLink, with each toll point charging a fixed fee. The CityLink toll points also include the toll point at the Exhibition Street
Exhibition Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district, central business district of Melbourne, Australia. The street is named after the International Exhibition held at the Royal Exhibition Building in 1880, and was pre ...
extension (Batman Avenue). The total toll incurred per trip is the smaller of the trip cap or the total price of toll points passed through.
The entry and exit ramps of CityLink (excluding West Gate Freeway) have been constructed in a way that travelling on any section of CityLink will always pass through at least one toll point. The only exception is eastbound travel between Punt Road and Church Street, which does not pass through a toll point and hence does not incur any tolls.[
]
Exits and Interchanges
Western Link
Southern Link
Batman Avenue
Batman Avenue is entirely contained within the City of Melbourne
The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The ci ...
local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
.
Gallery
File:Citylink N from Toorak Rd.jpg, Southern Link, looking north from Toorak Road
File:Bolte Bridge, Melbourne 2017-10-28.jpg, Bolte Bridge on 28 October 2017
File:TullamarineFwy.jpg, The sound tube on the Western Link used as a barrier to reduce noise pollution to nearby community housing towers
File:CityLink northbound.ogv, View along Western Link, travelling north
Controversies
As part of the development of CityLink, portions of existing roads were subsumed into the CityLink project: while they too were upgraded and expanded, tolling points were also added. Toll charges now apply to the former Monash Freeway between Toorak Road and Punt Road, and the former Tullamarine Freeway south of Bulla Road. Previously public roads, they did not incur tolls to use before.
Some nearby roads were altered to restrict rat run
Rat running (also known as rodent running, cut-through driving, or dive-bombing) is the practice by motorists of using residential side streets or any unintended short cut such as a parking lot, delivery service lane or cemetery road instead o ...
s to stop people using neighbourhood back streets as short cuts to avoid the toll. Some people have viewed this as local councils 'forcing' people to use CityLink.
CityLink account holders can, if they make multiple trips in a day, pay more to use the road than a casual user. A 24-hour Pass, for example, is charged at a flat rate, but an account holder pays per trip. Account holders who make multiple trips in a single day may pay more than a pass customer would. However, CityLink recognises this and account customers can remove their e-TAG device and buy a pass for the day: just like casual customers. However, there is a limit to the number of passes that can be bought each 12 months. This limit applies to account holders and casual users.
The contract between the government and CityLink's owner Transurban has protections for both parties. One of these is the ability for Transurban to make a claim against the state government if the state government does something that reduces the number of cars that could use CityLink. In 2001 Transurban commenced legal proceedings against the State of Victoria over the construction of Wurundjeri Way
Wurundjeri Way is a road running through the Docklands Development west of the Melbourne central business district. It was constructed in 1999 as part of replanning and development of the former Melbourne rail yards and docks. Wurundjeri Way r ...
through the Melbourne Docklands
Docklands, also known as Melbourne Docklands, is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. Docklands recorded a population ...
. It was alleged that this 'free' road was competing with CityLink and causing it to earn less revenue. This can potentially also be applied if the capacity of other roads or rail routes parallel to CityLink are expanded, however the contract specifically excludes compensation if the metropolitan rail network is extended to Melbourne Airport.
CityLink received negative media coverage when it was wrongly claimed that CityLink account holders' credit card details were stored on Transurban's public webserver and that someone had broken into the system and stolen tens of thousands of customers details. Customer details were stolen, not by an intruder via the web, but by a former employee who had misused access to the secure IT systems.
The two CityLink tunnels have regularly featured as discussion points on talkback radio, firstly for air quality. In the early days of operation, the air quality in the tunnels appeared smoggy. CityLink worked a way around the problem by adjusting the venting system which improved quality and dispersed exhaust fumes more effectively. The second issue was regarding the use of massive quantities of fresh drinking water pumped into the system to stabilise the tunnel environs. After some time, CityLink sought and obtained approval from the State Government to build a water recycling plant which meant they could rely primarily on recycled, and not drinking, water.CityLink – Using Water Wisely Brochure
/ref>
See also
* Freeways in Australia
Australian Capital Territory Canberra region
* Majura Parkway
Other freeways (no route number)
* Adelaide Avenue
* Yarra Glen
* Capital Circle
* Gungahlin Drive Extension
* Parkes Way
* Tuggeranong Parkway
Gallery
File:High ...
* Freeways in Melbourne
* Road transport in Victoria
Victoria has the highest density of roads of any state in Australia. Unlike Australia's other mainland states where vast areas are very sparsely inhabited, Victoria has population centres spread out over most of the state, with only the far nor ...
References
External links
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Highways and freeways in Melbourne
Toll roads in Australia
Transport in the City of Melbourne (LGA)
1999 establishments in Australia
Articles containing video clips
Highway 1 (Australia)
Transport in the City of Stonnington
Transport in the City of Yarra
Transport in the City of Moonee Valley
Transport in the City of Merri-bek