Lane Cove Tunnel
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The Lane Cove Tunnel is an A$1.1 billion, 3.6 km twin-tunnel
tollway A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or '' toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemente ...
in Sydney, Australia, which connects the
M2 Motorway This is a list of roads designated M2: Europe * M2 motorway (Great Britain), a motorway in England * M2 expressway (Hungary), a motorway in Hungary * N2 road (Ireland)#M2 motorway, a motorway in the Republic of Ireland * M-2 highway (Monteneg ...
at
North Ryde North Ryde is a suburb located in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. North Ryde is located 15 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City ...
with the
Gore Hill Freeway The Gore Hill Freeway is a divided freeway located in Sydney, New South Wales that is part of the Sydney Orbital Network and the Highway 1 (Australia), Highway 1. The primary function of the freeway is to provide an alternative high-grade rout ...
at Artarmon. It is owned by toll road operator
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 ...
and forms part of the M2 and the 110 km
Sydney Orbital Network The Sydney Orbital Network is a 110 kilometre motorway standard ring road around and through Sydney, the capital of New South Wales in Australia. It runs north from Sydney Airport, underneath the CBD to the North Shore, west to the Hills Dist ...
.


History

On 1 October 2003, the Lane Cove Tunnel Company was awarded a $1.1 billion contract to design and construct the tunnel to a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...
between Thiess and the
John Holland Group The John Holland Group is an infrastructure, building, rail and transport business operating in Australia and New Zealand. Headquartered in Melbourne, it is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction. History The company was founded in ...
. The company, later known as
Connector Motorways Connector Motorways was an Australian toll road operator which operated the Lane Cove Tunnel and the Falcon Street Gateway (now Military Road E-ramp) in northern Sydney. Both projects opened to the public in March 2007. Connector was owned by C ...
, would operate the tunnel as well as the associated Falcon Street Gateway (now Military Road E-ramp). It was intended to replace the few kilometres motorists had to drive along
Epping Road Epping Road is a arterial road located on the North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Epping Road is a major route linking the lower North Shore and Sydney central business district to the north western suburbs of the upper Nor ...
, through the suburb of
Lane Cove Lane Cove is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lane Cove is nine kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governmen ...
, between two sections of freeway. During construction, in the early hours of 2 November 2005, the roof of a ventilation tunnel for the project collapsed. The collapse caused a 10 by 10 metre crater to appear near the southbound exit ramp of the Pacific Highway. It also damaged a three-storey building at 11–13 Longueville Road, forcing the evacuation of 47 people. Emergency crews pumped 1000 cubic metres of concrete into the hole to try to stop the housing block from collapsing into it. An investigation by Workcover NSW found that the collapse was caused by geological conditions at the site, the large span width of the tunnel, and inadequacy of roof support. The proximity of the excavations to the surface resulted in the property damage. The tunnel was opened on 25 March 2007, two months ahead of schedule, by four workers who represented the 9,000 who had worked on the Lane Cove Tunnel, the Military Road E-Ramp and the widened Gore Hill Freeway Project. Following the opening there was a one-month toll-free period (as occurred with the Westlink M7). Connector Motorways was supposed to operate the tunnel concession until 2037. However, the project was a disaster for the company, which went into receivership in January 2010 after a string of losses. Toll road operator
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 ...
bought the tunnel in May 2010 for $630 million and became the new operator.


Alternative routes

Before the opening of the tunnel, motorists had to drive along Epping Road through the suburb of Lane Cove, for the few kilometres between two freeway sections. Studies by the tunnel operator indicated that the Lane Cove Tunnel would cut road travel times by up to 17 minutes and save motorists over $4 a trip. After the completion of the consequential surface road changes in March 2008, the existing Epping Road was slated to have 24-hour bus lanes to reduce travel times for east and west bound bus services, a new bus interchange, a shared cyclist and pedestrian path, and other measures were implemented to improve public transport and local traffic in the corridor. Changes to the road network in the area had the primary aim of encourage traffic to use the new tolled tunnel instead of the untolled surface road.


Interchanges


Tolls


Controversy


Air quality

A report by CSIRO Deputy Chief of Air Science, Dr Peter Manins, concluded the ambient air quality modelling undertaken for Lane Cove Tunnel was 'best practice'. The air quality modelling indicated that the Lane Cove Tunnel would comfortably meet the air quality requirements set by the Planning Minister's Conditions of Approval. Dr Manins also said most of the air quality modelling results were in fact likely to "over estimate emission and pollution levels". Ambient air quality is monitored at four monitoring stations nearby the tunnel's ventilation stacks. The monitoring results are published in real time on the operator's website. The air quality readings published for particulate matter (PM10) are 24-hour averages, as required by the Planning Minister's Conditions of Approval for the tunnel. Some commentators are concerned that averaging the readings over 24 hours disguises the fact that the 50uG goal may be exceeded during peak periods, with low readings, which typically occur after midnight, effectively counteracting short-term breaches which occur during peak periods.


2007 State election

The
Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...
government was accused of interfering in the tunnel project to increase its re-election chances in the March 2007 election. The tunnel's expected late-2006 opening was pushed back to "January or February", closer to the poll date. In fact, that deadline was missed and the opening was announced to be 25 March, the day after the election. In December 2006, it was announced that surface road changes would be delayed by five months, meaning that they would not be completed until after state and federal elections. The delay, which was likely to cut into tunnel revenues, was agreed to by the operators at a cost to taxpayers of $25 million. The ''Sydney Morning Herald'' described the payment as a "bribe" and a "political rort". According to a ''Herald'' editorial, "The use of public funds to compensate Connector Motorways for delays to road changes around the tunnel is ... as cynical a piece of political jobbery as Sydney has seen in many a long year."


Changes to Epping Road

Changes made to Epping Road and associated roads included: * A bus interchange, completed in March 2008, on the corner of Longueville Road and Parklands Avenue at Lane Cove. * A new pedestrian bridge across Longueville Road providing access to the bus interchange and a link to Lane Cove village. * A new
cycleway Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except wher ...
and pedestrian path between Mowbray Road and Pacific Highway, to join the completed cycleway between Mowbray and Wicks Road, North Ryde, and along the Gore Hill Freeway between Pacific Highway and Naremburn. * Because over 30 per cent of all travel on Epping Road is by public transport, bus-only lanes were provided. Some parts of Epping Road and Longueville Road required widening to provide the dedicated bus lanes and cycle path. Epping Road eastbound,
between Mowbray Road west and Longueville Road, Lane Cove, has one general traffic lane and one bus lane eastbound. Epping Road westbound, between Longueville Road and Centennial Avenue, and between Sam Johnson Way and Mowbray Road West, has two general traffic lanes and one bus lane. Between Centennial Avenue and Sam Johnson Way it has one general traffic lane and one bus lane. Right turn lanes were reinstated for westbound traffic at the intersection of Parklands Avenue and Centennial Avenue, Lane Cove. Street lighting was upgraded. As the final construction activity, Epping Road between Mowbray Road and Pacific Highway was resurfaced with new asphalt and new line marking. These changes were considered in the 2001 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and are part of the Planning Minister's 2003 approval. They have been supported by a more recent Parliamentary Inquiry. The measures were designed to try to overcome the disconnection of the local community resulting from the extensive road work – reinstating right hand lanes, adding pedestrian crossings and making improvements to public transport infrastructure. Extensive community consultation was undertaken.


Defects

In July 2022, it was revealed there was cracking found in sections of both the east and westbound tunnel roof, with the owner Transurban taking the builders to court for remediation. It was estimated that the total repair cost would be $300mn and it would take decades to repair as the work can only be undertaken during periods of overnight maintenance shutdowns.


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 Sydney 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 ...


References


External links


Lane Cove Tunnel and Military Road E-Ramp

Transfield Services

Transurban Limited
* *

''from news.com.au'' on 10 April 2007.

''from news.com.au'' 26 March 2007. {{coord, 33.81039, S, 151.15934, E, source:placeopedia, display=title Tunnels in Sydney Toll tunnels in Australia Transport in Sydney Tunnels completed in 2007 Articles containing video clips 2007 establishments in Australia Lane Cove, New South Wales