The Rozelle Interchange is an under-construction underground motorway interchange in Sydney, Australia. It is being built as part of

WestConnex WestConnex is a predominantly underground motorway scheme in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. As of 2022, it is partially completed and partially still under construction. A joint project of the New South Wales and Australian governments, t ...

and is expected to open in late 2023. The interchange also includes a toll-free bypass of the Victoria Road between the

Iron Cove Bridge The Iron Cove Bridge is a heritage-listed road bridge that carries Victoria Road (A40) across Iron Cove, linking the Sydney suburbs of Drummoyne to Rozelle in the City of Canada Bay local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Curren ...

and the

Anzac Bridge The Anzac Bridge is an eight-lane cable-stayed bridge that carries the Western Distributor (A4) across Johnstons Bay between Pyrmont and Glebe Island (part of the suburb of Rozelle), on the western fringe of the central business district of ...

known as the Iron Cove Link. The interchange is located at the site of the former Rozelle Rail Yards. It is one of the most complex underground junctions in the world and consists of three storeys of tunnels, with the deepest being below ground. The interchange will also be the southern terminus of the proposed

Western Harbour Tunnel The Western Harbour Crossing (WHC) is a dual 3-lane immersed tube tunnel in Hong Kong. It is the third road tunnel to cross Victoria Harbour, linking the newly reclaimed land in Yau Ma Tei on Kowloon West with Sai Ying Pun on Hong Kong Is ...

. Stub tunnels for the new tunnel have been built during the construction of the interchange. On the surface above the underground interchange is an under-construction parkland known as Rozelle Parklands.

Design

The interchange consists of two parallel sets of main tunnels originating from the M4 (west-facing only) and the M8 (east-facing only) sections of the M4–M8 Link respectively, as well as the Iron Cove Link tunnels. The tunnels originating from the M4 mainly lead into the Western Distributor and the

, with entry and exit ramps connecting to the future

. There is no connection between Victoria Road (

) and the M4 tunnels via the Iron Cove Link. Until the Western Harbour Tunnel opens, all traffic from the M4 tunnels will lead to the Western Distributor and Anzac Bridge only, as there are no other entrance or exits. The tunnels originating from the M8 mainly lead into the future Western Harbour Tunnel, with entry and exit ramps connecting to the Iron Cove Link (towards Iron Cove Bridge) and

City West Link City West Link is a link road in Sydney, Australia. It makes up a section of the A4 between Leichhardt, Haberfield and Five Dock. As such, it provides an alternative route to Parramatta Road into the Sydney central business district from th ...

. Traffic from the M8 will utilise the City West Link exit to access the Western Distributor and the Anzac Bridge via City West Link, and vice versa. The Iron Cove Link tunnels connect between the Western Distributor/Anzac Bridge and Victoria Road at Iron Cove Bridge. The Iron Cove Link will be toll-free. Future entrance and exit portals to the Western Harbour Tunnel have also been built at the intersection of City West Link and The Crescent, and will create a four-way interchange when they open.

Construction

The main contractor for the construction of the interchange and Iron Cove Link 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 John Holland and

CPB Contractors CIMIC Group Limited (formerly Leighton Holdings) is an Australian construction contractor. It is active in the telecommunications, engineering and infrastructure, building and property, mining and resources, and environmental services industries ...

. Unlike the other stages of WestConnex, construction is directly managed by

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an agency of the New South Wales Government established on 1 November 2011, and is the leading transport and roads agency in New South Wales, ...

rather than WestConnex. Construction began in 2020, with the halfway mark achieved in April 2021.

Operation

The Rozelle West motorway operations complex will be located on the western end of the Rozelle Parklands, and it will comprise the majority of the operations facilities for the Rozelle Interchange, including maintenance and operations, substation, fire water pumps and deluge tanks, water treatment plants etc.

Rozelle Parklands

Above the tunnels at the location of the former rail yards, open green space of up to known as the Rozelle Parklands is being constructed. The parkland will have a wetlands, a village green, playing and barbecue facilities, and active transport links. A shared user path bridge over City West Link will also connect the parkland to the Rozelle Bay light rail stop and the southern side of The Crescent. The Rozelle Parklands was proposed as part of the urban design and landscape plan for the Rozelle Interchange project. The plan was released for community consultation in August and September 2020. During the community consultation, more than 1600 individual comments and 723 official submissions of feedback were received. In response, Transport for NSW established the Rozelle Parklands Working Group (RPWG) which included local community member and representatives from the

Department of Planning, Industry and Environment The New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) is a department of the New South Wales Government, responsible for effective and sustainable planning to support the growth in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It makes pl ...

(DPIE), Office of Sport,

Inner West Council Inner West Council is a local government area located in the inner western region of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council makes up the eastern part of this wider region, and was formed on 12 May 2016 from the merge ...

and Transport for NSW. The RPWG was responsible for managing the consultation and making recommendations to Transport for NSW. In May 2021, their final recommendations report was presented to the Minister for Transport and Roads, and the urban design and landscape plan was approved by the DPIE.

References

{{Road infrastructure in Sydney, state=collapsed Road interchanges in Australia Transport infrastructure completed in 2023 2023 establishments in Australia