Daily London
The $10.2 billion project promises to get more than 9000 trucks off local roads and save drivers up to 20 minutes on travel time when it opens on Sunday.
Built as a partnership between the state government and toll company Transurban, the twin tunnels will give drivers an alternative to the West Gate Bridge when they need to cross the Yarra River.
The tunnel runs from the West Gate Freeway through to Yarraville, which then connects to a new bridge over the Maribyrnong River.
Project director Scott Hodder said it was “three significant projects all wrapped into one”.
“The scale of this project is immense …this is the biggest of its type at the moment in Australia,” he said.
In addition to the tunnel itself, the project features a widening of the West Gate Freeway from eight lanes to 12 lanes and an elevated road above Footscray Road.
It also features a 2.5km cycling path and new connections to Wurundjeri Way.
Drivers can choose entry and exit points at Footscray Road, Dynon Road, Citylink and Wurundjeri Way.
The tunnel, which will be a toll road until at least 2045, is expected to rake in billions of dollars from drivers on CityLink.
Drivers will pay a toll rate between $2.05 and $10.47 depending on the time of the day they use the road, which exits they use and what type of vehicle they’re driving.
Drivers will pay more during peak hours from 7am to 9am on weekdays, in a bid to discourage congestion.
The trip prices will also increase from January 1.
The project cost taxpayers $5 billion more than it should have and is being delivered at least three years late.
It was pitched to Victorians by former premier Daniel Andrews in the lead up to the 2014 election.
Six months later, the project was reannounced with a $5.5 billion price tag.
Victoria’s then premier said Transurban would pay for two-thirds of that and asked the Commonwealth to fund the rest.
They said no in 2016, but Labor signed the deal in 2017 with an inflated $6.7 billion cost.
In 2019, Victoria’s Parliamentary Budget Office estimated the deal would net Transurban an additional $37 billion dollars in tolls – mostly from CityLink.
Later that year, it was revealed Treasurer Tim Pallas had shares in Transurban at the time he signed the deal.
Construction grounded to a halt in 2019 after toxic chemicals were found.
Work restarted two years later, but only after Victorians chipped in another $2 billion to help cover a $4 billion blowout.
The project will be open from the morning of Sunday December 14.
Tolls will be waved for motorists on the tunnel on weekends throughout January to celebrates its launch.
