New South Wales’ Premier Gladys Berejiklian, and Minister for Sydney’s WestConnex Project Stuart Ayres, have toured tunnelling works on the New M4 section of the project, and announced two joint ventures – the John Holland CPB Contractors JV, and Lend Lease Samsung Bouygues JV – as shortlisted to build the M4-M5 Link. The M4-M5 Link includes some 8km of twin tube tunnels which will create a non-stop underground western bypass of the Sydney CBD.
“With the widened M4 set to open on Saturday 15 July and tunnelling past the halfway mark on M4 East tunnels, we are moving forward with the final stage of WestConnex which will provide congestion relief for thousands of drivers a day,” Ms Berejiklian said.
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The M4-M5 Link mainline tunnels will be delivered as a stand-alone project, initially operating independently from the Rozelle Interchange and Iron Cove Link, allowing the link to potentially open early to drivers in 2022.
Minister for WestConnex Stuart Ayres said two joint ventures were shortlisted to design and build the mainline tunnel between Haberfield and St Peters, after the release of the concept design last month.
“The M4-M5 Link is the most important stage of WestConnex as it will provide the vital connection between the new and upgraded M4 and M5 motorways for tens of thousands of vehicles a day and connect to Port Botany, the Airport and future M6.”
Federal Minister for Urban Infrastructure Paul Fletcher said the Commonwealth was pleased to be supporting WestConnex with $1.5bn in grant funding and a $2bn concessional loan to the NSW Government.
Work to build the M4-M5 link is scheduled to start in 2018 with new M4 tunnels to open in 2019.
Once the M4-M5 Link is complete, the WestConnex motorway will include 23km of underground tunnels.
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