Two of the state’s biggest road projects have joined up with the completion of a tunnel linking the new harbour crossing with the Warringah Highway. Once complete it will deliver major time saving for motorists. But the price of tolls is still being decided.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00For Sydney-siders accustomed to spectacular tunnel breakthroughs, this was on the boring
00:07side.
00:08But for commuters facing confusion and delays thanks to the Warringah Freeway upgrade, it's
00:13a major sign of progress.
00:15It's great to be here today, an absolute cracker of an announcement.
00:20Below the surface at North Sydney, the New Look Freeway has been joined up with what
00:24will be the Western Harbour Tunnel, after contractors dug through one million tonnes
00:28of rock.
00:29The equivalent weight of 7,000 blue whales, or 200,000 small buses, or a billion moderately
00:38sized border collies.
00:40I just made up that last one.
00:43Later this year, two giant tunnel boring machines will be delivered to complete the next phase
00:47under the harbour from Birchgrove to Waverton.
00:50Once the tunnel opens in 2028, it's forecast to save drivers up to 20 minutes from Olympic
00:55Park to North Sydney, up to 20 minutes from Leichhardt to North Sydney, and up to 15 minutes
01:01from North Sydney to the airport.
01:03There will be a cost to motorists, but the government won't give a dollar figure because
01:06it's still working on an overhaul of the entire toll road network.
01:11The opposition says it deserves credit for both projects.
01:14Chris Moons is great when it comes to cutting the ribbons on Liberals and Nationals projects
01:18that are still in the pipeline, but there are no big ideas of his own.
01:20Look, ultimately who cares who gets the credit as long as these projects get done.
01:25Tomorrow marks two years since the Minns government was elected, but the Premier says
01:29he's not expecting much credit from voters as his term passes the midway point.
01:34I haven't had much time to think about it and I'd suspect that your average voters thought
01:39about it even less.
01:40But as a fresh-faced government comes of age, voters are likely to sharpen their focus.