[Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

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Peter Freeman
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Peter Freeman »

Update on WestConnex and NorthConnex Projects -

'New M4': complete, opened 2017. The existing M4 surface motorway was widened, and was also extended 5 km eastwards underground towards Sydney's CBD. Traffic emerges onto City West Link, which morphs into the CBD's Western Distributor motorway.

M8 first stage: complete, opened mid 2020. This 9 km tunnel, partially parallel to the existing 7 km M5 tunnel, reaches towards Sydney's CBD from the SW suburbs. It temporarily ends at St Peters stack interchange.

NorthConnex: complete, opened late 2020. This 9 km tunnel connects the southern end of M1 Pacific Motorway (which comes from Brisbane) into Sydney's orbital motorway.

M8-M4 link: tunnelling broken through, fit-out in progress, due to open in 2023. This 5 km tunnel will extend M8 northwards from one of the stack's five arms, and then westwards, to meet the end of M4.

Rozelle interchange: in construction, due to open in 2023. This is located where M8 meets M4, providing exits from both of those routes onto City West Link (to CBD and Harbour Bridge) and Iron Cove Bridge (to Sydney's NW suburbs). It also provides a free 1.5 km underground route from Glebe Bridge to Iron Cove Bridge. The interchange in total encompasses about 6 km of twin tunnel,

Sydney Gateway: in construction, due to open in 2024. This direct motorway link into the Sydney Airport terminals runs 3 km southwards from one arm of the St Peters stack.

In 2024, a fully-underground drive from the southern entrance of M8 to the Iron Cove exit of Rozelle interchange, a realistic journey, will run for almost 20 km.

End of update. Much information available online, including youtube and vimeo.
bart
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by bart »

Is there a plan for a (south)western extension of the M8? If it's being extended to the M4 to provide a north-south route I'm a bit confused by the fact that it shadows the M5 rather than having access for traffic to/from Sylvania.
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Peter Freeman »

bart wrote: Mon Mar 14, 2022 20:26 Is there a plan for a (south)western extension of the M8? If it's being extended to the M4 to provide a north-south route I'm a bit confused by the fact that it shadows the M5 rather than having access for traffic to/from Sylvania.
A western extension of M8: no. M8 merges into M5 as they both head westwards. M5 then gradually turns south-westwards and eventually splits into (a) M31, running SW all the way to Melbourne, and (b) M7, running NW, forming the western half of Sydney's orbital road.

There will be a northern-eastern underground extension of M8, though use of that number is conjecture at present. Three related and imminent projects form that extension: the Warringah Freeway Upgrade, the Western Harbour Tunnel, and the Beaches Link Tunnel, to be executed in that order.

The significant new underground motorway in the south will be the M6. It will branch off from the recently completed M8 section, using tunnel stubs already built-in about halfway along, and head southwards, passing below the M5. Stage 1, just a few km in length, is about to begin construction. A further three stages will eventually take it southwards to join the existing M1 Princes Motorway, which services the NSW south coast.

M6's stage-one destination will be the suburb of Kogarah. The suburb you mention, Sylvania, lies on the current non-motorway route southwards, the A1. A better understanding may be gained from the diagram in the fourth post down this page -
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=33789&start=20
Peter Freeman
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Peter Freeman »

WestConnex Stage 3 opened yesterday. You can now drive about 20km fully underground on 80km/hr D2/D3/D4, using the M8 and M4.

An above-ground extension of Westconnex called Sydney Gateway, improving access to the airport, will open in 2025, without tolls. The next tunnels to open will be Rozelle (underground) Interchange and Iron Cove Link (2023), M6 stage one (2025), and Western Harbour Tunnel (2028). The Beaches Link Tunnel and the Blackheath Tunnel are several years away.

Westconnex Project website -
http://www.westconnex.com.au/

Opening day two-way drive-through (includes M4 and M8) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALqPcdIL1Es&t=0s
( The video is from the Youtube channel of Great Aussie Drives -
https://www.youtube.com/@GreatAussieDrives )
Last edited by Peter Freeman on Sun Aug 18, 2024 16:11, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Peter Freeman »

crazyknightsfan wrote: Wed Nov 04, 2020 02:14 No route number for NorthConnex, an absolutely laughable situation.
Nothconnex finally got a number: M11. See discussion a few posts up-thread.
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Truvelo »

The more I look at maps of these motorways the more laughable the UK becomes concerning the building of such roads.
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Peter Freeman
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Peter Freeman »

Rozelle Interchange, the final component of the Westconnex system, will open within a couple of weeks. Here's a news item about it (from ABC; link might not last for long) -
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-20/ ... /103103666

This link, driver animations from the WestConnex official site, should be semi-permanent -
https://caportal.com.au/tfnsw/inner-wes ... nterchange

And this one (journey planner) -
https://www.westconnex.com.au/plan-your ... estconnex/

And perhaps these two -
https://media.caapp.com.au/hibwrx
https://forms.office.com/Pages/Response ... swSlpONC4u

But probably not this one -
https://giphy.com/gifs/Fo1wSu8LHO3OAwSPvJ
Peter Freeman
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Peter Freeman »

Rozelle Interchange opened 26-11-2023.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFe59VEnC6I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kodxeyJJujE

edit: dead link removed.
Last edited by Peter Freeman on Sun Aug 18, 2024 15:53, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Peter Freeman »

Week 1 of the Rozelle Interchange was a traffic disaster: massive driver confusion, and some glaring signage and road-marking errors exposed. The biggest problem was drivers not realising that one important part of the project is NOT tolled. Additionally, many Sydney drivers experienced ramp metering for the first time, and they were not impressed.

'Teething problems' were anticipated of course, and always occur when such a significant change is introduced. Over a few days, rapid adjusments and alterations have been made, signals tuned, motorist's route and lane decisions have matured, and things have settled. My own observations using G.Maps traffic layer show all to be working nicely.

Public reaction was both intelligent and useful, and uninformed and stupid. Driver behaviour was both patient, and recklessly dangerous. Press coverage was sensationalised.

This montage of news items (from Sydney channel 7) is typical of intense coverage by local TV -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESLh2yP-hmc
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Bryn666 »

Peter Freeman wrote: Wed Dec 13, 2023 22:11 Week 1 of the Rozelle Interchange was a traffic disaster: massive driver confusion, and some glaring signage and road-marking errors exposed. The biggest problem was drivers not realising that one important part of the project is NOT tolled. Additionally, many Sydney drivers experienced ramp metering for the first time, and they were not impressed.

'Teething problems' were anticipated of course, and always occur when such a significant change is introduced. Over a few days, rapid adjusments and alterations have been made, signals tuned, motorist's route and lane decisions have matured, and things have settled. My own observations using G.Maps traffic layer show all to be working nicely.

Public reaction was both intelligent and useful, and uninformed and stupid. Driver behaviour was both patient, and recklessly dangerous. Press coverage was sensationalised.

This montage of news items (from Sydney channel 7) is typical of intense coverage by local TV -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESLh2yP-hmc
Once they sort this out, will work be done to improve the decaying and unattractive Parramatta Road above? It seems a waste to build this new infrastructure and not create liveable streets on bypassed routes.
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Peter Freeman
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Peter Freeman »

Bryn666 wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2023 10:13 Once they sort this out, will work be done to improve the decaying and unattractive Parramatta Road above? It seems a waste to build this new infrastructure and not create liveable streets on bypassed routes.
It has always been the stated intention to do so. Will it really happen? I think so, but it will take some time: there's a lot of Paramatta Road. Also, the road will retain considerable local traffic: contrary to belief, inner Sydney is fairly dense.

Here are some planning documents, but they're high-level statements and aspirations, unless you delve deep into included links.
https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/system ... 202023.pdf
https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/plans-f ... nt-program
https://www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/develo ... ementation
https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/projec ... oad-vision
https://www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/live/e ... s/greenway
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Bryn666 »

Being fairly dense lends itself to non-car based options, buses, cycling, even trams etc. Thankfully the Australians were wise enough to build wide streets to begin with so these competing modes can co-exist somewhat - you could still facilitate some traffic lanes and hand the rest over for other modes and still have room to play with.

It's fairly obvious the Sydney motorway network has been provided to get you across the city rather than to facilitate short trips around it, in this regard they've got the right idea. The big question mark is the tolling aspect.
Bryn
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Peter Freeman
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Peter Freeman »

Since Transurban owns almost all of Sydney's toll roads, if you want a quick look-up of each one's fit and history, this listing will help -
https://www.transurban.com/roads-and-projects/sydney
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Peter Freeman »

A couple of weeks ago I drove up to Sydney to spend a few days - ostensibly to visit an Egyptology exhibition, but also to check out progress on new roads.

Rozelle Interchange (see upthread) has completely settled, after all the initial fuss and hysteria. It's multiply-signalised and metered - at peak, only A40 and M4 run through it un-interrupted* - but it's cleverly and intricately designed, and a pleasure to behold or drive. The only major congestion now is where most of it always was: on A40 Victoria Road through Drummoyne, between Gladesville Bridge** and Iron Cove Bridge. It's so built-up there that nothing will be done.

https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.867 ... ?entry=ttu

* In four years, M8 will freeflow through Rozelle Interchange (into the Western Harbour Tunnel) instead of terminating on it. Afterwards, this complex junction will be seen in the context of a service interchange on the M8 motorway.

** Gladesville Bridge was Sydney's other landmark harbour crossing. Built in 1964, it was for 16 years the world's longest single-span concrete arch bridge. It was intended to be part of a freeway, but that one succumbed to Nimbyism.

edit: 'A40' added to 'M4' comment.
Last edited by Peter Freeman on Thu Sep 05, 2024 00:04, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Peter Freeman »

The final piece of Sydney Gateway, connecting the airport directly to M8 at the St Peters interchange, will open on 01 September. The pieces closer to the airport terminals opened over the past few months in an incrementally-useful sequence.

This opening will help the local roads at St Peters: the stack currently over-feeds Gardeners Road, which M8sb traffic is currently using to reach the airport.

Although not technically part of the Westconnex project and not tolled, this step completes that project's aims by finally bringing the fifth arm of the stack into use. The Gateway contract was let in November 2020, so construction took about 3.5 years. The twin-arch D4 bridge is a notable structure.

Official announcement -
https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/a ... pen-sunday.

The web site shows some details and images, and has animations for drivers' way-finding -
https://v2.communityanalytics.com.au/rms/sydney-gateway.
https://caportal.com.au/rms/sydney-gate ... d_f5775856
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Peter Freeman »

Sydney Gateway opened at 04h30 this morning. Drive video, by Great Aussie Drives, here -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPB9Ls-effA
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by jackal »

As impressive as it is, I can't help but feel the St Peter's interchange is overbuilt. Freeflow down towards the airport is fair enough but the two local roads could have been accessed at a service interchange.
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Truvelo »

jackal wrote: Wed Sep 04, 2024 19:49 As impressive as it is, I can't help but feel the St Peter's interchange is overbuilt. Freeflow down towards the airport is fair enough but the two local roads could have been accessed at a service interchange.
I don't believe in overbuilt. Better to have extra capacity than have traffic standing at traffic lights. This is the difference between the UK and the rest of the world.
How would you like your grade separations, Sir?
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by bart »

It's incredible what's been built there. I remember my first visit to Sydney and crawling up South Dowling Street (where part of the Let's Dance video was filmed, I believe) from the airport.
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Re: [Sydney, Australia] - WestConnex and NorthConnex

Post by Peter Freeman »

jackal wrote: Wed Sep 04, 2024 19:49 As impressive as it is, I can't help but feel the St Peter's interchange is overbuilt. Freeflow down towards the airport is fair enough but the two local roads could have been accessed at a service interchange.
When I first saw the plan for this, I initially thought the same: FIVE level, FIVE arm stack? - that's unusual. Two of the arms lead out to traffic signals and then to all-purpose roads? - that's unusual too. Over-build, surely?! Indeed, for the volumes on those two A-P roads (though they are quite large), signals would have been normal AU practise.

However, think about the design constraints: both M8 south and M8 north definitely need freeflow to the airport, so there's one structure (two levels) already. Then, M8, both ways, needs to connect to the space on the east of the site, requiring at least a 3rd level and probably a 4th. So, stack-like dimensions are almost being reached already. Now, you try to place a 3-way signalised at-grade intersection in this space that can lead to the current Gardeners Road and Euston Road intersections. That implies a lot of very wide carriageways and stop-lines to cram into limited space, and distances too short to match the levels. Try fitting it. Although the site is big, for a garbage dump, we've run out of space. From this point, the thought process is "with only one more structure we can eliminate that heavy signalised 3-way intersection and make the levels meet up". QED: the stack has virtually selected itself.

The uniqueness of the location was also in the design process: St Peters garbage dump. The site (a former quarry) had been for many years a large, deep landfill. There was an opportunity to create, out of a well-known eye-sore and inappropriate usage of a prime city site, a beautifully landscaped area (with night-time coloured lights!) surrounding elegant viaducts, with the initial depth partially concealing the structures from outside view. Therefore height, one of the usual objections to an urban stack, was not applicable here.

BTW, the landscaping is not quite finished yet - but nearly. The coloured lights are in - see the opening-night videos!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaBKpe474Gg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdm0cI3Jpn8

In the end, I'm sure the right decisions were made. Not overbuilt.
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