Work is progressing on the Western Harbour Tunnel and the Warringah Freeway Upgrade in Sydney
Two mega projects – Western Harbour Tunnel and the Warringah Freeway Upgrade – finally met underground recently as a 95-tonne road header broke through the final centimetres of rock separating them.
Working on what is known as Western Harbour Tunnel Stage 2, road header machines have so far cut through approximately 1,000,000 tonnes of rock.
The breakthrough marks a major milestone in the two infrastructure projects.
Since mid-2021, the Warringah Freeway Upgrade has been working to create the space on one of Australia’s busiest roads for the Western Harbour Tunnel to connect to the surface.
The 6.5 kilometre tunnel is due to open to traffic in 2028 and will be the first new road harbour crossing in almost 30 years.
Once complete, it will ease congestion for drivers who use the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Harbour Tunnel, Anzac Bridge and Western Distributor.
The new tunnel will connect the Warringah Freeway to the WestConnex M4 and M8 at Rozelle Interchange, helping drivers bypass the CBD.
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As the Warringah Freeway Upgrade progresses with building new bridges, ramps and underpasses, and a dedicated bus lane to the CBD, two giant tunnel boring machines will be delivered later this year and be assembled deep below Birchgrove.
They will excavate twin, three-lane tunnels beneath Sydney Harbour connecting tunnels at Birchgrove with those at Waverton.
The two projects are expected to support around 7,500 full-time equivalent jobs during construction.
Work on the Warringah Freeway Upgrade is now more than 70 per cent complete with project completion expected in late 2026.
“For the first time, there is light at this end of Western Harbour Tunnel – literally,” Premier Chris Minns says.
“The breakthrough represents a significant moment for these two complex major projects and is the first time the twin mainline tunnels of the Western Harbour Tunnel have joined with Warringah Freeway.
“They will carry tens of thousands of vehicles per day, helping to improve journey times and reliability for people using Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel.”