In the middle of last year, a report was released listing Sydney’s public network as the best in Australia. And while it’s true that our public transport system is on the up (with the game-changing Sydney Metro network expanding, set to comprise 46 stations once it’s complete), driving across the city still leaves something to be desired – with privately-owned toll roads making traversing Sydney by car expensive, and often pretty inefficient. And that’s exactly why the construction of the new Western Harbour Tunnel is big news for Sydneysiders – the stretch of tunnel will offer motorists a super-efficient route beneath Sydney Harbour, with an opening date slated for 2028.
Running beneath the harbour from Rozelle to Cammeray, the twin, three-lane tunnels are the first new crossing of the harbour in more than 30 years. The 6.5-kilometre, six-lane stretch of subterranean road will ultimately connect to the M8 motorway. Once complete, the new route is set to make driving across the city a whole lot more speedy – shaving 20 minutes off journey times between North Sydney and Sydney Olympic Park or Leichhardt. The tunnel is also due to reduce journey time between North Sydney and Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport by up to 15 minutes.
Work on Western Harbour Tunnel began back in 2021, and construction has just reached a major milestone – with a 95-tonne road header machine breaking through the final centimetres of rock separating the Western Harbour Tunnel and the Warringah Freeway Upgrade (another major infrastructure project, due to be complete in 2026). The literal breakthrough, that saw road header machines cut through approximately 1,000,000 tonnes of rock (the equivalent weight of 200,000 school buses), means there’s actual light at the end of the tunnel that’s set to change the way we travel across Sydney.
As well as cutting journey times for people travelling north from Western Sydney and vice-versa, the tunnel is set to ease traffic conditions across other routes – reducing traffic on the Western Distributor by 35 per cent, the Harbour Tunnel by 20 per cent and the Harbour Bridge by 17 per cent. And in excellent news, it’s remaining in public hands.
The Warringah Freeway Upgrade, now physically linked to the tunnel, is due to be complete in 2026 – easing congestion into the city with a dedicated bus lane, streamlined lanes for motorists and four east-west cyclist and pedestrian transport connections via bridges over the Freeway between Neutral Bay and North Sydney/Cammeray. According to NSW Premier Chris Minns, the two projects will "transform the way people move across our city."
At this stage, the Western Sydney Harbour Tunnel is set to open in 2028. You can learn more about the Western Sydney Harbour Tunnel project over here, and about the Warringah Freeway Upgrade here.
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