As we approach the 30-year anniversary of the iconic Sydney Harbour Tunnel we are also imagining what Australia’s second immersed tube tunnel will mean for the city’s transport network.
The Western Harbour Tunnel will be a brand-new road crossing of Sydney Harbour with construction planned to start in 2022. It will help create an integrated road and public transport network by easing congestion on the Anzac Bridge, Sydney Harbour Tunnel, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Eastern Distributor, improving travel times for commuters and the movement of freight. Forming part of an alternate north-south bypass west of Sydney’s CBD, it will connect communities from Western Sydney to the city’s South and North.
But to really understand how such a massive project like this comes to life, we must first look back before we can move forward. Back 30 years to the opening of Sydney’s first and only immersed tube tunnel.