Long-awaited plans have been finally unveiled by Australia’s New South Wales government for the construction of the A$815M Lane Cove road tunnel to be built on the outskirts of Sydney.
This follows publication of the environmental impact assessment in mid-November.
The 3.4km long twin-tunnel link will connect the eastern end of the M2 expressway with the Gore Hill freeway at Artarmon.
Competition for the contract is expected to be stiff. Leighton Holdings, one of Australia’s top contractors, has already expressed interest in bidding for the project when the scheme comes out to tender in 2002.
Australia’s Roads Minister Carl Scully said the tunnels formed the missing link in Sydney’s orbital network. Construction is expected to start in 2003 with completion in 2006.
Scully said the twin three-lane tunnels replace an earlier proposal to build a four-lane tunnel. Two ventilation shafts are planned, one near Mowbray Road, the other close to the Pacific Highway.
