It will cut a minimum of 15 minutes off the travel to the city with motorists no longer having to battle the traffic nightmare of Pennant Hills Rd. For commuters and businesspeople who use the route every day, it will be a “dream come true”.
NorthConnex has been the missing link in the national highway route, connecting the M1 Motorway in Wahroonga to the Hills M2 Motorway with a 9km tunnel bypassing 21 sets of traffic lights.
It will remove around 5000 trucks off Pennant Hills Rd per day and as a two lane tunnel with additional breakdown lane, NorthConnex will have the capacity to carry more than 100,000 vehicles per day
And the project potential is a two way street, with the Coast now much closer to Sydney time wise which will boost both business and tourism opportunities.
For example, when the new Aerotropolis opens, the Coast could promote itself as an extremely accessible, laid back alternative to the hustle and bustle and high prices of downtown Sydney.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch said the twin tunnels would make journeys faster, easier, safer and more reliable.
“Transurban is delivering this project and their most recent advice is that NorthConnex will be ready in the third quarter of 2020,” Mr Crouch said.
“Until then, work on Australia’s longest and deepest road tunnels is continuing to provide jobs and significant economic benefits at this difficult time.
“Once completed, NorthConnex can be used by the thousands of Central Coast commuters as an alternative route to the CBD that avoids 40 traffic lights on the Pacific Hwy.”
Coast MLC Taylor Martin said NorthConnex was one of four major road projects to transform travel for people in the Central Coast and Hunter regions.
“Before the COVID-19 pandemic more than 70,000 light and heavy vehicles travelled between the Hunter, Central Coast and Sydney each day,” Mr Martin said.
“Already we have seen the northern tip of the M1 Pacific Motorway upgraded at the Weakleys Dve and John Renshaw Dve intersection, as well as an expansion between Kariong and Somersby. The 12 km stretch between Tuggerah and Doyalson is also close to completion.
“These upgrades will benefit commuters, holiday traffic and heavy vehicles by improving traffic flow and making trip times more reliable,” Mr Taylor said.
