CityLink
|
CityLink Victoria |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Freeway |
| Location | Melbourne |
| Length | 22 km (14 mi) |
| Opened | Oct 1999 |
| Maintained by | Transurban Limited |
| History | Completed August 1999 |
| Route number(s) |
|
| North end |
  Tullamarine Freeway
|
 West Gate Freeway
|
|
| East end |
Monash Freeway
|
|
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Victoria |
|
M2/State Route 43 (Western Link)
CityLink is a network of tolled urban motorways in Melbourne, Australia, linking the West Gate, Tullamarine and Monash Freeways and incorporating Bolte Bridge, Burnley Tunnel and other works. In 1996, Transurban was awarded the contract to augment two existing freeways and construct two new toll roads – labelled the Western and Southern Links – directly linking a number of existing freeways to provide a continuous, high-capacity road route to, and around, the central business district. CityLink uses a free-flow tolling electronic toll collection system, called e-TAG.
The first mention of a southern and western inner city bypass was in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan. The plan advocated for reservations and set aside sinking funds for the new inner city freeway system. It was one of the few freeways connecting to the inner city (along with the Eastern Freeway to Clifton Hill) which was not later abandoned.
The proposal to build CityLink was first announced in May 1992 and received the State Government's formal approval in mid-1994. The contract was awarded in 1995 to a consortium of Australia's Transfield Services and Japan's Obayashi Corporation, which then formed Transurban. The total value of the project was estimated in 1996 at about $1.8 billion, and the 34-year concession to operate the road expires in 2034.
CityLink was built between 1996 and 2000 and was eight times larger than any other road project in Melbourne of that time. Toll plazas for manual tolling were deemed impractical, and delays associated with plaza operations would have decreased the advantages of using the new road. The decision to use only electronic toll collection was made in 1992; at a time when there was little practical experience of such systems. The first of the sections opened to traffic in August 1999, with tolling commencing on 3 January 2000 before final completion occurred on 28 December 2000 with tolling commencing the same year.
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Wikipedia