After a decade of turbulent planning, a doubling of its cost, and years of delays caused by disputes over toxic soil, the West Gate Tunnel — a major new toll road intended to ease traffic in Melbourne’s west — opened to the public on Sunday morning.
After a restricted opening just after midnight, the $10.2 billion project, which is made up of 6.8 kilometres of tunnels connecting Melbourne’s west with the CBD, officially opened at 7am.
The new tunnel was almost empty on Sunday morning at 8.30am, with a handful of cars and trucks using the new roadway between Dynon Road in West Melbourne and Millers Road in Altona North.
At its peak, the alternative to the West Gate Bridge is projected to cater for 67,000 vehicles a day, and remove 28,000 trucks from the bridge and suburban streets in Melbourne’s inner west.
A month of free travel on weekends through the tunnel will begin in January.
The roadway – which has three lanes in each direction – descends under the West Gate Freeway, with large architectural “fishing nets” soaring above the tunnel’s entrances and exits.
The entrance to the West Gate Tunnel on Sunday morning. Credit: Penny Stephens
The largest, at the northern entrance in Yarraville, is 38 metres high and wide and consists of 364 laminated timber beams.
Green and rainbow lights illuminate the walls of the tunnel at different intervals.