OPENING:Sydney's M2 Hills Mwy

The M2 Hills Motorway opens late May, the fifth toll facility in the Sydney area (Australia's largest city, pop 4m). 4-lanes and 6-lanes (with 2-lanes reserved for buses & carpoolers) the expwy standard toll road is 21km long and runs east-west through pretty, rolling prosperous northern suburbs that are heavily treed by eucalypt and other native flora. The bus lanes peel off midway to feed an electric rail line at Epping. The car lanes of the M2 will take commuters to the dense North Sydney business area, which is already connected to the main central business district across the Harbor by the famous coathanger shaped steel arch Harbor Bridge (8-lanes) and the newer Harbor Tunnel (4-lanes) and converging commuter rail lines and buses.

Missing link: However there's a 'missing link' of 3.5km between the eastern end of the M2 in North Ryde and the spaghetti of expwys (Gore Hill and Warringah Freeways) out of the harbor bridge and tunnel that connect with the main north-south and northeast arterials. For now the M2's east end discharges onto Epping Road, a 4-lane, non-access controlled, mixed-use arterial that has 6 signalized intersections on it. Consultants to the state Roads and Traffic Authority have suggested a 3.5km driven tunnel to fill this "missing link" (M2-East) a proposal which is currently in a public comment period. Financing is unclear. For the time being the RTA will try to maximize flows on Epping Road with signal coordination.

The M2 Motorway was built by an investor franchisee, Hills Motorway Limited at a project cost of about $500m. The construction was done under a A$436m ($330m) contract with the Australian Abi Group (also the major shareholder in the franchise) and Obayashi. The road has 6 interchanges, 29 bridges, a bicycle track, pedestrian underpasses, continuous concrete median barrier, extensive landscaping, large amounts of retaining and acoustic wall, and extensive video surveillance and other sensors to support a traffic control center and variable message signs. To assuage people protesting acquisition of a park a 500m section of the highway is in tunnel.

Saving 20mins+ Motorists will save 21 signalized intersections and about 20 to 30 minutes travel time. The franchisee has hired Tollaust Pty Ltd to manage the toll road. There is one mainline toll plaza toward the eastern end and ramp plazas elsewhere. All toll lanes have boom gates. Tolls will start at A$2.50 ($2) for cars for the full 20km and A$1 for part of the length. There is manual collection, automatic coin and electronic. The e-toll system was supplied by AT/Comm of the Boston area under contract to TSTI the local subsidiary of SAIC/TransCore of Harrisburg PA.

Tollaust hopes to be handling 55,000 vehicles/day within a year or two. The franchise signed in 1994 runs to 2030. (See also TR#2 Apr 96 p1. Contact Liz Rivers fax 612 9687 0411)

Other projects: The next major toll project in the Sydney area, the Eastern Distributor/Airport Motorway (see TR#9 Nov 96 p7) has been delayed by controversy surrounding its proposed surface section at the northern end behind the state art gallery. The rest is to be tunnel or an upgrade with grade separations of an existing arterial. Meanwhile the state government has said it will use tax funds to build M5-East, an 8km link between the present end of the M5 toll road and the airport. The M5 serves the west and southwest of the metro area. Much of the M5-East will be in driven tunnel to avoid impact on parklands and residential areas, though there are still arguments about its alignment. Time is getting short to start these two projects in time for completion by the Olympic Games of 2000.