Beaches Link
As Sydney continues to grow, with more and more trips being made, so will the challenges to our transport network.
Heavily constrained routes to the Northern Beaches impact on all road users, including bus commuters, and Military Road.
Areas such as Mosman, Artarmon and the Northern Beaches run the risk of lagging behind the rest of Sydney because of current transport reliability.
Faster and more reliable trips are essential to reducing congestion and providing new levels of access to jobs and services.
Beaches Link is key to delivering the transport vision for Sydney.
Beaches Link will:
- Improve journey times and reliability on critical transport routes on both sides of Middle Harbour
- For the first time, provide a motorway link between the Northern Beaches and the rest of Sydney
- Relieve traffic pressure on the North Shore
- Integrate with Sydney’s public transport network (bus, metro and rail) to deliver significant improvements for bus services.
As Sydney’s population grows, our economy and jobs will also grow, as will the number of trips made in and around Sydney every day.
Congestion costs our economy around $6.1 billion a year.
By 2030, this cost is expected to hit $12.6 billion a year. Motorway connections, as part of an integrated transport network, provide critical support to a growing economy in a global city like Sydney.
Beaches Link is a key initiative for Sydney’s integrated transport network. It will relieve congestion, improve access by public transport to jobs and services and increase the efficiency of the freight network.
The project has been identified as an infrastructure priority by both the NSW and Australian Commonwealth Governments.
It supports the NSW Government’s strategic objectives for Greater Sydney and delivers on recommendations made by Infrastructure Australia.
Yes. Beaches Link benefits public transport across the Northern Beaches, the North Shore, North Sydney and around the CBD by opening up new express bus connections and adding capacity to existing corridors.
Beaches Link will:
- Enable direct, reliable public transport between the Northern Beaches and the Sydney Metro at North Sydney as well as south of Sydney Harbour and new direct connections to centres such as St Leonards
- Free up Military Road for more reliable bus services through Mosman, Cremorne and Neutral Bay and ease pressure on Warringah Road for bus services through Frenchs Forest, Forestville and Roseville Bridge
- Improve bus travel on the Warringah Freeway, including a new continuous, free-flowing bus lane between Miller Street and Sydney Harbour Bridge and improved access to North Sydney
- Enable opportunities for express buses to use Beaches Link.
In addition to new express routes, Beaches Link will turbocharge the 2,000 weekly B-Line services introduced by the NSW Government in 2017.
Yes. Beaches Link delivers over five kilometres of new cycleways and pedestrian paths. New active transport connections will provide new travel options and create new paths for recreation.
New Wakehurst Parkway shared path:
- Links the new Northern Beaches Hospital precinct with Seaforth, Balgowlah and Manly
- Integrates with the Garigal National Park and Manly Dam Reserve trails with safe underpasses and overpasses
Balgowlah Recreation precinct:
- Provides additional shared pathways integrated with existing paths to nearby schools and shops
The proposed reference design for Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link was released on 26 July 2018 and extensive community engagement was undertaken through to 1 December 2018.
The engagement included 20 community information sessions that were held across the proposed alignment, including at Balmain, North Sydney, Crows Nest, Mosman, Cammeray and Balgowlah. The sessions were attended by more than 2,600 people.
In total, more than 7,300 items of feedback were received by the project team during the engagement phase, including more than 4,000 comments pinned to two online comment maps.
The 2018 community engagement builds on the engagement carried out for the 2017 concept design in when 16 information sessions were attended by more than 2,100 people.
A summary of the final business case will be prepared and released by Infrastructure NSW, the NSW Government’s independent infrastructure advisory agency, once an investment decision has been made.
As with any major transport infrastructure project, Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link will be subject to a rigorous and comprehensive environmental impact assessment.
This assessment will examine all potential environmental and social impacts that may occur during the construction and operation of the project, and proposed mitigation measures to avoid, manage or mitigate these impacts. This includes traffic, air quality, noise and vibration, spoil disposal, sediment management, Aboriginal and European heritage, flora, fauna and marine ecology, and sustainability.
There will be two Environmental Impact Statements – one for Western Harbour Tunnel (including Warringah Freeway upgrade) and one for Beaches Link (including the Gore Hill Freeway connection). Each will address the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) issued in December 2017.
The environmental assessment will be managed by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment. There will be a public exhibition period and the documents will be available to view on the Department’s website during that time.
You will be able to make formal submissions on any aspect of the project once the EISs are on display. There will be further community engagement during the exhibition period, including further community sessions.
The Environmental Impact Statements will be reviewed by the Department of Planning and Environment, NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, NSW Chief Health Officer, and independent reviewers before planning approval can be granted.
- Phone: 1800 931 189
- Email: [email protected]
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Mail: Customer feedback,
Roads and Maritime Services
Locked Bag 928, North Sydney NSW 2059
Further information is available on the project website at www.rms.nsw.gov.au/whtbl