North East Link road PPP project in Melbourne

financial close

The project involves the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a new 7km freeway between Watsonia and Bulleen Road; twin three-lane tunnels, approximately 6km in length passing under Banyule Flats and the Yarra River; and two new interchanges at Manningham Road and Lower Plenty Road, located in north-east Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, south-east Australia.The selected private partner will also deliver the ventilation, fire, life and safety and traffic management systems within the tunnels; an intelligent transport system across the entire project corridor; an operations and maintenance control system, motorway control building and backup facilities; toll gantries and tolling road side equipment; noise walls, shared use paths, landscaping and urban design.The project constitutes the Primary Package of the North East Link. The selected private partner will also operate and maintain works delivered through subsequent Secondary Packages, which will cover upgrades to existing roads near the new freeway.The project will fix the missing link between the Eastern Freeway and the M80 Ring Road – slashing travel times and taking more than 15,000 trucks a day off local roads and provide a faster trip to the airport from the east. It will also upgrade the Eastern Freeway to streamline traffic flow and reduce congestion and build a new dedicated busway along the Eastern Freeway – slashing travel times on this busy corridor by more than 30 percent.