The Victorian Government has selected CIMIC Group as the successful tenderer to deliver Melbourne’s North East Link Primary Package.
The project will include three-lane twin tunnels approximately 6 km in length which will aim to close the missing link in Melbourne’s freeway network.
It will connect the Metropolitan ring road (M80) and the Eastern Freeway (M3), completing a ring road around Melbourne that includes the Monash Freeway (M1).
CIMIC’s umbrella includes Pacific Partnerships, CPB Contractors, Ventia, and other members of the Spark consortium.
The contract was awarded in June this year and construction is expected to commence from late 2021, to be completed in 2027.
According to CIMIC, up to 135,000 vehicles will use North East Link every day, reducing congestion in the north-east while maintaining community roads for local trips.
It is expected to reduce travel times between Melbourne’s north and southeast by up to 35 minutes.
CIMIC anticipates it will pocket $4 billion in revenue across the project’s construction and operations phase, predicted to run to 2051.
Provisions for the tunnel systems will include noise walls, tolling infrastructure and intelligent transport systems.
For more information, visit the CIMIC website.