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CityLink
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| CityLink | |
| Length | 22 km |
| Direction | Western link: North – South Southern link: West – East |
| Start | Tullamarine Freeway |
| Primary destinations | Melbourne Airport Melbourne CBD Northern suburbs Eastern suburbs |
| End | Monash Freeway |
| Construction dates | May 1996 - August 1999 |
| Major junctions | West Gate Freeway Tullamarine Freeway Calder Freeway Monash Freeway |
| Owner | Transurban Limited |
| Operator | Transurban Limited |
CityLink is a system of Tolled Freeways in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The company Transurban was awarded the contract to construct two new freeways—labelled the Western and Southern Links—directly linking a number of existing freeways to provide a continuous, high-capacity road route to, and around, the central business district.
CityLink is comprised of:
- Western Link
- extended Tullamarine Freeway
- Bolte Bridge
- Sound Tube
- Southern Link
- Domain tunnel
- Burnley tunnel
- Batman Avenue
Contents |
Previously, the city centre was served by four separate freeways:
- The Monash Freeway (also previously known as the South Eastern Freeway, South Eastern Arterial, and Mulgrave Freeway in different sections of the existing route) which had begun approximately 10 km south-east of the city, and connects Melbourne to the outlying rural Gippsland area;
- The Tullamarine Freeway which had begun approximately 5 km north-west of the city, and links Melbourne to Tullamarine Airport, and also joins the Calder Freeway, which links Melbourne to Bendigo;
- The West Gate Freeway (also previously known as the Lower Yarra Freeway) which had begun near Port Melbourne, just southwest of the city, crossing the Yarra River using the West Gate Bridge and joins to both the Princes Freeway (linking to Geelong) and the Western Ring Road;
- The Eastern Freeway which begins near Collingwood, passing through Melbourne's eastern and north-eastern suburbs.
The elevated Western Link extends the existing Tullamarine Freeway, lengthening it to terminate it five kilometres further south at the West Gate Freeway in Port Melbourne. It includes a new major bridge (the Bolte Bridge, named after former Premier Sir Henry Bolte) over the Yarra River in the Docklands; and a tube-like sound barrier in Flemington where the road passes close to a number of community housing towers (once known disparagingly as "Jeff's condom"[citation needed], in reference to Jeff Kennett, the Premier of Victoria at the time of construction[citation needed]). A short distance to the north of the sound tube, a massive sculptural work was placed, called the Melbourne International Gateway (locals also disparagingly dubbing it "Jeff's Erection"[citation needed]), comprising of a giant yellow beam hanging diagonally across the road (nicknamed the "Cheesestick"[citation needed]) and a row of smaller red beams alongside the road (the "Zipper"[citation needed]).
The underground Southern Link directly connects the ends of the West Gate and Monash Freeways into one continuous through-way. This link comprises the Burnley and Domain Tunnels which pass under the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Yarra River, each tunnel channelling traffic in different directions. This link also includes a connection to the CBD from the Monash Freeway over a bridge extension of Exhibition Street over the nearby railway lines.
CityLink contains 22 km of entirely new roads, as well as considerable widening and upgrading of parts of the Tullamarine and Monash Freeways. However, some existing parts of these older roads also became tolled, attracting criticism from road users.
There are no toll booths along the entire length of the system, so traffic flow is not impeded.
CityLink uses a DSRC toll system called e-tag, where an electronic transponder is mounted on the inside of the vehicles' windscreen. Gantries constructed over each carriageway record registration plates and detect the e-tags, and deduct toll amounts automatically from the account linked electronically to each tag. Where a tag is not detected, the vehicle's registration is recorded using an automatic number plate recognition system and checked against a database. For infrequent use of the system one can buy a Daypass – by phone, online or at participating service stations. A Daypass can be bought in advance. The vehicle's registered owner will be sent a fine in the mail if payment is not made.
The system came under fire in 2003 when it was found that e-tags did not warn drivers when their batteries were running low, and non-functioning batteries caused vehicles not to be detected by the toll sensors, thereby attracting additional charges and fines. In the meantime, CityLink recognised that e-Tags have a lifespan and has undertaken a proactive comms campaign for customers to contact them should their e-Tag not beep.
The tolled section begins on the Tullamarine Freeway (Metro 43/State 79) south of Pascoe Vale Road/Bell Street interchange in Strathmore. Interchanges on the tolled section of the Tullamarine Freeway are:
- Moreland Road, Coburg: city-bound only
- Ormond Road/Brunswick Road, Brunswick: out-bound only
- Mt. Alexander Road (State 79), Flemington: out-bound only
The freeway then officially becomes the Citylink "Western Link":
- Racecourse Road (National 8/Metro 83), Flemington: city-bound only
- Dynon Road (Metro 50), Kensington: out-bound only
- Docklands Highway (Metro 32), Docklands: bi-directional
- West Gate Freeway (M1/Tourist 2), Port Melbourne: bi-directional
The Western Link ends in a junction with the West Gate Freeway, which is not tolled. The West Gate follows west to cross the Yarra over the West Gate Bridge, and also east:
- Montague Street (Tourist 2, Metro 20/30/55), Port Melbourne: bi-directional
- Kings Way (State Alt-1/79), South Melbourne: out-bound only (limited)
- Power/Sturt Streets, South Melbourne: bi-directional (limited)
The freeway then officially becomes the Citylink "Southern Link":
The West Gate Freeway then flows into the tolled tunnels: the east-bound Burnley Tunnel (resurfacing at the Barkly Avenue exit on the Monash Freeway), and the west-bound Domain tunnel (travelling under Batman Avenue on the Monash Freeway). Interchanges on the tolled section of the Monash Freeway are:
- Batman Avenue, Richmond: city-bound only
- Punt Road (Boulton Parade/Harcourt Parade), Richmond: out-bound only (limited)
- Church Street, Richmond: eastbound exit ramp only
- Barkly Avenue, Burnley: city-bound only
- Yarra Boulevard (Tourist 2), Burnley: out-bound only
- Toorak Road (Metro 26), Kooyong: bi-directional
The Southern Link continues on as the untolled Monash Freeway, eventually ending as the Princes Freeway 45km later, 5km west of Pakenham.
source www.citylink.com.au and www.transurban.com.au
- As part of the development of CityLink, existing roads were upgraded and expanded, and tolling points were added. Toll charges now apply to the Monash Freeway (between Toorak Road and Punt Road) and the Tullamarine Freeway (south of Bulla Road). Some people saw this as 'free' roads being taken away. [1]
- Some nearby roads were altered to restrict rat-runs, where people use neighbourhood back streets as short cuts to avoid the toll. Some people have viewed this as local councils 'forcing' people to use CityLink. In reality there is always an alternative to using CityLink. [2]
- CityLink account holders can, if they make multiple trips in a day, pay more to use the road than a casual user. A 24 hour Pass, for example, is charged at a flat rate, but an account holder pays per trip. If an account holder makes multiple trips in a single day, they may pay more than a pass customer would. However, CityLink recognises this and account customers can remove their e-Tag device and buy a pass for the day - just like casual customers. However there is a limit to the number of passes that can be bought each 12 months. [3]
- The contract between the Government and CityLink's owner Transurban has protections for both parties. One of these is the ability for Transurban to make a claim against the State Government if the State Government does something that reduces the number of cars that could use CityLink. For example, if it built a competing 'free' road, then CityLink would earn less revenue and the investors in Transurban (institutions and mum and dad investors) could face a loss, so Transurban would be entitled to make a claim against the Government.
- CityLink received negative media coverage when it was wrongly claimed that CityLink account holders' credit card details were stored on Transurban's public webserver and that someone had hacked into the system and stolen tens of thousands of customers details. Sadly, there were customer details stolen, but not by a hacker and not via the web. A former employee who had had access to the secure (non-public) IT systems had stolen the card details. Details are available from the media release Transurban issued on 5 Dec 2002 [4].
- The two CityLink tunnels have regularly featured as discussion points on talkback radio. Firstly for air quality. In the early days, of operation as you drove through the tunnels it appeared smoggy. CityLink worked a way around the problem by adjusting the venting system and that dramatically improved quality. It hasn't stopped fumes that come from dodgy car and truck exhausts, but it does disperse them quicker. [5] The second issue was around the use of massive amounts of fresh drinking water in the systems that stabilised the tunnel environs. To overcome this, CityLink sought and obtained approval from the State Government to build a water recycling plant that meant they could rely primarily on recycled water, not fresh drinking water. [6]