CityLink
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses of "City Link", see City Link (disambiguation).
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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 tollways 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.
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[edit] Existing freeways
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.
[edit] New freeways
[edit] Western Link
The elevated Western Link extends the existing Tullamarine Freeway, lengthening it to terminate it 5 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 (known disparagingly to locals as "Jeff's condom", in reference to Jeff Kennett, the Premier of Victoria at the time of construction). 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"), comprising of a giant yellow beam hanging diagonally across the road (nicknamed the "Cheesestick") and a row of smaller red beams alongside the road (the "Zipper").
[edit] Southern Link
The underground Southern Link directly connects the ends of the West Gate and Monash Freeways into one continuous through-way. This link comprises of the Burnley and Domain Tunnels which pass under the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Yarra River, each tunnel channeling 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.
[edit] Upgrading of existing freeways
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 users of the road system.
[edit] Tolling system
There are no toll booths along the entire length of the system, so traffic flow is not impeded.
CityLink uses a 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, internet or at some Shell petrol stations. A Daypass can be bought in advance, or within 3 days of travel. 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.
[edit] Interchanges
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.
[edit] Controversies
- New toll gates have been placed on existing roads that were previously free, such as the Monash Freeway between Toorak Road and Punt Road, and the Tullamarine Freeway south of Bulla Road.
- Some nearby roads were altered to restrict traffic flow to force use of CityLink.
- E-tag account holders can, under some circumstances, pay more to use the road than casual users. A Daypass for example is charged at a flat rate, but an e-tag user pays per trip. If an e-tag user makes multiple trips in a single day, they can pay more than a Daypass customer would.
- The contract governing the running of CityLink has clauses allowing claims against the government, should it take action that reduces traffic on CityLink. If the government constructs another freeway that competes, for example, or improves public transport substantially, the operator can claim compensation from the government.
- At one stage it was exposed that CityLink account holders' credit card numbers were being stored on Transurban's public webserver, and some CityLink customers were subjected to credit card fraud as a result.
- Much controversy surrounding the placement and operation of speed-averaging enforcement cameras introduced by the current State Labor government surrounded CityLink particularly surrounding the entrance/exits of tunnels.
- The tolls were initially described as a means to cover the cost of construction, leading road users to question at what date the project will be deemed to have "paid for itself". No date has been announced.
