The Beaches Link was a proposed underground motorway scheme in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. It was proposed to consist of a series of motorway tunnels running north-south between

Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation is a major arterial road in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, Australia, and is a constituent part of the A8 route. It takes its name from Burnt Bridge Creek which flows beneath the road, although there is no s ...

Balgowlah Balgowlah is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balgowlah (or Bulgowlah) said to be an Aboriginal name for "North Harbour". The area now known as Balgowlah was known to the Aboriginals as Jilling. Balgowla ...

and the

Warringah Freeway Warringah Freeway is a divided freeway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is part of the Sydney Orbital Network. The primary function of the freeway is to provide an alternative high-grade route from the Sydney Harbour Tunnel and B ...

Cammeray Cammeray is a residential suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Northern Sydney and is part of the North Sydney Council local government area. History Aboriginal culture Cammeray takes its name from the Cammeraygal people, an Aboriginal ...

, providing direct access from the

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the ...

to the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...

. The Beaches Link would consist of two branches, the main branch starting from

and the second branch starting from Wakehurst Parkway at Seaforth. Both branches would have joined at Seaforth, and the tunnel crossed

Middle Harbour Middle Harbour (or ''Warrin ga''), a semi-mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, is the northern arm of Port Jackson, an inlet of the Tasman Sea located north of Sydney central business district on the coast of New South Wales, Australi ...

to Northbridge to the west of the current main crossing, the

Spit Bridge The Spit Bridge, a steel and concrete girder bridge with a bascule bridge, bascule lift Span (architecture), span across the Middle Harbour, is located north-east of the Sydney central business district, central business district in Sydney, Au ...

. From Northbridge, it would have connected with

Gore Hill Freeway Gore Hill Freeway is a divided freeway located in Sydney, New South Wales that is part of the Sydney Orbital Network and Highway 1. The primary function of the freeway is to provide an alternative high-grade route from Lane Cove to and to r ...

and

at its southern end. A new connection road would be built at Balgowlah linking between Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation, the Beaches Link tunnel entrance and exit, and Sydney Road. The road would divide the former Balgowlah Golf Club grounds. The Beaches Link would follow abandoned extensions of the

in the 1960s and 1970s and bypasses the heavily congested

. The project was first announced in December 2020 by the Berejiklian government as a single project with the

Western Harbour Tunnel The Western Harbour Tunnel is a tunnel under construction in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The six lane, twin tunnels will run from Cammeray to Rozelle, passing beneath Sydney Harbour. It is scheduled for completion in 2028. The tunne ...

. In June 2022, the Perrottet government announced that the project would be shelved indefinitely, due to budgetary constraints and labour shortages. Following a change of government, the project was cancelled by the Minns government in September 2023. However, Transport for NSW will retain ownership of acquired properties and the construction of stub tunnels at the Western Harbour Tunnel portals in Cammeray reserve a future connection to Beaches Link, should it be built by a future government.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link - Project Information

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is a Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government transport services and roads List of New South Wales government agencies, agency established on 1 November 2011. The agency is a different entity to the NSW ...

Beaches Link interactive portal
- Transport for NSW Cancelled projects in Australia Proposed roads in Australia