As regular commuters on Pennant Hills Road we  are all too familiar with the traffic problems...

Pennant Hills Road recently topped the list of most congested roads not only in Sydney but in Australia, following an audit by Infrastructure Australia. As regular commuters on this road we are all too familiar with the traffic problems. However there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Approval for the North Connex project was granted by the NSW Minister for Planning early in 2015. North Connex is a nine kilometre tunnel that will link the M1 Pacific Motorway to the M2 Motorway at an estimated cost of $3 billion. There will be two separate tunnels with an on and off ramp at each end and a 5.3 metre height clearance which should avoid the problems with trucks that have occurred in other Sydney tunnels.

The project is due to be completed by 2019 by which time it will feel long overdue. It is estimated that it will remove 5000 trucks from Pennant Hills Road each day and reduce travel time by 10-15 minutes at peak hour.

Approximately 2.5 million cubic metres of predominately sandstone and shale spoil will be generated during the excavation of the four main tunnels between Wahroonga and West Pennant Hills. The spoil will be reused in residential developments and also the Hornsby Quarry.

The main haulage routes will include the M1 Pacific Motorway and the Hills M2 motorway. In an attempt to minimise impact on local residents, trucks will use purpose built access ways and existing lanes connecting the tunneling sites to Pennant Hills Road and the M1.

The Hornsby Quarry will be able to take spoil in early 2017. Vegetation clearing and pothole and service investigation has started. Soon we will see a conveyor constructed to take spoil from the stock piles to the quarry.

At Pearces Corner, a compound has been established to provide car parking and staff amenities.

A northern compound was established in July 2016 with traffic lights installed on the M1 to allow trucks to move spoil from Pennant Hills Road to the M1.

The shaft excavation for the tunnel is now complete. We are now seeing tunneling work using road headers 24/7

To stay up to date with progress across  the wider area of NorthConnex click here.