The $2 billion Warringah Freeway upgrade has reached a new milestone, with the Miller St southbound on-ramp opening to traffic over the weekend.
This is the first key piece in a series of structures that will open progressively over the next 12 months as part of the project.
The Warringah Freeway is one of Australia’s busiest and most complicated roads, providing the northern gateway to the Sydney CBD via the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel for 250,000 vehicles per day.
This new on-ramp at Cammeray separates general traffic from buses, taking motorists from Miller Street over the freeway’s future dedicated citybound bus lane.
Later this year the new Brook Street on-ramp will also connect into the new Miller Street on-ramp as a single viaduct structure, to help improve traffic flow.
The new Miller Street on-ramp does not require drivers to make any changes to their usual route. It will still be accessible from either direction along Miller Street, and will continue to be an access point for the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Cahill Expressway.
The new on-ramp is 200 metres long and 10 metres wide and was built using 40 pre-cast Super-T girders (the concrete structures which support the ramp), each weighing around 48 tonnes.
Transport for NSW Deputy Secretary Infrastructure Projects and Engineering Camilla Drover said, “The Miller Street on-ramp is a key piece in a series of structures that will open over the next 12 months as the project motors towards the finish line.
“It is the first piece in a much bigger puzzle, though this new on ramp will not change how motorists use the freeway. In the next year, we will complete the next stage of the design by opening the new Brook Street southbound on ramp to traffic. In the next year, we will complete the next stage of the design by opening the new Brook Street southbound on ramp to traffic.
“The Brook Street on ramp will connect into the Miller Street on ramp where, together, they will form a single viaduct structure lifting general traffic over a dedicated future bus lane below.
“This will give city-bound buses a seamless journey to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and CBD.”
The Warringah Freeway is an enabling project for the Western Harbour Tunnel.
When the Western Harbour Tunnel is also opened, drivers are expected to save up to 20 minutes of travel time from North Sydney to Sydney Olympic Park and from Leichhardt to North Sydney, and 15 minutes from North Sydney to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport.