NorthConnex Opening Day! Driving Sydney's new NorthConnex tunnels in both directions (M1-M2 link)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- Join me on a drive of Sydney's new NorthConnex motorway in both directions on its opening day! The tunnel connects the M2 Hills Motorway with the M1 Pacific Motorway. It is the deepest road tunnel in Australia, and is tied with Sydney's M8 Tunnel as the longest.
![Driving from the Blue Mountains (Springwood) to Sydney CBD [4K] - M4 Western Motorway](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-h8nlZx3edY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Driving from the Blue Mountains (Springwood) to Sydney CBD [4K] - M4 Western Motorway](/img/tr.png)
![Driving from Gosford to the Sydney CBD - M1/A1 Pacific Motorway, Highway [4K]](/img/n.gif)
UPDATE: As of early August 2023, NorthConnex is now signed as the M11. I'll leave the video as is so that it is consistent with what the signage showed at the time when it was filmed.
My other videos covering Sydney's urban motorways:
Sydney Orbital (M1, M2, M5, M7): th-cam.com/video/kX1EecuzlCs/w-d-xo.html
M4 Western Motorway: th-cam.com/video/-h8nlZx3edY/w-d-xo.html
M8 Tunnel: th-cam.com/video/CBF2sAToU2g/w-d-xo.html
I’m definitely watching cars. This is too similar
what is that a stub tunnel at 2:06
& the fact northbound is four lanes wide from NorthConnex interchange to just after Kuringai Chase exit
As well not sure where started but it's four lanes leading up to the NorthConnex Interchange heading southbound
You chose music that was in the “cars” movie! Classic!
A lot of trucks gonna change their status to “dangerous goods” just to avoid the tunnel tolls. All you have to take onboard is a gas bottle and a jerrycan with petrol and you’re saving instantly almost $24 each way. Simple as that.
100km/h would be more appropriate with all the safety in 2020.
I’m not sure what the trick is to have the tunnels only two lanes wide even there is enough room to fit in three..... perhaps it would be too cheap to do it now so more money can be wasted later. Typical in NSW.
I was actually wondering that myself !! If it has been built wide enough to accommodate 3 lanes, why wouldn’t you have 3 lanes for the outset ????? I think the real reason is that it is a CON!!! Have a look at the left hand breakdown lane.....do you really think that is wide enough to turn into a new 3rd lane ??? It certainly doesn’t look like it to me - it looks about 1/2 -1 metre too narrow !! Also, given how much truck traffic will be in the tunnel because of its MANDATORY use by all large trucks, you’d think they would have made the existing 2 lanes a little bit wider than standard, to allow a bit of extra safety margin. AND.... if they(Transurban) reckon they can add a 3rd lane, how much disruption will there be during the change??? They’ll have to shut the tunnel for at least a month or two !!! No, you see, it doesn’t make any sense from a logical, rational or engineering point of view. I firmly believe there is not now, or ever will be any intention to make it 3 lanes, and from an engineering standpoint it cannot be done.
By comparison, have a look at the new Westconnex M4 East tunnel which has been built to a proper 3 lane standard already and see how PROPERLY WIDE it is !!!
I believe that in years to come, the deficiencies of this tunnel will become very evident, and will replicate the disaster that was the original stupidly narrow 2 lane M5 tunnel !!!! Let’s not forget how that tunnel was fully CONGESTED from the first day of its opening!!! What is it with NSW road designers ???? By comparison, have a look at the Melbourne motorways - they are nearly ALL 4, sometimes 5 lanes!!!!
@@Nicholas.T I know what you mean. Even the emergency lane looks narrow now the tunnel is around 9m wide and easily accommodate three lanes. The new M4 east looks wide with three lanes now because there is enough room to squeeze in 4 lanes.
@@MrCzech78 Yes, it just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever!! If it’s truly wide enough for 3 proper lanes, logic dictates that you have that from DAY 1 !! Actually MrCzech78, if it is 9 metres wide, then it is NOT WIDE ENOUGH to have three lanes. The RMS construction standard for motorway lanes is a minimum of 3.3 metres, so this tunnel would need to be a minimum of 9.9, let’s call it 10 metres wide, which it is NOT. So I think that proves my point that there in no intention, ever, to make this a proper 3 lane tunnel. That’s actually a bit of political/Transurban spin, to placate people, but to actually save in construction costs, at the expense of long term viability/usability. FURTHER, given the known, huge number of trucks that MUST USE this tunnel, the lanes should actually be a little wider to provide some extra safety margin, in the event of an incident. I would suggest they need to be 3.5 metres wide, meaning a total tunnel width of at least 10.5 metres for 3 lanes, which clearly it is not. As I said elsewhere, it’s been built on the cheap, without thought of the future, just like the original M5 East tunnel.
@@Nicholas.T perhaps the tunnels are really as wide as you’re saying (10.5m) but you know Nsw can jam 3 lanes easily into 9m gap. Remember Parramatta Rd. at 2.6m each😂
Those LEDs are a health hazard waiting to happen. The blue wavelength is bad for your colour cones in your retinas. Also, LEDs pulse rapidly but so fast you don't pick up the flash. I can see a law-suit coming in the first fully LED lit tunnel when an epileptic has a fit in a car.
Growing up in Thornleigh, now living in the USA seeing this is amazing!
Damn $8.00 for using the northconnex tunnel is quite steep. Feels bad for Sydneysiders and their over priced tolls. Also weird to see the northconnex without a route number on it. Anyways great video as always!
Yeah they changed a few signs on pacific highway to A11 a year ago so I was guessing it was gonna be M1 but they covered it up a few months ago and changed it back to A1.
I personally think they should've made NorthConnex part of the M7 route, and signed the part part of the M2 between the M7 and NorthConnex as a M2/M7 concurrency. That way, the M7 route would form a continuous Sydney bypass, from the Hume to the Pacific Motorway.
@@GreatAussieDrives didn’t they do that? When the M7 was built but people associate route number with what toll they pay. North connex should clearly by part of the M7 as there is no free flowing interchange towards the Sydney side yet.
@@GreatAussieDrives That’s what I think should’ve happened as well. Guessing it’s too logical for RMS to figure out
I would made it M1 the part east of it becomes M1 and the part west becomes part of M7. That way the whole bypass becomes one number.
Did you choose “life is a highway” because the light installations remind you of mcqueen’s trailer ceiling?
The light installations are fantastic!
Absolutely fantastic! I went in it last year, and the different light shows were amazing! Such a shame it is so heavily tolled though.
Congratulations to the people of Sydney! I've been following the progress on this since it began. Not only will it help expedite traffic around the city but it will benefit the area as a whole.
04:52 That red BMW almost missed the tunnel entry. I wonder how long those poles will last.
which bmw model is it?
Who else finds it strange that there’s no direct entrance into NorthConnex from M2 Westbound (coming from city)?
You have to get off M2 Westbound at Pennant Hills rd exit and turn right to then enter NorthConnex.
During PM peak hour wouldn’t that Pennant Hills Rd exit from M1 get completely chocka-block??
Great drive! I feel like they must in the near future build direct ramps from M2 west from Sydney to NorthConnex north to M1, as I feel Pacific Highway and that short stretch of Pennant Hills Road connecting to M2 toward that direction won't get too much relief. But for now, good solution. I wish the US were as balanced at undertaking both transit and highway projects as Australia.
I feel like northconnex was a missed opportunity to fix both pacific highway and PHR. Even if they build direct ramps you are still going to take the long way around. So it won’t justify taking the North Connex and M2 to the city. They were gonna route the traffic that way as they had changed a few signs before the opening. Pacific highway was on a be named A11 and signed changed to pymble. But all Reminence have been plated up.
Do remember a private company 100% funded for this....
Looks very much like the duplex tunnel on A86 in Paris.
In Paris is 10km long + a network of tunnel liking to it on A14 and La Défense tunnel wich total 17km of tunnel in west Paris
The craziness about the one in Paris is that 2 road in 1 tunnel , one on top of the other
Here a video : th-cam.com/video/NO_jr-zewYc/w-d-xo.html
Newcastle to Goulburn. Doing it on 4 November Wednesday. So I will not have to share the two lanes with truck traffic? I don't think so! I will video it to show the real "joy" of the Northconnex.
Upper body need it back I’ll come get you I’ll come later I’ll come join join me if I can do I’ll come back to come join me if I’ll join later I’ll get it back I’ll get you sometime
Similar to Stockholm's South Link and North Link highway tunnels, also features underground interchanges with off and on ramps.
Why not give this a route number like M13 or M14. M10 is reserved for OSO and M11 is probably for the current M1. M12 is for WSIA Motorway
'Real Gone', 'Life is a Highway' from Pixar's Cars. Cool.
My analysis of your trip looks like this:
- *Northbound:* start = 0:38, finish = 3:06. ET = 2:28 or 148 seconds. 9 km over this time is an average speed of 218.02 km/h, or in an 80 zone, a little bit quick.
- *Southbound:* start = 5:02, finish = 7:36. ET = 1:34 or 154 seconds. This time your average drops to a (less illegal) 218.39 km/h.
- *Total average speed:* = 214.65 km/h, allowing for wind, continental drift and video playback inaccuracies.
My conclusion - you are a very naughty motorist (as is every other motorist shown on your video) and should be careful posting incriminating content of this nature. Dave
I just put it on playback speed 0.75X. That gives a relatively accurate speed if in real time for this video.
@PirateSharikStudios Hehe - of course. I have a slightly quirky sense of humour!
Mate, its amazing you get to drive this tunnel on the opening day, I only drove after 6 or 7 months :) good one my friend! cheers and stay safe, liked 192
Why build new infrastructure with such a low speed limit?
Great video, thanks, :) and it’s the first mandatory tolled truck tunnel perhaps. The A2 Toowoomba Bypass, which opened just on 12 months ago, is now the mandatory route for trucks other than those travelling to the New England Highway or whose destination was Toowoomba itself. Also controversial and the Qld Govt offered a sweetener to industry with the announcement just before opening that the bypass, and the earlier Gatton bypass, were approved for type 1 Road Trains. Currently they’re building decoupling areas just east of Gatton.
Thank you
Interstate 278 should be tunneled from the Verrazano bridge to the Kosciusko bridge in a manner similar to NCX, which would allow the Triple Cantilever section of the BQE to be converted for use by local traffic and a large riverfront park. The entire Gowanus expressway would be moved underground and this is the only way that allows for Interstate 87 to be extended to meet Interstate 95 west of the Goethals bridge in New Jersey. From that point Interstate 87 would follow the New Jersey Turnpike to Delaware then it would be concurrent with Interstate 95 for a short section before following DE 1 to Dover. South of that section a new inland expressway would be built west of US 13 and this expressway would run to an upgraded Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. After the crossing a new set of tunnels would be built to connect the bridge directly to Interstate 64near Norfolk, with Interstate 87 using those tunnels and being concurrent with Interstate 64 until its terminus at Interstate 664. From there it would follow its originally planned route to Raleigh. Both of the tunnels that are necessary would be tolled.
Raleigh? I'm 80 miles away from it. 2 hrs from I-664 in Norfolk!
I have drove through the Northconnex Tunnel on the opening day.
Great drive as always, the lighting installations are certainly unique. Interesting to me that they had to close a lane on the first day of operations for roadworks though...
Yay, it's finally open! Looks great :)
I'm doing my bachelors on civil engineering in Mexico, it's amazing to see stuff like this down there! One of my goals is to drive in one of your highways (as we call it in north america) to feel the experience and maybe why not, hope to work there and do some great roads in the down under!
Thanks! I'd love to drive in North America too one day, including Mexico!
Hey, that song "Real Gone" is from the movie "Cars".
As well as “life as a highway”
NorthConnex Tunnel now open
Is it me or these tunnels feel narrower than the M4 tunnels
Yes, they definitely look that way. And by rights they should be WIDER than standard motorway lanes, because the designers KNOW that a huge number of trucks are destined to use the tunnel. And that left hand breakdown lane.... no way that is wide enough to turn into a proper 3rd lane, as they claim can be done in future, if traffic densities warrant it. No, this tunnel has been built on the cheap, even though it was over budget at nearly $4 billion, and a year late !!!
Yes, both the M8 and NorthConnex are a bit narrower than the M4 East tunnels. The M4 East has 3 "full size" lanes in each direction, whereas if they convert NorthConnex to 3 lanes in the future they would have to reduce the width of each lane.
@@Nicholas.T they spent most of the money of the LED lights im afraid
another stub tunnel at 5:33
0:25 I can foresee alot of accidents at the northbound M2 end where the road splits between the North Connex and the old Pennant Hills Rd offramp. Single lane exit with road arrows pointing to the leftmost lane (North Connex lanes)...with not a huge amount of time for pennant hills rd motorists to veer right again to avoid the tunnel. Even in this video, one of the cars cuts off someone as they left it til last second to take the pennant hills rd exit. I think they need to remove the arrows or impove them in that area.
I'm working from linkt and I'm from manila wow so far this is my favorite toll road in Sydney wish I could travel on Sydney in the future!! ❤️
I thought Life Is A Highway was a more suitable song but ok. Oh wait it does play it but later throughout the video!
I drive from Brisbane to Melbourne and back about once a year and used to always take the Newell Hwy even though it was mostly single lane simply because of all the roadworks upgrading the Pacific Hwy. But now with all but Coffs bypassed, (and especially Pennant Hills Rd!) this is my preferred route
it's great that the government is doing these projects, but the tolls are a big reason they don't work as intended. I don't have a solution to pose, but just something to think about I guess. it's not like the government can profit off of developing the area around the tunnel because it's a tunnel...
Seriously only 2 lanes? And now its needs yet another tunnel for when you are heading to Sydney/Sydney East to take load of the Pacific Highway.
I hate to be the "Half Glass Empty Guy" But, It will always take one broken down car or a serious accident to clog every major road in Sydney
Not before time. Peannant Hills Road was an absolute nightmare. It made me dread heading up the coast. The toll is steep but it's worth it for a decent link.
Midday today (Sunday) was a bottleneck at the north entrance to the tunnel. Maybe they should have designed it differently, where the tunnel entrance was the major flow road, rather than have to exit to the left into it. We are forced to merge with the slow traffic in the left lane. The queue back today was several kms. It was not like that in the past.
Well done and thanks for sharing. Might do this on the motorbike tomorrow. Should reduce a bit of congestion around the place (hopefully)! Cheers - Dave
When you exit the tunnel at the m2 junction there does'nt seem to be enough space to get into the right lanes to enter the m2??? and you have to keep going straight towards Parramatta??? i thought th whole idea of this tunnel was to connect to the M2 without lights.
Ok so one has the roofing leds and one had the wall leds MAKES SENSE! Now I can show this to my mum and she can go up to Newcastle tonight lol
That tunnel was built 200 years ago.
$16 (plus fuel) to make this video. Thanks for your sacrifice!!
A bit more than that, as I had some M2 tolls to pay as well :P
Hoping for my house price to go up on Central Coast 😊
How do you pay? It seems there is no toll booth. Does highway agency take picture of numberplate and send the bill?
Good question, NorthConnex like all Australian toll roads use an electronic collection system known as E-Tag. You buy a small toll transponder and fit it inside your car.
Nice road. Glad to see the tunnel.
I should downvote you for not using the original / best version of Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane ;)
I think I actually prefer this version tbh. Not knocking the original as it is the original after all. But I just think this version is more polished. Sang more clearly, making it easier to understand the lyrics. And it has a better backing track. Each to their own though🤷♂️👍.
They didn't offer a free sample with this one. Your video was the next best thing.
You'd think with the reputation of inadequate two lane freeways in this city, the government would increase the standard to three lane minimum by now. There is the reputation for apathy as well though.
Marked for two traffic lanes, will take three @ 3.5m each in the future. For now, they've' kept the left as a continuous breakdown lane (with a bay or two).
And about bloody time too!
Not many trucks on that road, must have been the weekend
Yep, NorthConnex opened in the early hours of a Saturday, probably for that very reason.
Wouldn't this be the 2nd mandatory truck toll? What about the Toowoomba bypass?
True, good point. 2nd mandatory truck toll it is then.
@@GreatAussieDrives It isn't mandated
Do you use a special app or camera for all the signage on screen? Or add it in post?
Thanks for the comment, I create the signs in Illustrator and add them in Premiere Pro.
Thanks, looks great. I was hoping it’s an app that does it automatically...
Neat drive. It seems like a missed opportunity to not have numbered this as southern extension of M1, but maybe that's just me. Nice work on the video.
Thanks! Unfortunately M1 can't be used for the NorthConnex as the A1 is already used for the Pacific Highway to the Sydney CBD, which is a separate route. That being said, I completely agree that they should've assigned it a route number (I personally think extending the M7 would've been the best option).