Melbourne City Link is a privately-funded tollroad that connects three of the city's major freeways.
Construction of the A$2 billion project commenced in May 1996. The Project comprises two parts: the Western Link, which connects the Tullamarine Freeway to the West Gate Freeway; and the Southern Link, which connects the West Gate Freeway to the Monash (formerly South Eastern) Freeway.
The Western Link comprised a substantial upgrade to the Tullamarine Freeway (to eight lanes) between Bulla Road and Flemington Road, a six-lane elevated road through West Melbourne and a connecting bridge over the Yarra River to the West Gate Freeway. The Western Link opened to traffic on 15 August 1999 with tolling commencing on 3rd January 2000.
The Southern Link comprises two three-lane tunnels beneath the Yarra River (3.4 and 1.6 kms long) and an upgrade to the existing freeway (to five and six lanes) between the city and the city end of the Monash Freeway, just east of Glenferie Road. The Southern Link fully opened and tolling commenced on 28 December 2000.
The Victorian Government and the private developer Transurban City Link, now known as CityLink Melbourne Ltd (CML), are the parties to a Concession Deed pursuant to the Melbourne City Link Act 1995. Under this Deed, Transurban is required to design, build, finance, operate, levy tolls and maintain City Link for a period of 34 years ending on 14 January 2034. At the end of the concession period the CityLink is to be transferred to the State in a fully maintained condition.
The Melbourne City Link Authority oversaw and facilitated the project on the basis of a private build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) scheme. The work of the Authority is continued by VicRoads.
Design and construction of City Link was undertaken by TOJV, a joint venture between Transfield and the Obayashi Corporation of Japan, under contract to Transurban.
Transfield-Obayashi Joint Venture subcontracted the design and construction of the western section of City Link to Baulderstone Hornibrook Engineering and the supply of the electronic tolling system to Translink Systems, a company jointly owned by Transfield and Transroute of France.
Transurban sub-contracted the ongoing operation and maintenance of City Link to Translink Operations, also owned by Transfield and Transroute. In 1999, Transurban assumed full control of City Link customer service operations.
The Melbourne City Link Authority and Transurban nominated an Independent Reviewer to act as a check on the quality of construction, design and implementation.
The Government's objectives for the City Link project were issued in September 1994 as part of the Project Brief for the Southern and Western Bypasses.
The Brief outlined the role of government and the risk allocation for the project and detailed the performance parameters, urban design considerations and standards for design, construction, operation and maintenance.
The project objectives are contained in clause 2.1 of the Concession Deed. This clause of the Concession Deed lists the intention of the State in relation to the City Link project as:
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integrate the Link into Melbourne's road system;
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provide freeway-standard links between the South Eastern Arterial (now Monash Freeway), the West Gate Freeway and the Tullamarine Freeway;
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develop appropriate Gateways to Melbourne;
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implement road and infrastructure programs on a competitive basis;
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generally facilitate the movement of traffic around the central administrative district (CAD) rather than through it;
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improve access to the CAD and facilities such as Docklands, Southbank, the Casino, the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Arts Centre, the Tennis Centre and Olympic Park;
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develop aesthetically pleasing and architecturally significant structures to enhance the City of Melbourne;
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promote greater competitiveness in Victorian industry;
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optimise economic benefits and minimise financial costs;
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improve access for freight movements for manufacturing industry and primary producers to the Port of Melbourne, rail facilities such as the Melbourne Freight Terminal and the South Dynon Container Terminal, the wholesale markets and Melbourne Airport;
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improve the environment around the Yarra River, Botanic Gardens, Kings Domain and adjacent sporting and entertainment precincts;
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minimise environmental and social impacts along the Link and its feeder roads.
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In addition to the objectives outlined in clause 2.1, the Concession Deed states that the Project Documents were negotiated on the premise that:
1. City Link will deliver significant benefits to the community in terms of positive economic, social and environmental outcomes;
2. the project is implemented in accordance with the Infrastructure Investment Policy for Victoria (1994);
3. the project is privately financed;
4. the tolling system is to be available for use in other projects, subject to clause 3.2 of the Concession Deed.
Melbourne City Link is an automated, fully electronic tollroad - one of the first in the world - and has no toll plazas, toll booths or coin chutes.
City Link contains designated toll zones. These zones are sections of the City Link route where a vehicle's driver or owner incurs a toll for use of the roadway. City Link and the Exhibition Street Extension contain a total of eleven toll zones. The tollroad operator, CML, is required by the Melbourne City Link Act 1995 to publish the locations of these zones and the tolls payable.
Electronic tolling allows drivers to use City Link without slowing or stopping to pay tolls and helps to maintain free-flowing traffic on the freeway.
City Link users are required to register with the Link operator, CityLink Melbourne Limited, either by opening a toll account or buying a day pass. Those who open an account receive a small wireless device known as an e-TAG to install on the vehicle's windscreen.
Each e-TAG has a unique number stored in its electronic memory. The e-TAG does not contain the vehicle's licence plate number, the driver's name or address or other personal details.
When a vehicle carrying an e-TAG passes through a toll zone, the e-TAG is detected by a scanner mounted on a gantry above the roadway and the serial number is identified. This number is linked to the driver's toll account in the central tolling computer system located in South Melbourne.
When a driver's e-TAG is recorded passing beneath a gantry, the tolling computer deducts the toll for that toll zone from the driver's toll account. This process is called a transaction. Each transaction is similiar to a withdrawal from a bank account and is entered into the records of the driver's toll account.
The administration of the tolling system, including toll accounts, is the responsibility of CityLink Melbourne Limited. Account holders are obliged to maintain sufficient funds in their accounts to cover the payment of tolls for trips taken on City Link.
Also mounted on each gantry are digital cameras for obtaining images of vehicle licence plates and classifying vehicles by type (for example, car or light commercial vehicle). The images are used to administer the City Link pass system and for detecting motorists who have not made arrangements to pay the toll.
Under amendments to the Act that came into operation on 1 July 2005, the operator may send motorists who have driven on the Link Road without registering to pay the toll a request for payment of the tolls incurred. The request may include an administrative fee ($12.00) to cover the cost of issuing the invoice. If the invoice is not paid, a second invoice may be sent but this time the administrative fee will increase to $21.50. If the second invoice is not paid, the operator may request the enforcement agency to send an infringement notice to the owner. In recognition that inadvertent first offenders now have the opportunity to pay the toll without a penalty, the concessional first infringement penalty of $40.00 has been withdrawn and the penalty for all tolling offences is now $100.00.
Under amendments to the Concession Deed (Twentieth Amending Deed) endorsed on 28 July 2005, the Company agreed not to request an infringement notice unless it has sent an invoice to the owner and the invoice has not been paid.
Amendments to the privacy provisions applicable to VicRoads under the Road Safety Act were also made to allow the disclosure of information from the VicRoads motor registration database and NEVDIS to the Company to enable the registered owners of vehicles using the Link without registering to pay the toll to be identified.
These new arrangements have significantly reduce the number of infringement notices sent out and hence the revenue received by the State from fines.
The purpose of the Exhibition Street Extension project (ESEP) is to create a direct link between Exhibition Street in the city and the Monash (formerly South Eastern) Freeway, providing a new access route to the south-east corner of the city centre.
The Extension comprises two sections:
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The City end, between Flinders Street and Olympic Park;
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The Punt Road end, between Olympic Park and Punt Road
The City end is a 4-lane divided road over the Jolimont railyards, passing the Tennis Centre to join Batman Avenue and intersect with Swan Street. The Punt Road end connects the Extension Road (from a point near Olympic Park) to the Freeway via a widened overpass at Punt Road.
A re-routed No.70 tram (City to Wattle Park via Swan Street) joins the Extension road north of the Tennis Centre and continues across the bridge to Flinders Street. The bridge also accommodates two foot paths each five metre wide that provide pedestrian access from the city centre to sporting facilities in Olympic Park.
The Extension road was an essential element in a series of developments aimed at revitalising the Jolimont precinct. These include Federation Square, Birrarung Marr Park, enhancements to the sports and entertainment precinct and the rationalisation of the Jolimont railyards. The Extension enabled the closure of Batman Avenue west of the Tennis Centre, permitting the development of eight hectares of inner-city parkland on the banks of the Yarra River.
The road was also designed to relieve traffic congestion in Punt Road and Brunton Avenue during peak periods, such as after a major sporting event at the MCG or Melbourne Park.
The project was undertaken as a modification to the City Link project and financed by the private sector through what is known as a partial BOOT scheme.
Under the terms of an agreement announced by the State Government in April 1998, Transurban was responsible for the construction of the Punt Road end and for the operation and maintenance of the whole Extension. The State was responsible for the construction of the City end, for which it received a Contract Sum from Transurban upon completion. VicRoads acted as project manager for this section of the Extension and the civil engineering works were undertaken by John Holland Construction.
The Exhibition Street Extension is operated as a part of City Link, subject to the collection of tolls from its users. Under interim tolling arrangements for the taxi industry, taxis are permitted to use the City end of the Extension without paying a toll.
City Link Project Milestones[PDF, 27 KB]
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