you don't know sydney like I do, the iron cove bridge takes you to the gladesville bridge, yes over anzac bridge through victoria rd. Concord bridge is the main south to north route ,so there are 3 ways south to north and visa versa, over the parramatta "river". You can go to paramatta and avoid any "river" crossing, or just take the ferry from circular quay to manly, and get caught up in the tourist loop, you are welcome
Balance needs to be had in cities. Space for vehicles needs to be made and space for public transportation needs to be made. All your goods in a city come from trucks and transport vehicles, reduce the time it takes to get these goods and the price of the goods will come down. Sufficient public transportation is needed as cars are an expensive burden that most people can't afford.
This is going to help traffic... for a very short amount of time. Then induced demand is going to push it right back up again. Sydney needs more public transport, not more roads.
True, every time I go to sydney I like it less. Traffic is a huge issue. Way to car centric. Allthough it does seem like bike lanes are being built, bur a better metro is definitly needed.
@@aqidon its underconstruction at the moment. But also there are alot of different types of transportation like sydney metro, sydney trains and light rail around the city to the west
why isnt everyone there driving a e-bike? its warm all the time....and you can have a "umbrella roof" abowe your bike or a hat so you wont get a heat stroke
Recently visited Sydney. As an American I was shocked how mild the traffic was and how great the mass transit was...kind of sad to see more focus on cars and highways. The Sydney metro already handles 1.3M journeys per day. Why not spend this on improving the metro? This tunnel is larger in diameter than a metro tunnel and yet will likely move fewer people.
@@flynncollins6930 well the traffic will not get any better, if the amount being spent on roads will stay that much bigger than the amount spent on public transport
We are building / getting a whole new Metro / Subway. :) it’s due to open in 2025 I believe. It’s a huge project. I have lived in Sydney for 2 years. I came up from 3 years in Melbourne. Sydney public’s transport is quiet good once you figure it out. I take the ferries often and I love “taking a boat to work” the trains are good also. They need do need more trams and more frequent. The Melbourne tram network was fantastic. I love living in Sydney. Amazing city.
Sydney Metro's City & Southwest extension is right next to the West Harbour Tunnel, and is planned to open in 2024. They don't exactly go to the same places but is nevertheless a great alternative for crossing the harbour.
If no alternative transport is implemented at the same time, it will just maintain the status quo of trying to keep up with ever increasing car use. I agree that a new connection is desperately needed, but not nearly as much as viable, affordable, round-the-clock public transit. Great video!
@@musqul8566 If you wanna suffer, then suffer, just don't make others suffer for your uninformed opinion.And more importantly: don't make them pay money for it.
Actually, there is (sort of). Sydney Metro's City & Southwest extension is right next to the West Harbour Tunnel, and is planned to open in 2024. They don't exactly go to the same places but is nevertheless a great alternative for crossing the harbour.
Just a quick correction: The ANZAC bridge doesn't cross Sydney Harbour. You're thinking of the Gladesville and Iron Cove bridges. The ANZAC bridge replaced the older Glebe Island bridge for getting to the inner West from the city. Other than that, a good video and very informative.
Hi there, thanks for the video, as an employee of the Acciona in Sydney, really cool to see this level of information made available to everyone with great visuals. Cheers
As a Sydneysider I have to commend the effort you’ve put into this, a lot of RUclipsrs get things wrong about Sydney given that we’re on the other side of the world but you were bang on the whole video. Great vid!
@@Ethan-zr6ee It's funny that after all mention how the World is small the world is actually still not so small that 1 can also know about every major change what is happening near him.☺
Well… it’s a great video except when he said our lack of public transport. We have trains, buses, lightrail and ferry services. Not that any of them are particularly groundbreaking or amazing - but we do definitely have a decent amount of public transport options available to us.
@@rogeh5687 questionable actually for a lot of people. Lots of buses from the North Shore have extremely long queues in the mornings, to the point of making them unfeasible for people to use public transport. Trains are a bit better, but certainly no seating for a lot of people
@@rogeh5687 Really?😳 Awesome!😃 And I already thought that, apart from the 1 mentioned by the author, everyone is forced to wait for the Kangaroo bags and sleds pulled by Koalas.🤣
@@rogeh5687 I agree, public transport infrastructure has not been forgotten, with the Chatswood to Bankstown section of the northwest metro and the parramatta metro soon to double the rail access to the city from the north, south and west. Plus the inner west light rail along with the new eastern suburbs light rail providing greater access from these areas Sydney's public transport is getting a huge upgrade
A lot of people here don't understand that this is only in part to alleviate traffic. Those that live in Sydney know just how insanely crucial Sydney Harbour Bridge is to keeping this city even functioning. You take it out in any disruption and more than half the city comes to a grinding halt and can't move towards the CBD as it has not only car traffic but huge train and bus network impacts. We desperately need harbour crossing infrastructure that is not linked to the bridge so that when disruptions happen, there is still an alternative. The other thing is people think this is the only megaproject happening. Theres a whole swathe of both road and metro projects going on at the same time including another harbour crossing metro set to open in a year.
Sydney needs a few more bridges and tunnels to build resilience into its system. Sydney and NSW has all the resources and expertise it needs to do that. What Australia needs to do is to build out its industrial manufacturing base and turn all those natural resources into products that he world needs.
Thank you. An actual sane and rational comment. Not just ridiculous anti car crap hysteria that Fred apparently buys into given the likes this channel gives every comment whining about cars.
Liberals hate cars because they have to pay for them. Much easier to take the public transit that way u can be high on pills on the way to pick up your welfare check
I worked on the Sydney Harbor Tunnel in the early 90's. dredging was quick and easy and didn't make much impact on the environment because of strict measures that were taken. Now we have NIMBY's Not In My Backyard, when they bought into one of the largest and fastest growing cities. Sydney International Airport has a curfew because of these NIMBY's. I think it is the only International Airport in the world that has a curfew because of people that bought into property close to the airport but then complained about the noise.
NIMBYs truly are the worse, the halted rail construction in the eastern suburbs and on the north shore. They also arrive after areas that generate crowds and noise and complain despite knowing what type of area they are moving into, Luna Park and the airport are key examples of this
these people also halted bike infrastructure everywhere, not giving the bike a chance of a fair go (with some safety infrastructure), where other countries have successfully integrated bikes into their daily networks.
How long do they think those percentages at 2:22 will be true for, it still amazes me roading planners still don't understand the concept of induced demand yet.
no need to worry in sydney since every new road has a heavy toll attached to it. probably an anecdote but ive heard sydney is the most tolled city in the world. do a lap and youre up for $50. im all for extra public transport infrastructure and that is being built, so im not going to turn my nose up to extra car infrastructure that will greatly benefit the city. australia is a country as large as the us with a population less than a 10th the size. cars are vital, and must be accommodated. but the more public transport there is, the happier i am.
@@Zeethos cars are vital once you get outside of those major cities tho, say newcastle, central coast etc, theres only one train line, the bus networks are in shambles and there is no metro's like sydney, melbourne or perth, you are kidding yourself if you think vehicles are not vital in this country.
I’m from Auckland in New Zealand and I travel to Sydney a lot, although road traffic is bad the public transport is actually pretty good, they have rail, buses, light rail and also an expanding metro system. Compared with in Auckland we have really poor public transport with a limited rail network and buses and that’s it.
@@intuitivediane mate what part of Auckland were you driving in haha? we get almost nothing but road rage at Cascades Roundabout. others places in East Auckland are just drivers being stupid or driving slowly.
5:00 You could fit four railway tracks in a double-stack configuration in that big of a tunnel, each of which could be carrying tens of thousands of people per hour. Instead we have highway lanes serving 1500 people each.
Our state government is all about taking our tax money, selling off public assets to private sectors to make more money off of us, instead of using OUR money to actually serve us. The road tolls in Sydney are beyond.
amazing video guys as always! I think Lower Thames Crossing is going to have over 16m in diameter and is also 3 lanes. So seems like pretty similar project. Maybe something to make a video about (not sure at what stage the project is currently tbh)
@@memofromessexthanks for pointing that out! I’ve had a look and seems like Silvertown tunnel is going to be roughly 12m so a bit smaller tunnel and probably 2 lanes.
Lower Thames Crossing and Silvertown Tunnel can do one, that same money could be spent on decarbonising our infrastructure. If you want a tunnel, let it be Tram/ Bus only...
@@Garner84 You will have more success explaining to car lovers in a CITY that their own self interest is to get other drivers off the road I.E. any forms of public transport means better driving experience; instead of worse with induced demand.
I remember in 2007 when QM2 and QE2 visited the port in tandem. It was the first time two giant Cunard ocean liners had visited the city since 1940. The crowds approached 1m people and brought the entire transport infrastructure to a standstill. Ferries were late. Train services delayed. Busses in gridlock. Taxis couldn’t get through crowds. It was remarkable.
I remember that as I live in the area it was stunning to see the impact it was impossible to get anywhere by anything accept by foot it was gridlocked for hours in every direction. It is also a nightmare if anything gets stuck in the tunnel which thankfully hasn't happened for a while.
I live near the construction zone - some of it almost directly under me on a lower north shore peninsula, and I can tell you right now that I’m looking forward to it being completed in conjunction with all our Metro, light rail, and new airport projects. Also, I can’t say Sydney traffic is great but compared to some of the major cities in the region that I’ve visited, like Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Bangkok, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Kathmandu, and Colombo, it isn’t that bad… so let’s not get ahead of ourselves with how terrible it is.
I spent a week in Sydney and had a car the whole time. I concur, the traffic was not bad at all. Likely due to the fact that tolls reduce the propensity to drive.
I remember back in 2015 I was cycling from Adelaide to Cairns and when passing through the Sydney cbd I saw a sign for the opera house pointing into a tunnel. I cycled into the tunnel and realised it was a motor way too late. Brutal dangerous driving. I fucked up so bad. Adrenaline got me through. I just kept riding and riding past the point where my legs went to jelly. I must of been going around 45kmph. Traffic in the dark all around me. The smell of fumes and the rushing sound of cars speeding through and honking at me to get out. the only way out was through. In total I was in there for just a few minutes but it was so intense it felt like a lifetime. Seeing the light at the end was one of biggest reliefs of my life. I’ll always remember the smiling drinking road workers at the end. As a made the climb out and swerved into the hard shoulder they stood there stunned for a moment that I cycled through. To save me further drama they helped me get my bike out a workers exit and wishes me well
I love how you just casually mentioned you were cycling from ADELAIDE TO CAIRNS, like yeah... one day I was cycling to work and went down the tunnel by accident. That's god level peddling right there.
What we need in a hurry is an improved access to the cycleway across the bridge. The cycleway on the western side is brilliant, but the north-end stairs prevent a lot of riders accessing it.
@@aussieL14M The new Mayor & GM are fairly both fairly progressive, so hopefully they can help move on from the noisy privileged strata dwellers of MP. The current design looks OK to me, though I hope they replace the palms that need to be removed on the N end.
sydney just had its hottest summer in recorded history but there still making roads for more cars and not bicycles! at least people can try to live in these tunnels when its to hot to live outside
Ironic that I'm from Sydney and I've learnt a lot from this video ! haha Had no idea apart from there being a west link tunnel being built somehow, so thanks for the info ! It was an interesting watch as always. + Keep up the good work, really enjoy this channel purely out of my natural curiously and wanting to learn. ⭐ Gold star for u
Hi B1M team. I don´t know if this might interest you but i live in Queretaro, Mexico, and we are in the middle of the biggest reconstruction of our main highway. Our city and our highway connects a huge part of the country. And it is said that this project is set to finish in this year. Maybe this project can be in one of your next videos. Best regards.
Mexico has joined it self to the US/Canada market economy and it is booming and it has not even entered the next phase of that economic market which will be even more powerful. Mexico is now one of the US largest trading partners and has overtaken China in that regard.
The Sydney log jam. Getting across town can take hours and cost a small fortune in tolls. At least the Metro has made life easier for those lucky enough to live/work nearby a station. They should prioritise it’s expansion before building more toll roads.
I mean there are currently 2 new lines and an extension to the current line set to open, only 1 of them is looking at serving a new area though with the extension being a couple extra stations in the CBD and converted train stations. The line to Parramatta isn't too far off the current train line but they aren't going to building many stations, even in places where they would be ideal
Love your videos especially about my home town! Can I ask if you would want to look at the WestConnex scheme? It's huge and like this video has a lot of pros and cons
As someone who lived in Sydney for a lot of my life you tend to get used to the Traffic, but also the high amount of public transport gets you literally everywhere around the city, from a train from the central of the city all the way to Newcastle, or a bus from Luna Park to the centre of the city taking only less than 10 mins or the metro! I think our city is way better than many other cities when it come to car alternatives as well as traffic.
@@tazz347 how is that? Outside of highly developed and populated places such as Europe and Asia where can you find somewhere with public transport as good as it is here in Sydney? A lot of cities the same size or even bigger wish for even a train service and here we are fortunate enough to have an extensive urban rail network as well as intercity and regional rail network
I live in Sydney. Born and raised. The population is out growing transport infrastructure. Estates and new housing are being slated for approval without consideration for public transport. Hell, places with roads too narrow for garbage trucks are getting approved.
The alternative is urban freeways, which become utterly traffic clogged themselves in addition to compounding traffic at entries & exits - and taxpayers foot the entire bill. Complete waste of money to build a toll-free urban expressway. It’s a highway to a ruined city and congestion damnation.
As an American now living in Sydney, the public transport here is miles ahead of what we have available back in the States so much that I don't miss driving all that much. The wide array of rail, light rail, busses and ferry services are excellent to get around with.
As a Sydney resident since birth ( and a lover of this channel) I was shocked by the misinformation about Sydney. The traffic isn’t that bad as most people take public transport to the city for work… and the transport options are great (train, bus, ferry, cycle lanes everywhere, light rail/tram). The traffic we do have across the bridge / harbour is mostly attributed to the city being split more now than ever… north Sydney was never that big, so there has been an increase in commercial-related traffic but not too much. Our roads are really pretty amazing, and the investment is impressive. To get out of the city it used to take 45-75 mins (potts point to Hornsby)… now we can do it in c20 minutes. Thanks to forward planning like this the surface roads have seen huge decreases in traffic.
I also agree with this assessment, the traffic in Sydney isn't as bad as this video makes out, sure, there are traffic events that cause cars to slow to a crawl but to warrant a 5 billion dollar new road way, is overkill on a massive level. What really needs to be asked in regards to this project is: 1. How many local based politicians will find this new section of road beneficial to them personally. 2. What level of back-scratching was done between the politicians and the construction company, typically, someone will know someone or owe a favor or two?! Regardless, it's a complete waste of money that will eventually come in well over budget, like all government building projects do.
Why direct all traffic through Cities, Australia is empty land, that needs better planning ! Better u use public transport for that ! Alicespings has a Train Station too!
As someone who's only spent the 2nd half of my life in Sydney, I'd disagree about the traffic not being bad. You might be used to it as it's your norm, but come from the outside, or go live somewhere else for a while, and your perception might change :)
They could have just built a lot more metro lines and that would have done them better in reducing traffic than a tunnel which will end up not doing too much in the end
I’m a Sydneysider; I suppose traffic isn’t great but I wouldn’t call it bad by world standards like this video makes it out to be. Having said that, better public transport would certainly help.
5:22 That company logo is Herrenknecht, a German based company producing TM machines across Australia. My step-dad is an engineer for the company and he is currently doing the Cross River Rail project in Brisbane, as well as this project in Sydney, and some tunnels in Melbourne.
basically all digging machines across the world are from Herrenknecht. One of the last companies we can be proud on here in Germany. Still family owned, a chinese nightmare, haha.
Thanks for doing my home town. This problem could have been sorted out in the 1950s with a expressway project that never happened. Sydney needs more reliable public transport that arrives more often!
You need to travel overseas more (and not hire a car!), then you would realise that Sydney's public transit does a bloody good job compared with many, many other cities.
sydney has amazing public transport. ive lived here for 13 years now and never had a drivers licence. it isnt without flaws, but i can get from a to b purely on public transport without any issues at least until im heading to the outskirts where any city will have problems due to supply vs demand.
If you want to reduce traffic putting a toll on a road is going to do the opposite and is only going to serve to create more congestion while increasing tax revenue. This new road connection only serves to create a new source of tax income for the city.
I love living in Adelaide, sure we may be behind the rest of the country but no toll roads, no traffic jams (atleast for me) and less rat race. I bet this project will not be cheaper than originally budgeted for, we just dont do that in Australia, everything finishes over budget and over time.
for people going "oh Sydney traffic seems exaggerated" - it once took me SEVEN HOURS to drive the 90 minute drive home from North Sydney due to an accident in the harbour tunnel.
On the topic of Australian traffic projects, the North-South corridor in Adelaide could be a good piece to have a look at… very expensive, a lot of engineering involved and quite a large timeline.
Although I agree that traffic can be bad in Sydney, I don't think it stands out from other cities. Definitely improvements need to happen which should include public transport but I have to hand it to this state government for cracking on with major infrastructure projects. I've not seen so many major projects underway in my lifetime. From the new international airport to Metro lines across the city, the new Metro harbour tunnel, linking the motorways in a network of underground passageways across the city. Just today it was announced that the new M4/M8 Link will open tomorrow ahead of time and on budget. I'm not waving the flag for this government because I can point to many criticisms but credit where credit is due. This is not meant to encourage more road traffic, just fix the problems of existing systems that have been outgrown. The first part of this project is about to come to fruition and is an amazing feat of engineering and planning. I have been watching the updates with great anticipation. I am a huge fan of your videos. They are professional and use great resources and explanations to appeal to a lot of different people. We must bear in mind though, that it is one perspective. I, for one, think this project is very important and well thought out. The location makes sense and this change in methods is obviously an improvement. I'm curious to know how many tunnel boring machines are being used in Sydney at one time because there are a LOT of tunnels being bored across Sydney right now. Yes, there are a lot of tolls but how else are they going to pay for this convenience? A raffle?
Started watching with 9 hours after it was published went to work and finished it 16 hours after and it was already trending on youtube- Good for you B1M! Love your content!
In Australia they'll put a tollbooth on the garden path if given half a chance. If you want to avoid $20 just to go a few klicks you end up herding lemming-like through people's suburban streets because the toll roads are put on top of the older arterial roads, leaving you no choice but use them and pay through the nose or drive the locals insane.
Brisbane is amazing, I love everything they do for the people. Bridges to cross the city by foot or on a bike. Walking lanes and bike lanes everywhere. Sydney has much to learn from Brisbane.
Cross the city by foot or bike isn't the main priority of Sydney, actually people can walk across the city whenever they like, on the other hand Brisbane has much to learn from Sydney about mass transportation system.
@@virgola2126 the advantage that Brisbane has on Sydney is that it is not as built up as Sydney therefore they can learn from all the hiccups that Sydney had for planning purposes…construction workers fifo into these cities across the country not just in the mining industry
Where I live we have two underwater tunnels and one underground connecting Norfolk and Newport News Virginia to allow the military ships in sea containers. One accident thete although rare leads to a 15 mile backup
Great video. Thanks. Interesting to note that when the harbour tunnel was being constructed pretty much no one complained. In fact the people of Sydney hailed it a God send. Fast forward 25/30 years and everyone seems to be complaining, be it wrong or right. I think it is MUCH needed (although not the road toll). Maybe it's a sign of the time that anyone who feels like it will complain, and we all have a platform to do so.... cheers.
6:45 I understand it's not nice but maybe it's fair to pay for your infrastructure when alternatives to car infrastructure are so much cheaper? Besides, you get extra infrastructure, from what I understand the old options are still available.
The old options include tolls, if i was to drive from Western city suburbs to through to CBD and over to northern beaches, i would end up paying close to $50 in tolls round trip.
@@steveezzeddine9589 you forgot parking at the beaches. It can cost up to $100 round trip. Sydney has turned into a “don’t come here where I live near the beach” city. It’s disgraceful. Remember when the previous state Labor government wanted to extend the Eastern Suburbs railway line to Bondi Beach? Idiots like actor Michael Caton and some residents didn’t want it as they said it’ll bring more “westies” to the beach! I suppose we should all suffer in more traffic. Buses aren’t a good option to get around Sydney for most people. So sad.
Isnt this a perfect city for a good ferry network? I mean I've visited there multiple times and I always find it fascinating how many people actually use a car with so much water around everywhere.
@@ti4383 Not sure on Sydney but yea a lot of cities get trapped in stupid, exclusivity contracts with a ferry provider or two, who then crank up their prices to stupid. City ferries should be run as a not-for-profit crown corp, like public transit.
My own personal Sydney traffic anecdote is my uncle is a former high level official in the RTA, one day my grandfather was complaining about a new "No X Turn" appearing in the CBD and asking my uncle which idiot signed off on it to which he got a slightly apologetic look and a "that was me dad"
well if you use the Gladesville bridge, I guess you end up on the Anzac bridge if heading for the cbd & Anzac bridge is closer to the city, so probably looks better for the graphics :)
This is my daily commute and how good it is to see this project featured on my favorite RUclips channel by my man with the biggest guns in construction! 💪🏼 Let’s hope it reduces the congestion on the bridge and western distributor as it says it will. Love the video, and love Sydney!
As a viewer from Sydney, I can say I am very glad they changed to a TBM because a local park near my home was going to become a harbourside worksite for years. (Berry's bay)
Great video as always but Sydneysiders are paying billions for roads that will reach capacity again within years. Not many other global cities are devastating their vibrant, inner-city areas the way Sydney is with motorways: Look at the ridiculous M8 interchange at St Peters, the Rozelle interchange and more.
Sydney isn't a "global city" the State and Local Council regulations like lockout laws, strip searches at festivals and countless permits ensured that.
The problem with the NSW government's infrastructure strategy is that they deliver big ticket public transport projects AND massive new toll roads; as a result neither are fully perfected modes of transport. The worst of both worlds and somewhat half baked. Motorway projects like this are holding the city back, they undo the progress made by recent public transport projects and hover up future public money that could have been used to develop a full scale metro system and ween the city away from SUVs
I was lucky enough to live in Manly so got the ferry to work every day which was great. Not so great in stormy weather though when they wouldn’t run and had to drive or get the bus 🙄🇦🇺
They did it in Singapore. I worked with a team of engineers from different disciplines and architects. We design five stations and 12 k of two Tunnel Boring Machines.
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1:25 "a lack of public transport"? what do you mean? ive lived here for 13 years and never had a drivers licence. yes it gets spotty when you go 40km from the city centre, but id warrant a guess that applies to any city of similar size. public transport here is far from world class like japans trains, but it is certainly very good.
Yeah, that immediately stuck out to me as well. Sydney (and indeed the other big state capitals as well) easily beats almost all North American cities of similar size in the scope of its public transport network.
They have just tunnelled a new metro railway line across the Harbour as well so they are building both rail and road and not neglecting public transport in Sydney
This video is really missing the point. Sydney has constructed something like 50km of freeway tunnels under the city to remove cars from surface roads. This is another link meaning huge amount of traffic can now bypass the city by going directly under it. It's similar to Tokyo, but the freeways are underground. Sydney also has an excellent transport system - they have an extensive s-bahn system and are currently investing heavily in new metro lines.
I always loved driving over the Harbour Bridge growing up but my dad was never as eager as me due to traffic. I do believe this project is vital to Sydney’s growth and will definitely impact my life for the better! Such a great video, Love the B1M!
Do you know what induced demand is for adding lanes to roads or more roads? If you love to drive, more roads lead to more congestion by induced demand. If you want a better driving experience, then other people Off the road is better for you as a driver.
@@pebblepod30yeah but you also have to keep in mind that train patronage alone has over a million commuters a day, not including buses, light rail, ferries or the new metro and with 1 new light rail line and 2 new metro lines alongside an extension to the current line due to open layer this year I would say its safe to assume that car dependency is on its way down
For those saying that this is useless and that more public transport is needed, they are building another harbour tunnel for Sydney Metro Rail project which is due to open next year...
it's still public money that has to come from somewhere that could be used to build better value infrastructure. Still, this tunnel won't fix the problems it sought to overcome. A metro line has scalable capacity and can serve a much larger area, unlike a motorway. Sydney Metro NW is 36 km long, mostly underground and cost only slightly more than the projected cost of the western harbour tunnel which is about 6km long. This tunnel guaranteed will have massive cost blow outs.
Yes, these people talk like it is an either/or situation. We need both car and public transport. And considering the government is investing 63 billion into one of the largest metro rail projects in the world, we cannot say that Sydney's public transport needs are being ignored for the sake of another harbor tunnel.
@@artistjoh there are enough roads there, people will still be able to drive. It's much more efficient to spend the money for more public transport (for example a second North-south metro further West) than to build more roads. Drivers would also benefit, because the number of cars on the road would be reduced
@@nicolasblume1046 it's not far off from AUD 50+bn if you include Sydney Metro North West, CBD, South West, West and Western Sydney airport whcuh are under construction right now. This number doesn't include amounts spent on light rail or additional extensions which are in planning phase still.
Those size comparisons for the road Vs metro tunnels indicate to me there is space for a metro tunnel within the planned road tunnel. Do these tunnels go anywhere near the existing metro? If so, would doubling up be a bad idea?
"Do these tunnels go anywhere near the existing metro?" yes and no. the road tunnels have a benefit of keeping traffic out of the cbd and off surface roads, but there wouldnt be the demand for trains to justify the cost. lets take the northern end point of the tunnel at cammeray, nearest logical centre being st leonards/crows nest. existing rail station, new metro station under construction. southern end being rozelle. nearest current rail station being stanmore, but already serviced by light rail with a rozelle station, and under construction metro station being built at the bays precinct, right next door. a metro tunnel across following the same route could allow people to change at crows nest and go straight for rozelle, but that isnt a common thoroughfare. going through the city is just a few minutes longer. in the future maybe. 20+ years. size of the tunnels is just to allow future expansion. not sure on how they will do it, but the northconnex 9km tunnel was dug for 3 lanes per side and is marked as 2. later they can expand. the existing harbour tunnel was built as 2 lanes per side and is now stuck at 2 lanes per side. this new tunnel will be likely marked as 2 lanes, but has capacity for 3, maybe 4 lanes in the future. unlike the m5 east which was built as 2 and has suffered ever since and has now had the m8 tunnel take traffic from it. ideally a metro could follow the same route, one from hurstville following a similar route to the A3 king georges road/lane cove road/mona vale road etc it has multiple names. hurstville to top ryde, to mona vale could alleviate a lot of traffic on that already congested road and link to numerous existing train and metro stations along the way. much more fitting than a bypass of the city by a km or 2 following the route of the western harbour tunnel.
@@iris4547 I know nothing about the Intricacies of the city, I've never been and don't know more than the video shows. My thinking was purely based on "a lack of public transit" and a "3 lane road way being seen as worthwhile" as a way to assume that the areas linked by the tunnel are actually relevant enough to be a viable transit route and given the space requirements, could be feasible. A kill two birds with one stone kinda thing. What with induced demand, a new road option will only lead to increased vehicle use. Just take a look at LA to see the effects of that line of thought.
@@badbradmx theres no lack of public transit in sydney, as the video suggests, i mentioned this in another comment somewhere where youtubes algorithm deems worthy under this video. the areas linked by the tunnel are more relevant to vehicular traffic than public transport by nature of the fact they are the confluence of numerous motorways. the current option is to send all that traffic into the city then back out again on the other side. this tunnel is to provide a bypass. never send it into the city to start with. but the local areas where the tunnel portals will be dont have strong demand for a public transit link between them that isnt already fulfilled by the existing network.
@@badbradmx no these tunnels are more about taking traffic off the surface roads than they are about increasing car demand. for example, this tunnel is eventually meant to lead into the northern beaches area of sydney. it is currently served by 3 surface level roads, none of which are a motorway. the population of the northern beaches is currently at 253k. all going through 3 roads. this tunnel and its eventual extension will take most of the traffic off of the 3 current roads into the area and allow them to become more pedestrian and local business friendly. this area of sydney has no train lines and there are no plans to build any unfortunately. but the bus system is over stretched and the residents of the 2 main routes into the area will appreciate a reduction in traffic.
This seems like it overlaps quite closely with the content of Not Just Bikes and StrongTowns. You should consider talking to them about the impact of different kinds of megaprojects, and how they can be built to aid sustainable community development.
One major difference withthis project is the planned three lanes in each direction. When I first came to Sydney I couln't believe the various tunnels were contrsucted with only two lanes in each direction. so WHT is an outlier from that perspective. However I do agree with others that simply building more roads is not the ideal. reducing the number of cars/journeys/heavy vehicles would be more cost effective if politically more difficult. Thanks B1M; great video as ever. .
I live in Sydney. I don't find it hard to get around at all, since the motorways got connected up, new tunnels, west connex, north connex.. I can be anywhere in the city in 25 minutes. Vs Hour or more before. In my car. In addition to that, the Metro line has made an impact and the expansion of that is huge. Bus services never been so good either right to CBD. Sure, this tunnel will help with CBD. On top of harbour bridge, the tunnel, anzac bridge and several other routes into the CBD depending where you are coming from. The opening of the video was just a bit misleading and over the top for me mate. Love the channel though, long time fan.
When that Metro line opens up from lower North Shore into inner west next year, that's gonna be massive. Like Chatswood to Petersham in 20 mins or whatever....amazing
@TheB1M The road network around Cambridge, UK is falling apart, literally. It seems like the logistics are managed by first graders, I would welcome your investigations into how this, and no doubt other counties, are on the precipice of total traffic chaos. What can we do to fix this? Or is it even possible? Also, great video, love your work x
The UK values the welfare state more than anything else. It is why infrastructure, defence and policing have all declined. The UK government is one of the leading developers of housing and also the main regulator of the housing market. I find it absurd why nobody has yet figured out why UK housing is so expensive. Why people would allow the government to control housing, industry, education, healthcare and about everything else you can think of but people understand that government cannot even do the simple job of repairing pot holes in the road.
GREAT VIDEO! VERY INTERESTED! KEEP IT UP! THANK YOU FOR CONSISTENTLY PUTTING OUT TOP QUALITY CONTENT ❤️👍 What is life without money? I think that's irrelevant. When you live, always try to invest for future times like this to ensure profits and growth. So you are not dependent on the government. Investing in the financial market should now be on every savvy individual's bucket list.
@Jerv Carter Investing in the financial markets works for me even if I don't do it alone. I have an expert helping me and his strategies have helped me avoid losses and increase my income.
Great Video! Thats a really interesting turn of events. However, at 5:40 you say, that they use a Mixshield-TBM. The explanation was right but a bit missleading. In this type of mixshield the supporting pressure for the heading face is crated by a bentonit suspension. The air cushion is just there to regulate the pressure because it takes less time and energy to change air pressure rather than liquid pressure.
I was going through the Sydney tunnel about to go on television when I noticed water on the windscreen. At first I wasn't concerned and then looked away and when I looked back there was more water, the cab driver started looking concerned saying I think the tunnel is leaking . After I started freaking out he bursted out laughing he was putting the windscreen water thing on
The only time traffic in Sydney may get bad is peakhour. The rest of the time its fine. And the public transport is awesome - its basically all i use and they are pouring billions more in to it.
You would be surprised with some parts, the pacific highway going south, through the Sutherland Shire is constantly clogged with traffic, I remember a few months ago a truck fell on its side right before Tom ugly bridge going northbound at 6am and the roads didn't get cleared till a bit after noon. Liverpool, Parramatta and south of the city are struggling to keep up with all the growth and little to no investment in new motorways where they are desperately needed. On my daily commute to the train station to school, I get driven half way to padstow and when there is no traffic it only takes around 20 minutes but when traffic is backed up it can take up to 40 minutes even. And that's only with being stuck in traffic for roughly 2km
As usual, short sighted solution to a long term problem. Even cycling/public transport is only a medium term solution. The long term solution is to disperse jobs/education and wealth more evenly geographically so people don't feel the need to live near big cities.
That would be *very very* expensive. Because you have more infrastructure that serves less people, which means higher costs. In other words, it would likely generate debt for the city and is equivalent to just sprawling out even more.
It's a boomerang move
you don't know sydney like I do, the iron cove bridge takes you to the gladesville bridge, yes over anzac bridge through victoria rd. Concord bridge is the main south to north route ,so there are 3 ways south to north and visa versa, over the parramatta "river". You can go to paramatta and avoid any "river" crossing, or just take the ferry from circular quay to manly, and get caught up in the tourist loop, you are welcome
One more lane. Just one more lane.
Baddum tsssss!
nice
Balance needs to be had in cities. Space for vehicles needs to be made and space for public transportation needs to be made.
All your goods in a city come from trucks and transport vehicles, reduce the time it takes to get these goods and the price of the goods will come down.
Sufficient public transportation is needed as cars are an expensive burden that most people can't afford.
This is going to help traffic... for a very short amount of time. Then induced demand is going to push it right back up again. Sydney needs more public transport, not more roads.
but then how would the people who own the roads get rich?
True, every time I go to sydney I like it less. Traffic is a huge issue. Way to car centric. Allthough it does seem like bike lanes are being built, bur a better metro is definitly needed.
Nimby: sO yOu wAnT mOre tRafFic?
@@aqidon its underconstruction at the moment. But also there are alot of different types of transportation like sydney metro, sydney trains and light rail around the city to the west
why isnt everyone there driving a e-bike? its warm all the time....and you can have a "umbrella roof" abowe your bike or a hat so you wont get a heat stroke
Recently visited Sydney. As an American I was shocked how mild the traffic was and how great the mass transit was...kind of sad to see more focus on cars and highways. The Sydney metro already handles 1.3M journeys per day. Why not spend this on improving the metro? This tunnel is larger in diameter than a metro tunnel and yet will likely move fewer people.
great point, but there is is also a lot of work ongoing on new lines for the Sydney metro
@@flynncollins6930 well the traffic will not get any better, if the amount being spent on roads will stay that much bigger than the amount spent on public transport
We are building / getting a whole new Metro / Subway. :) it’s due to open in 2025 I believe. It’s a huge project.
I have lived in Sydney for 2 years. I came up from 3 years in Melbourne. Sydney public’s transport is quiet good once you figure it out. I take the ferries often and I love “taking a boat to work” the trains are good also. They need do need more trams and more frequent.
The Melbourne tram network was fantastic.
I love living in Sydney. Amazing city.
Mild!?
Sydney Metro's City & Southwest extension is right next to the West Harbour Tunnel, and is planned to open in 2024. They don't exactly go to the same places but is nevertheless a great alternative for crossing the harbour.
If no alternative transport is implemented at the same time, it will just maintain the status quo of trying to keep up with ever increasing car use. I agree that a new connection is desperately needed, but not nearly as much as viable, affordable, round-the-clock public transit. Great video!
Transit sucks. I prefer my car so I tell my politicians to give me more highways.
@@musqul8566 And they will give you more highways, so you'll have more ways to be stuck in traffic.
@@musqul8566 If you wanna suffer, then suffer, just don't make others suffer for your uninformed opinion.And more importantly: don't make them pay money for it.
@@musqul8566 then don’t live in a city, they’re not meant for cars
Actually, there is (sort of). Sydney Metro's City & Southwest extension is right next to the West Harbour Tunnel, and is planned to open in 2024. They don't exactly go to the same places but is nevertheless a great alternative for crossing the harbour.
Just a quick correction: The ANZAC bridge doesn't cross Sydney Harbour. You're thinking of the Gladesville and Iron Cove bridges. The ANZAC bridge replaced the older Glebe Island bridge for getting to the inner West from the city.
Other than that, a good video and very informative.
Technically Gladesville & Iron Cove bridges cross Parramatta River, no?
Hi there, thanks for the video, as an employee of the Acciona in Sydney, really cool to see this level of information made available to everyone with great visuals. Cheers
is your nickname at work, Tunnel Bora?
@@andys31337 good one dad
Just one more lane, guys. Trust me, it's gonna work this time for real.
it will be full of cars in 6 months, another failure
this is not america
@@shrgn how does that make a difference.
@shrgn it dosent mater where it is , car infra is always a disaster in terms of moving a lot of people and goods
@@shrgn induced demand applies everywhere not just the US
As a Sydneysider I have to commend the effort you’ve put into this, a lot of RUclipsrs get things wrong about Sydney given that we’re on the other side of the world but you were bang on the whole video. Great vid!
@@Ethan-zr6ee It's funny that after all mention how the World is small the world is actually still not so small that 1 can also know about every major change what is happening near him.☺
Well… it’s a great video except when he said our lack of public transport. We have trains, buses, lightrail and ferry services. Not that any of them are particularly groundbreaking or amazing - but we do definitely have a decent amount of public transport options available to us.
@@rogeh5687 questionable actually for a lot of people. Lots of buses from the North Shore have extremely long queues in the mornings, to the point of making them unfeasible for people to use public transport. Trains are a bit better, but certainly no seating for a lot of people
@@rogeh5687 Really?😳 Awesome!😃 And I already thought that, apart from the 1 mentioned by the author, everyone is forced to wait for the Kangaroo bags and sleds pulled by Koalas.🤣
@@rogeh5687 I agree, public transport infrastructure has not been forgotten, with the Chatswood to Bankstown section of the northwest metro and the parramatta metro soon to double the rail access to the city from the north, south and west. Plus the inner west light rail along with the new eastern suburbs light rail providing greater access from these areas Sydney's public transport is getting a huge upgrade
A lot of people here don't understand that this is only in part to alleviate traffic. Those that live in Sydney know just how insanely crucial Sydney Harbour Bridge is to keeping this city even functioning. You take it out in any disruption and more than half the city comes to a grinding halt and can't move towards the CBD as it has not only car traffic but huge train and bus network impacts.
We desperately need harbour crossing infrastructure that is not linked to the bridge so that when disruptions happen, there is still an alternative.
The other thing is people think this is the only megaproject happening. Theres a whole swathe of both road and metro projects going on at the same time including another harbour crossing metro set to open in a year.
👏👏👏👏
Sydney needs a few more bridges and tunnels to build resilience into its system. Sydney and NSW has all the resources and expertise it needs to do that.
What Australia needs to do is to build out its industrial manufacturing base and turn all those natural resources into products that he world needs.
Tunnel the whole city!
Thank you. An actual sane and rational comment. Not just ridiculous anti car crap hysteria that Fred apparently buys into given the likes this channel gives every comment whining about cars.
Liberals hate cars because they have to pay for them. Much easier to take the public transit that way u can be high on pills on the way to pick up your welfare check
I worked on the Sydney Harbor Tunnel in the early 90's. dredging was quick and easy and didn't make much impact on the environment because of strict measures that were taken. Now we have NIMBY's Not In My Backyard, when they bought into one of the largest and fastest growing cities. Sydney International Airport has a curfew because of these NIMBY's. I think it is the only International Airport in the world that has a curfew because of people that bought into property close to the airport but then complained about the noise.
NIMBYs truly are the worse, the halted rail construction in the eastern suburbs and on the north shore. They also arrive after areas that generate crowds and noise and complain despite knowing what type of area they are moving into, Luna Park and the airport are key examples of this
these people also halted bike infrastructure everywhere, not giving the bike a chance of a fair go (with some safety infrastructure), where other countries have successfully integrated bikes into their daily networks.
Just like the people that built houses near Lucas Heights 😂 after it had been built!
thank u for your work
To be fair the critique of "one more lane wont work" is reasonable the rest is bullshit
Trust me bro, just one more lane...
Always nice seeing Aussie videos from your channel, more please!
You support this intercity highway project ? Why not buy a home where you work ?
@@lucasrem have you seen the prices?
How long do they think those percentages at 2:22 will be true for, it still amazes me roading planners still don't understand the concept of induced demand yet.
no need to worry in sydney since every new road has a heavy toll attached to it. probably an anecdote but ive heard sydney is the most tolled city in the world. do a lap and youre up for $50. im all for extra public transport infrastructure and that is being built, so im not going to turn my nose up to extra car infrastructure that will greatly benefit the city. australia is a country as large as the us with a population less than a 10th the size. cars are vital, and must be accommodated. but the more public transport there is, the happier i am.
They’ll probably say it’s a “heavy trucking route” and use that as an excuse for making the highway. Another huge highway is backwards
@@iris4547 The size of the country is completely irrelevant. We're talking about urban transport here.
@@iris4547 90+% of Australia’s population lives on the eastern/southern coast and Perth. Most of the country’s land is unpopulated. Cars are not vital
@@Zeethos cars are vital once you get outside of those major cities tho, say newcastle, central coast etc, theres only one train line, the bus networks are in shambles and there is no metro's like sydney, melbourne or perth, you are kidding yourself if you think vehicles are not vital in this country.
I’m from Auckland in New Zealand and I travel to Sydney a lot, although road traffic is bad the public transport is actually pretty good, they have rail, buses, light rail and also an expanding metro system. Compared with in Auckland we have really poor public transport with a limited rail network and buses and that’s it.
yeh, Sydney's public transport is bad compared to places with the best public transport in the world but it's still leagues above most places
hell yeah
People in Auckland are such polite drivers. Love visiting Auckland
@@intuitivediane mate what part of Auckland were you driving in haha? we get almost nothing but road rage at Cascades Roundabout. others places in East Auckland are just drivers being stupid or driving slowly.
5:00 You could fit four railway tracks in a double-stack configuration in that big of a tunnel, each of which could be carrying tens of thousands of people per hour. Instead we have highway lanes serving 1500 people each.
Our state government is all about taking our tax money, selling off public assets to private sectors to make more money off of us, instead of using OUR money to actually serve us. The road tolls in Sydney are beyond.
We already have a huge railway system… adding in more wouldn’t be that useful.
@@philliplhunter well the sydney rail network lacks a lot of circumferential connectivity.
@@williamhuang8309that is why there is a metro
I'm not aware of the % grade of the end product incline, however I suspect it's unlikely a train could climb out of the tunnel.
One more lane will fix it...
thank you for consistently putting out top quality content.
amazing video guys as always! I think Lower Thames Crossing is going to have over 16m in diameter and is also 3 lanes. So seems like pretty similar project. Maybe something to make a video about (not sure at what stage the project is currently tbh)
Also the very controversial Silvertown Tunnel!
@@memofromessexthanks for pointing that out! I’ve had a look and seems like Silvertown tunnel is going to be roughly 12m so a bit smaller tunnel and probably 2 lanes.
Lower Thames Crossing and Silvertown Tunnel can do one, that same money could be spent on decarbonising our infrastructure. If you want a tunnel, let it be Tram/ Bus only...
@@Garner84
You will have more success explaining to car lovers in a CITY that their own self interest is to get other drivers off the road I.E. any forms of public transport means better driving experience; instead of worse with induced demand.
They needed the 5Bn of taxpayers money for the new vaxxine manufacturing plants in Australia, making 100million boosters that nobody wants
I remember in 2007 when QM2 and QE2 visited the port in tandem. It was the first time two giant Cunard ocean liners had visited the city since 1940. The crowds approached 1m people and brought the entire transport infrastructure to a standstill. Ferries were late. Train services delayed. Busses in gridlock. Taxis couldn’t get through crowds. It was remarkable.
I remember that as I live in the area it was stunning to see the impact it was impossible to get anywhere by anything accept by foot it was gridlocked for hours in every direction. It is also a nightmare if anything gets stuck in the tunnel which thankfully hasn't happened for a while.
I always love your videos about Australia! great research and you always seem to know the issues. Keep it up
I live near the construction zone - some of it almost directly under me on a lower north shore peninsula, and I can tell you right now that I’m looking forward to it being completed in conjunction with all our Metro, light rail, and new airport projects.
Also, I can’t say Sydney traffic is great but compared to some of the major cities in the region that I’ve visited, like Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Bangkok, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Kathmandu, and Colombo, it isn’t that bad… so let’s not get ahead of ourselves with how terrible it is.
Your comparing it with cities from developing countries. Not a fair comparison.
Use cities from Europe, US, Japan or China for comparison.
Bangkok had the worst traffic I've ever seen in my life
Sydney is bad. Every city you have listed each of them have the population of Australia living in them.
Glad that everyone in the area aren't NIMBYs.
I spent a week in Sydney and had a car the whole time. I concur, the traffic was not bad at all. Likely due to the fact that tolls reduce the propensity to drive.
I remember back in 2015 I was cycling from Adelaide to Cairns and when passing through the Sydney cbd I saw a sign for the opera house pointing into a tunnel. I cycled into the tunnel and realised it was a motor way too late. Brutal dangerous driving. I fucked up so bad. Adrenaline got me through. I just kept riding and riding past the point where my legs went to jelly. I must of been going around 45kmph. Traffic in the dark all around me. The smell of fumes and the rushing sound of cars speeding through and honking at me to get out. the only way out was through. In total I was in there for just a few minutes but it was so intense it felt like a lifetime. Seeing the light at the end was one of biggest reliefs of my life. I’ll always remember the smiling drinking road workers at the end. As a made the climb out and swerved into the hard shoulder they stood there stunned for a moment that I cycled through. To save me further drama they helped me get my bike out a workers exit and wishes me well
I love how you just casually mentioned you were cycling from ADELAIDE TO CAIRNS, like yeah... one day I was cycling to work and went down the tunnel by accident. That's god level peddling right there.
It was you! :)
oh you Adelaide folk 😆
What we need in a hurry is an improved access to the cycleway across the bridge.
The cycleway on the western side is brilliant, but the north-end stairs prevent a lot of riders accessing it.
An agreed design is complete, but Milton's point residents still trying to block this one
Milson's*
@@aussieL14M why doesn't that surprise me
@@aussieL14M The new Mayor & GM are fairly both fairly progressive, so hopefully they can help move on from the noisy privileged strata dwellers of MP.
The current design looks OK to me, though I hope they replace the palms that need to be removed on the N end.
sydney just had its hottest summer in recorded history but there still making roads for more cars and not bicycles! at least people can try to live in these tunnels when its to hot to live outside
Ironic that I'm from Sydney and I've learnt a lot from this video ! haha
Had no idea apart from there being a west link tunnel being built somehow, so thanks for the info !
It was an interesting watch as always.
+ Keep up the good work, really enjoy this channel purely out of my natural curiously and wanting to learn.
⭐ Gold star for u
Hi B1M team.
I don´t know if this might interest you but i live in Queretaro, Mexico, and we are in the middle of the biggest reconstruction of our main highway.
Our city and our highway connects a huge part of the country. And it is said that this project is set to finish in this year.
Maybe this project can be in one of your next videos.
Best regards.
Mexico has joined it self to the US/Canada market economy and it is booming and it has not even entered the next phase of that economic market which will be even more powerful. Mexico is now one of the US largest trading partners and has overtaken China in that regard.
The Sydney log jam. Getting across town can take hours and cost a small fortune in tolls. At least the Metro has made life easier for those lucky enough to live/work nearby a station. They should prioritise it’s expansion before building more toll roads.
They are, set to open(?) in 2025
I mean there are currently 2 new lines and an extension to the current line set to open, only 1 of them is looking at serving a new area though with the extension being a couple extra stations in the CBD and converted train stations. The line to Parramatta isn't too far off the current train line but they aren't going to building many stations, even in places where they would be ideal
I freaking love this channel specially when they do videos about the city i live
Love your videos especially about my home town! Can I ask if you would want to look at the WestConnex scheme? It's huge and like this video has a lot of pros and cons
As someone who lived in Sydney for a lot of my life you tend to get used to the Traffic, but also the high amount of public transport gets you literally everywhere around the city, from a train from the central of the city all the way to Newcastle, or a bus from Luna Park to the centre of the city taking only less than 10 mins or the metro! I think our city is way better than many other cities when it come to car alternatives as well as traffic.
you could not have been more wrong.
@@tazz347 how is that? Outside of highly developed and populated places such as Europe and Asia where can you find somewhere with public transport as good as it is here in Sydney? A lot of cities the same size or even bigger wish for even a train service and here we are fortunate enough to have an extensive urban rail network as well as intercity and regional rail network
I live in Sydney. Born and raised. The population is out growing transport infrastructure. Estates and new housing are being slated for approval without consideration for public transport. Hell, places with roads too narrow for garbage trucks are getting approved.
Nimby’s are troublesome for most projects. The point about endless toll roads is a good point. They are obsessed with them in this country.
No tollways in Perth (no pokies either).
The alternative is urban freeways, which become utterly traffic clogged themselves in addition to compounding traffic at entries & exits - and taxpayers foot the entire bill. Complete waste of money to build a toll-free urban expressway. It’s a highway to a ruined city and congestion damnation.
Having worked on the design of this project, I feel proud to see a video on your channel 😊
As an American now living in Sydney, the public transport here is miles ahead of what we have available back in the States so much that I don't miss driving all that much. The wide array of rail, light rail, busses and ferry services are excellent to get around with.
they love their cars in america. i am sure some cities embraced public transport.
This is such a well produced segment - graphics, voice over, overlay are top notch.
As a Sydney resident since birth ( and a lover of this channel) I was shocked by the misinformation about Sydney. The traffic isn’t that bad as most people take public transport to the city for work… and the transport options are great (train, bus, ferry, cycle lanes everywhere, light rail/tram).
The traffic we do have across the bridge / harbour is mostly attributed to the city being split more now than ever… north Sydney was never that big, so there has been an increase in commercial-related traffic but not too much.
Our roads are really pretty amazing, and the investment is impressive. To get out of the city it used to take 45-75 mins (potts point to Hornsby)… now we can do it in c20 minutes. Thanks to forward planning like this the surface roads have seen huge decreases in traffic.
Cycle lanes in Sydney are really poor compared to the rest of Australia
I also agree with this assessment, the traffic in Sydney isn't as bad as this video makes out, sure, there are traffic events that cause cars to slow to a crawl but to warrant a 5 billion dollar new road way, is overkill on a massive level.
What really needs to be asked in regards to this project is:
1. How many local based politicians will find this new section of road beneficial to them personally.
2. What level of back-scratching was done between the politicians and the construction company, typically, someone will know someone or owe a favor or two?!
Regardless, it's a complete waste of money that will eventually come in well over budget, like all government building projects do.
Why direct all traffic through Cities, Australia is empty land, that needs better planning !
Better u use public transport for that !
Alicespings has a Train Station too!
As someone who's only spent the 2nd half of my life in Sydney, I'd disagree about the traffic not being bad. You might be used to it as it's your norm, but come from the outside, or go live somewhere else for a while, and your perception might change :)
They could have just built a lot more metro lines and that would have done them better in reducing traffic than a tunnel which will end up not doing too much in the end
@DJ_CodNub No metros that cross the harbour *in the west* are planned
edit: I meant in the west, I have no idea how I didn't write that mb
@DJ_CodNub if you consider the amount of road infrastructure we have built compared to metro it isn’t alot.
@@biosparkles9442 Apart fom the one already built beteem Chatswood and Sydenham
@@biosparkles9442 What about Victoria Cross to Barangaroo?
@@biosparkles9442
3 comments on this channel.
All 3 BLATANTLY WRONG!!!
Stop guessing.
You’re literally TRYING to be outraged…
Like a Karen.
Can you please cover more tunnel building techniques that are being used around the world? Fascinated by the pre-fab stuff.
This project makes me think of the Oosterweelverbinding project in my home city Antwerp. Would be a nice video as well!
I agree, it's a very interesting project with lots of history and different variations
true
I’m a Sydneysider; I suppose traffic isn’t great but I wouldn’t call it bad by world standards like this video makes it out to be.
Having said that, better public transport would certainly help.
Mate you have the worst traffic in aus
We do have some of the longest commutes in the world. Wifey was going an hour 20 minutes each way to the CBD by train.
Agree, people complaining about sydney traffic simply have no idea how bad it really could be...
It's bad. Don't make your city out to be better than it is.
it's not bad... If you compare with Jakarta or Dhaka for sure
Lived in Sydney 20 years ago , and use to walk it everywhere never had a car 😂
Or… you know… you guys could just build more cross harbour train connections? Sydney please don’t fall into the same loop Americans and Canadians did
There is a new metro line with harbour crossing opening in 2024.
You mean Sydneysiders? Or new south welsh? Not everyone lives there. We Melbournians are doing just fine.
@@chrish0078 good progress, but more of that needs to be done and less road tunnels and bridges
@@r.uuriintuyah.2053 sorry man I’ll edit it
@@bababababababa6124 don’t. People in Melbourne are like that. I know, I live there.
5:22 That company logo is Herrenknecht, a German based company producing TM machines across Australia. My step-dad is an engineer for the company and he is currently doing the Cross River Rail project in Brisbane, as well as this project in Sydney, and some tunnels in Melbourne.
Tell him to dig the tunnel faster. 3 years is a joke.
basically all digging machines across the world are from Herrenknecht. One of the last companies we can be proud on here in Germany. Still family owned, a chinese nightmare, haha.
@@PhillipMikeHunt That would be the Chinese, be half finished by now
@@wissenistmacht6685 Agree, it’s a successful company and yes the. Honest are probably worried about this company
@@PhillipMikeHunt Currently he’s not part of the project now but he was earlier
Thanks for doing my home town. This problem could have been sorted out in the 1950s with a expressway project that never happened. Sydney needs more reliable public transport that arrives more often!
As a tourist regular visitor to Sydney it has much better public transport than a lot of major cities here in the UK
You need to travel overseas more (and not hire a car!), then you would realise that Sydney's public transit does a bloody good job compared with many, many other cities.
sydney has amazing public transport. ive lived here for 13 years now and never had a drivers licence. it isnt without flaws, but i can get from a to b purely on public transport without any issues at least until im heading to the outskirts where any city will have problems due to supply vs demand.
Acciona is also building one of the subway lines in São Paulo. You should talk about this.
This is the best channel for Engineering/Infrastructure, bar none. I absolutely love it.
In Sydney the government always plugs the gaps between motorways with toll roads and then they wonder why the traffic is still bad on the old road
yeah car based infrastructure is v expensive
Toll roads are just so annoying, especially in busy places like Sydney
@@lotni just one more lane will fix it I’m sure
If you want to reduce traffic putting a toll on a road is going to do the opposite and is only going to serve to create more congestion while increasing tax revenue.
This new road connection only serves to create a new source of tax income for the city.
@@bababababababa6124 Idk, it might be, but I wouldn't think so tbh
I love living in Adelaide, sure we may be behind the rest of the country but no toll roads, no traffic jams (atleast for me) and less rat race. I bet this project will not be cheaper than originally budgeted for, we just dont do that in Australia, everything finishes over budget and over time.
Sounds like heaven, Sydney tolls are atrocious
Watching this from sydney and its raining right now
Same haha
Watching this from London and it's -1°C and bright sun, if that helps.
Same here, watching from Sydney
for people going "oh Sydney traffic seems exaggerated" - it once took me SEVEN HOURS to drive the 90 minute drive home from North Sydney due to an accident in the harbour tunnel.
catch the train boofhead
On the topic of Australian traffic projects, the North-South corridor in Adelaide could be a good piece to have a look at… very expensive, a lot of engineering involved and quite a large timeline.
you're lucky to have sydney in this, absolutely nobody cares about Adelaide's infrastructure
That last bit through Thebarton is going to be a big bloody job!
man that is a ludicrous road. extraordinary cost for something extremely ineffective.
Although I agree that traffic can be bad in Sydney, I don't think it stands out from other cities. Definitely improvements need to happen which should include public transport but I have to hand it to this state government for cracking on with major infrastructure projects. I've not seen so many major projects underway in my lifetime. From the new international airport to Metro lines across the city, the new Metro harbour tunnel, linking the motorways in a network of underground passageways across the city. Just today it was announced that the new M4/M8 Link will open tomorrow ahead of time and on budget. I'm not waving the flag for this government because I can point to many criticisms but credit where credit is due. This is not meant to encourage more road traffic, just fix the problems of existing systems that have been outgrown. The first part of this project is about to come to fruition and is an amazing feat of engineering and planning. I have been watching the updates with great anticipation.
I am a huge fan of your videos. They are professional and use great resources and explanations to appeal to a lot of different people. We must bear in mind though, that it is one perspective. I, for one, think this project is very important and well thought out. The location makes sense and this change in methods is obviously an improvement. I'm curious to know how many tunnel boring machines are being used in Sydney at one time because there are a LOT of tunnels being bored across Sydney right now. Yes, there are a lot of tolls but how else are they going to pay for this convenience? A raffle?
Started watching with 9 hours after it was published went to work and finished it 16 hours after and it was already trending on youtube- Good for you B1M! Love your content!
In Australia they'll put a tollbooth on the garden path if given half a chance.
If you want to avoid $20 just to go a few klicks you end up herding lemming-like through people's suburban streets because the toll roads are put on top of the older arterial roads, leaving you no choice but use them and pay through the nose or drive the locals insane.
loved the voice change/shift when reading a quote from the newspaper. And nice video too, thanks!
thank you for this video, i live in sydney and had no idea about this project. this video shed light on it, thank you
Loving these videos! Please do one on Brisbanes cross River rail and all the new projects coming up for the Olympics!
Brisbane is amazing, I love everything they do for the people. Bridges to cross the city by foot or on a bike. Walking lanes and bike lanes everywhere. Sydney has much to learn from Brisbane.
@@virgola2126 Yes, a government of the people for the people; not of the bankers, for the bankers.
Cross the city by foot or bike isn't the main priority of Sydney, actually people can walk across the city whenever they like, on the other hand Brisbane has much to learn from Sydney about mass transportation system.
@@virgola2126 the advantage that Brisbane has on Sydney is that it is not as built up as Sydney therefore they can learn from all the hiccups that Sydney had for planning purposes…construction workers fifo into these cities across the country not just in the mining industry
Where I live we have two underwater tunnels and one underground connecting Norfolk and Newport News Virginia to allow the military ships in sea containers. One accident thete although rare leads to a 15 mile backup
Top quality content from a Top Quality Channel. Keep up the good work
Literally he brings us the latest and greatest from sydney LIVE
Great video. Thanks. Interesting to note that when the harbour tunnel was being constructed pretty much no one complained. In fact the people of Sydney hailed it a God send. Fast forward 25/30 years and everyone seems to be complaining, be it wrong or right. I think it is MUCH needed (although not the road toll). Maybe it's a sign of the time that anyone who feels like it will complain, and we all have a platform to do so.... cheers.
Dear The B1M there is a new harbor across running to the bridge for the $30B metro system.
6:45 I understand it's not nice but maybe it's fair to pay for your infrastructure when alternatives to car infrastructure are so much cheaper? Besides, you get extra infrastructure, from what I understand the old options are still available.
The old options include tolls, if i was to drive from Western city suburbs to through to CBD and over to northern beaches, i would end up paying close to $50 in tolls round trip.
@@steveezzeddine9589 you forgot parking at the beaches. It can cost up to $100 round trip. Sydney has turned into a “don’t come here where I live near the beach” city. It’s disgraceful.
Remember when the previous state Labor government wanted to extend the Eastern Suburbs railway line to Bondi Beach? Idiots like actor Michael Caton and some residents didn’t want it as they said it’ll bring more “westies” to the beach! I suppose we should all suffer in more traffic. Buses aren’t a good option to get around Sydney for most people.
So sad.
Isnt this a perfect city for a good ferry network? I mean I've visited there multiple times and I always find it fascinating how many people actually use a car with so much water around everywhere.
There is a ferry network however there’s problems with it like it costing to much money to go on a ferry from manly to the cbd, it should be free
@@ti4383 Not sure on Sydney but yea a lot of cities get trapped in stupid, exclusivity contracts with a ferry provider or two, who then crank up their prices to stupid. City ferries should be run as a not-for-profit crown corp, like public transit.
There is a ferry system. It's fairly extensive for waterfront locations
My own personal Sydney traffic anecdote is my uncle is a former high level official in the RTA, one day my grandfather was complaining about a new "No X Turn" appearing in the CBD and asking my uncle which idiot signed off on it to which he got a slightly apologetic look and a "that was me dad"
2:56 LOVE the pun and the pause so we can properly appreciate it
Perfect. This is going to be another excellent $5BN lesson in induced car traffic.
Yeah, they really should have made the harbour bridge one lane. Actually no. No lanes, just a bike track.
You know that saying "induced demand" doesn't actually make you smart?
@@Secretlyanothername I know, right? The correct term is "induced traffic".
@@synura8086 Induced Dunning-Kruger.
I think they meant Gladesville Bridge to the west; the Anzac Bridge does not cross the Harbour as their iown animation shows.
Yeah true
well if you use the Gladesville bridge, I guess you end up on the Anzac bridge if heading for the cbd & Anzac bridge is closer to the city, so probably looks better for the graphics :)
This is my daily commute and how good it is to see this project featured on my favorite RUclips channel by my man with the biggest guns in construction! 💪🏼 Let’s hope it reduces the congestion on the bridge and western distributor as it says it will. Love the video, and love Sydney!
I liked the comparison between the giant TBMs for highway traffic to the tiny TBMs for the metro. The trains seem a lot more efficient.
Thanks B1M for the video. Great introduction. 👍😊
As a viewer from Sydney, I can say I am very glad they changed to a TBM because a local park near my home was going to become a harbourside worksite for years. (Berry's bay)
Yes, can't make a mess of the North Shore, yet look at the mess along the metro south of the Bridge, or at St Mary's for the metro to NBW.
yes, just worry about your little park and not millions of others that the worksite could help
Great video as always but Sydneysiders are paying billions for roads that will reach capacity again within years. Not many other global cities are devastating their vibrant, inner-city areas the way Sydney is with motorways: Look at the ridiculous M8 interchange at St Peters, the Rozelle interchange and more.
nothing will stop the growth of transurban whilst they're in bed with the state government. That's why I'm buying TCL
And how else would you propose that they fix the mess?
Sydney isn't a "global city" the State and Local Council regulations like lockout laws, strip searches at festivals and countless permits ensured that.
The problem with the NSW government's infrastructure strategy is that they deliver big ticket public transport projects AND massive new toll roads; as a result neither are fully perfected modes of transport. The worst of both worlds and somewhat half baked. Motorway projects like this are holding the city back, they undo the progress made by recent public transport projects and hover up future public money that could have been used to develop a full scale metro system and ween the city away from SUVs
I was lucky enough to live in Manly so got the ferry to work every day which was great. Not so great in stormy weather though when they wouldn’t run and had to drive or get the bus 🙄🇦🇺
Always down for a new podcast recommendation. Thanks.
They did it in Singapore. I worked with a team of engineers from different disciplines and architects. We design five stations and 12 k of two Tunnel Boring Machines.
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Come on Australia, Fred's body would have dug these tunnels in a blink of an eye...
1:25 "a lack of public transport"? what do you mean? ive lived here for 13 years and never had a drivers licence. yes it gets spotty when you go 40km from the city centre, but id warrant a guess that applies to any city of similar size. public transport here is far from world class like japans trains, but it is certainly very good.
Yeah, that immediately stuck out to me as well. Sydney (and indeed the other big state capitals as well) easily beats almost all North American cities of similar size in the scope of its public transport network.
They have just tunnelled a new metro railway line across the Harbour as well so they are building both rail and road and not neglecting public transport in Sydney
This video is really missing the point. Sydney has constructed something like 50km of freeway tunnels under the city to remove cars from surface roads. This is another link meaning huge amount of traffic can now bypass the city by going directly under it. It's similar to Tokyo, but the freeways are underground. Sydney also has an excellent transport system - they have an extensive s-bahn system and are currently investing heavily in new metro lines.
I always loved driving over the Harbour Bridge growing up but my dad was never as eager as me due to traffic. I do believe this project is vital to Sydney’s growth and will definitely impact my life for the better! Such a great video, Love the B1M!
Do you know what induced demand is for adding lanes to roads or more roads? If you love to drive, more roads lead to more congestion by induced demand.
If you want a better driving experience, then other people Off the road is better for you as a driver.
Try doing it on a Bike, Why cars in Australia ? Empty land it is !
@@pebblepod30yeah but you also have to keep in mind that train patronage alone has over a million commuters a day, not including buses, light rail, ferries or the new metro and with 1 new light rail line and 2 new metro lines alongside an extension to the current line due to open layer this year I would say its safe to assume that car dependency is on its way down
For those saying that this is useless and that more public transport is needed, they are building another harbour tunnel for Sydney Metro Rail project which is due to open next year...
it's still public money that has to come from somewhere that could be used to build better value infrastructure. Still, this tunnel won't fix the problems it sought to overcome. A metro line has scalable capacity and can serve a much larger area, unlike a motorway. Sydney Metro NW is 36 km long, mostly underground and cost only slightly more than the projected cost of the western harbour tunnel which is about 6km long. This tunnel guaranteed will have massive cost blow outs.
Yes, these people talk like it is an either/or situation. We need both car and public transport. And considering the government is investing 63 billion into one of the largest metro rail projects in the world, we cannot say that Sydney's public transport needs are being ignored for the sake of another harbor tunnel.
@@artistjoh 63 Billion for the metro? Im pretty sure it's MUCH less, mabye 10 billion at most.
@@artistjoh there are enough roads there, people will still be able to drive.
It's much more efficient to spend the money for more public transport (for example a second North-south metro further West) than to build more roads.
Drivers would also benefit, because the number of cars on the road would be reduced
@@nicolasblume1046 it's not far off from AUD 50+bn if you include Sydney Metro North West, CBD, South West, West and Western Sydney airport whcuh are under construction right now.
This number doesn't include amounts spent on light rail or additional extensions which are in planning phase still.
Those size comparisons for the road Vs metro tunnels indicate to me there is space for a metro tunnel within the planned road tunnel. Do these tunnels go anywhere near the existing metro? If so, would doubling up be a bad idea?
Isn’t there already a plan to build a metro tunnel near there? If the grades are gentle enough for rail it works be a waste not to.
"Do these tunnels go anywhere near the existing metro?" yes and no. the road tunnels have a benefit of keeping traffic out of the cbd and off surface roads, but there wouldnt be the demand for trains to justify the cost. lets take the northern end point of the tunnel at cammeray, nearest logical centre being st leonards/crows nest. existing rail station, new metro station under construction. southern end being rozelle. nearest current rail station being stanmore, but already serviced by light rail with a rozelle station, and under construction metro station being built at the bays precinct, right next door. a metro tunnel across following the same route could allow people to change at crows nest and go straight for rozelle, but that isnt a common thoroughfare. going through the city is just a few minutes longer. in the future maybe. 20+ years.
size of the tunnels is just to allow future expansion. not sure on how they will do it, but the northconnex 9km tunnel was dug for 3 lanes per side and is marked as 2. later they can expand. the existing harbour tunnel was built as 2 lanes per side and is now stuck at 2 lanes per side. this new tunnel will be likely marked as 2 lanes, but has capacity for 3, maybe 4 lanes in the future. unlike the m5 east which was built as 2 and has suffered ever since and has now had the m8 tunnel take traffic from it.
ideally a metro could follow the same route, one from hurstville following a similar route to the A3 king georges road/lane cove road/mona vale road etc it has multiple names. hurstville to top ryde, to mona vale could alleviate a lot of traffic on that already congested road and link to numerous existing train and metro stations along the way. much more fitting than a bypass of the city by a km or 2 following the route of the western harbour tunnel.
@@iris4547 I know nothing about the Intricacies of the city, I've never been and don't know more than the video shows. My thinking was purely based on "a lack of public transit" and a "3 lane road way being seen as worthwhile" as a way to assume that the areas linked by the tunnel are actually relevant enough to be a viable transit route and given the space requirements, could be feasible. A kill two birds with one stone kinda thing. What with induced demand, a new road option will only lead to increased vehicle use. Just take a look at LA to see the effects of that line of thought.
@@badbradmx theres no lack of public transit in sydney, as the video suggests, i mentioned this in another comment somewhere where youtubes algorithm deems worthy under this video. the areas linked by the tunnel are more relevant to vehicular traffic than public transport by nature of the fact they are the confluence of numerous motorways. the current option is to send all that traffic into the city then back out again on the other side. this tunnel is to provide a bypass. never send it into the city to start with. but the local areas where the tunnel portals will be dont have strong demand for a public transit link between them that isnt already fulfilled by the existing network.
@@badbradmx no these tunnels are more about taking traffic off the surface roads than they are about increasing car demand. for example, this tunnel is eventually meant to lead into the northern beaches area of sydney. it is currently served by 3 surface level roads, none of which are a motorway. the population of the northern beaches is currently at 253k. all going through 3 roads. this tunnel and its eventual extension will take most of the traffic off of the 3 current roads into the area and allow them to become more pedestrian and local business friendly. this area of sydney has no train lines and there are no plans to build any unfortunately. but the bus system is over stretched and the residents of the 2 main routes into the area will appreciate a reduction in traffic.
This seems like it overlaps quite closely with the content of Not Just Bikes and StrongTowns. You should consider talking to them about the impact of different kinds of megaprojects, and how they can be built to aid sustainable community development.
"Destruction project" - 2:02 haha Love the video and work as always.
One major difference withthis project is the planned three lanes in each direction. When I first came to Sydney I couln't believe the various tunnels were contrsucted with only two lanes in each direction. so WHT is an outlier from that perspective. However I do agree with others that simply building more roads is not the ideal. reducing the number of cars/journeys/heavy vehicles would be more cost effective if politically more difficult. Thanks B1M; great video as ever. .
Just a road? No train line in the tunnels? Boring
Nah bro trust me one more lane will do it 😫
They're already making train tunnels separately.
I live in Sydney.
I don't find it hard to get around at all, since the motorways got connected up, new tunnels, west connex, north connex..
I can be anywhere in the city in 25 minutes.
Vs
Hour or more before.
In my car.
In addition to that, the Metro line has made an impact and the expansion of that is huge.
Bus services never been so good either right to CBD.
Sure, this tunnel will help with CBD.
On top of harbour bridge, the tunnel, anzac bridge and several other routes into the CBD depending where you are coming from.
The opening of the video was just a bit misleading and over the top for me mate.
Love the channel though, long time fan.
When that Metro line opens up from lower North Shore into inner west next year, that's gonna be massive. Like Chatswood to Petersham in 20 mins or whatever....amazing
I am in Baulkham Hills. So, M2 then anywhere. Has been a game changer.
I visited Sydney a few months ago and found the public transport great, in fact I didn’t drive myself for days after parking in my hotel.
Thanks for doing doing an Awesome Sydney Infrastructure Video!
@TheB1M The road network around Cambridge, UK is falling apart, literally. It seems like the logistics are managed by first graders, I would welcome your investigations into how this, and no doubt other counties, are on the precipice of total traffic chaos. What can we do to fix this? Or is it even possible?
Also, great video, love your work x
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Great Video! Thats a really interesting turn of events. However, at 5:40 you say, that they use a Mixshield-TBM. The explanation was right but a bit missleading. In this type of mixshield the supporting pressure for the heading face is crated by a bentonit suspension. The air cushion is just there to regulate the pressure because it takes less time and energy to change air pressure rather than liquid pressure.
I was going through the Sydney tunnel about to go on television when I noticed water on the windscreen. At first I wasn't concerned and then looked away and when I looked back there was more water, the cab driver started looking concerned saying I think the tunnel is leaking . After I started freaking out he bursted out laughing he was putting the windscreen water thing on
After the people of New South Wales pay for the project, it will be privatised within 2 years and be another toll road in Sydney forever.
Pretty sure it's already a toll road.
Hey remember the like 3 weeks when the m4 wasn't a toll road? That was nice
The only time traffic in Sydney may get bad is peakhour. The rest of the time its fine. And the public transport is awesome - its basically all i use and they are pouring billions more in to it.
You would be surprised with some parts, the pacific highway going south, through the Sutherland Shire is constantly clogged with traffic, I remember a few months ago a truck fell on its side right before Tom ugly bridge going northbound at 6am and the roads didn't get cleared till a bit after noon. Liverpool, Parramatta and south of the city are struggling to keep up with all the growth and little to no investment in new motorways where they are desperately needed. On my daily commute to the train station to school, I get driven half way to padstow and when there is no traffic it only takes around 20 minutes but when traffic is backed up it can take up to 40 minutes even. And that's only with being stuck in traffic for roughly 2km
As usual, short sighted solution to a long term problem. Even cycling/public transport is only a medium term solution. The long term solution is to disperse jobs/education and wealth more evenly geographically so people don't feel the need to live near big cities.
That would be *very very* expensive. Because you have more infrastructure that serves less people, which means higher costs. In other words, it would likely generate debt for the city and is equivalent to just sprawling out even more.
thanks for plugging the podcast - I shall now go and join :-)
Such a beautiful harbour.
We need to invest in a better train network not more bloody roads