The Cross City Tunnel first began way back in 2002 when then Premier of NSW Bob Carr awarded Cross City Motorways the contract to build, own and operate an underground tunnel crossing beneath the Sydney CBD in an East-West direction.
Three years later the Cross City Tunnel was opened by new Premier of NSW Morris Iemma on 28th August 2005 with the same scissors that opened all major Bridges and Tunnels in Sydney since the Harbour Bridge in 1932.
The Tunnel cost $680 Million to build and it was expected that between 60,000 and 90,000 cars would use it every day. However due to its cost and negative publicity it struggled to garner 30,000 cars per day.
After massive public campaigns and discounts and free trial periods that were offered to the public, there was some increase in usage, however this did not exceed 33,000.
Naturally the Motorway went broke and fell into the hands of the receivers after amassing debts of over $500 Million.
It was then sold to Leightons Contractors and ABN AMRO bank for $700 Million.
Whilst the tunnel remains privately owned it will revert to public ownership in 2030.
Should you wish to take a trip you should be aware of the prices and you must have an eTag as it is cashless. Most motorways and bridges are cashless now but the CCT was the first to be completely cashless.
The full journey from end to end will cost $4.91 one way. If you break your journey at Sir John Young Crescent in the City it will cost $2.32 one way.
Travel times indicate that you can get from World Square to the Airport in under 14 minutes. Of course if you live in Sydney you know that that figure is rubbish as it does not include the high volume of traffic at the beginning and end of the tunnel journey.
A few other facts about the CCT include a maximum speed of 80km/h, between 16-18 traffic lights are skipped using the tunnel, and a 60 metre high ventilation stack in Darling Harbour excretes the air that congests in the tunnel.
The Cross City Tunnel was brilliant in theory and an utter failure in practise which saw it turned into a gross white elephant.
Today its usage has increased to around 45,000 cars per day, but that is still half the expected use.
It will be interesting to see what the NSW Government does with it when it gets ownership in 2030.
J G S
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