A worker on one of the two roadheaders waves the Australian flag moments after smashing through sandstone connecting two sections of the M4-M5 Link.

A worker on one of the two roadheaders waves the Australian flag moments after smashing through sandstone connecting two sections of the M4-M5 Link.Credit:Kate Geraghty

About seven million tons of earth has been excavated from the M4-M5 Link,with the material transported west to help build the new Sydney airport at Badgerys Creek.

NSW Transport chief operations officer Howard Collins said the tunnel,which forms part of the almost $17 billion WestConnex project,effectively created an orbital motorway beneath the city.

“I think it will be really useful for Sydney to operate using an orbital motorway network rather than most people travelling on the network,having to get off,go through some suburban street and back on again,” he said.

“We really talk about this being the missing link.”

A roadheader breaks through the last section of the M4-M5 Link on Friday.

A roadheader breaks through the last section of the M4-M5 Link on Friday.Credit:Kate Geraghty

Mr Collins said that once they open in 2023,the 7.5-kilometre tunnels would save motorists about 10 minutes in travel time and help unclog Parramatta Road.

More than 28 roadheaders were used during the construction of the wider project,chewing through the earth at about 25 metres-per-day,with the M4-M5 Link reaching 58 metres at its deepest point.

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TfNSW acting deputy secretary of infrastructure Camilla Drover said tunnelling on the rest of the project was about 90 per cent complete.

“This is an exciting milestone for the workforce who have been tunnelling on this project for more than two years,” she said.

A ventilation tube provides clean air to workers more than 50 metres below Sydney’s inner west.

A ventilation tube provides clean air to workers more than 50 metres below Sydney’s inner west.Credit:Kate Geraghty

Toll trips through WestConnex will be capped at $10 when it opens,which equates to roughly 16 kilometres worth of driving through the 33 kilometre motorway.

The first stage of WestConnex,the M4 East opened to traffic in mid 2019 before the M8 – a duplication of the M5 between Kingsgrove and St Peters – opened in July last year. The government anticipates more than 100,000 vehicle movements a day on the M4-M5 Link tunnels in 2023.

Consortium Sydney Transport Partners,led by tolling giant Transurban,purchased 51 per cent of WestConnex from the government in 2018 for $9.2 billion. The government is planning to sell its remaining minority share in two sections.

Under the terms of the acquisition,the consortium has the right of first offer for any of the 49 per cent sale.

Traffic volume on Transurban’s Sydney motorways increased by 4.5 per cent in the March quarter,the company announced on Thursday,indicating a rebound from COVID-19 restrictions.

Factoring in its two new motorways,the M8 and NorthConnex,traffic volume increased by more than 20 per cent.

The NSW governmentlast week announced construction on the Rozelle Interchange had reached halfway. It will link the WestConnex motorway to a second tunnel beneath Sydney Harbour.

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