Automated detection systems send alerts to drivers when vehicles stop on highways or behave unusually, and incident response teams are quickly dispatched to resolve incidents and help prevent traffic spillover effects.
“This is mission critical for WestConnex. Yes [motorists] they end up in a situation where they need our help… this is where that alert is generated. And if the traffic isn’t flowing, this is where we pick it up and the flow is back to a satisfactory level,” Head said.
“Our operations team doesn’t just manage traffic. They also have to manage everything else that is going on to allow the tunnel to keep working.”
WestConnex mechanical and electrical project engineer Emma Clark, who was involved in outfitting the control center, said the large screen wall gave controllers situational awareness, while being able to drill into finer details from the computers at their desks.
WestConnex’s control center is on par with the state government’s traffic management center in Alexandria, which monitors Sydney’s wider road network.
WestConnex Electrical and Mechanical Project Engineer Emma Clark with CEO Andrew Head. Credit:brook mitchell
The first stage of WestConnex, an extended section of the M4 between Parramatta and Homebush, opened in 2017, followed by the M4 East tunnels to Haberfield in 2019 and the M8 in 2020. The latter is a doubling of the M5 between Kingsgrove and San Pedro.
Control rooms for other motorways operated by toll road operator Transurban, such as NorthConnex, the M2 motorway and the Cross City Tunnel, will remain.
Metropolitan Highways Minister Natalie Ward, who will inspect the M4-M8 link tunnels on Sunday, said the control center would streamline coordination of critical incidents, maintenance and network-wide traffic monitoring for WestConnex motorways.
Distance-based tolls along the 33-kilometre WestConnex network are capped at $10.47 per trip for cars and motorcycles, and $31.40 for trucks. However, they will increase by 6 percent on January 1 when the annual rates of increase for the motorway network take effect.
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