Australia’s largest Motorway Control Centre supporting WestConnex motorists

Australia’s largest Motorway Control Centre supporting WestConnex motorists

29 Jul 2022

From 2023, Australia’s largest Motorway Control Centre (MCC) at St Peters will streamline coordination of critical incidents and maintenance and network wide traffic monitoring , including the next stage of WestConnex, the Link Tunnels.

The recent relocation of the M5 East operations centre from Arncliffe to Australia’s largest MCC at St Peters is the first step to bringing all Traffic Control Room Operators (TCRO) under one roof.

For motorists, this means wherever you are on the network you will be supported by the combined expertise of the WestConnex managed motorway team.

For businesses and freight vehicles, this means a smoother drive and a safer, more productive journey while on the job.

TCROs are the eyes in the sky for the M4, M8 and M5 East motorway, monitoring the motorway, coordinating incident response activities 24/7 and keeping motorists safe.

As soon as an issue is detected on the network, like someone who needs help or who should not be on the motorway, TCROs can send incident response crews to the scene and help coordinate emergency services. 

Alongside a 60-panel video wall measuring 15.5m x 5.2m, motorways are monitored with roadside technology including than 1000 CCTV cameras across the network, lane-use management systems, variable speed limit signs, automatic incident, height, and occupancy detection systems.

All this is integrated into a central traffic management system that can apply traffic management plans, and in the future will be increasingly automated and coordinated with connected and automated vehicles.

The next stage of WestConnex, known as the M4-M5 Link Tunnels, will open in 2023 and provide twin 7.5km tunnels between the M4 in Haberfield and M8 in St Peters, with up to four lanes in each direction.    

It will provide a critical link in Australia’s largest road infrastructure project, the WestConnex network, to create an underground western bypass of the CBD.   

Motorists continue to benefit from further improvements to incident response coordination, reliability, and safety on the WestConnex network.

• Since Transurban began operating the M5 East in May 2020, we have invested more than $4.7 million to upgrade technology, safety equipment and maintenance facilities.
• The M5 East opened at capacity in 2001 and had the slowest typical travel times of any motorway in Sydney.  Before the corridor was upgraded, a single incident on the M5 East could add hours to travel times.
• Since the M8 opened in 2020, crashes on the M5 East have dropped by more than 40 per cent, a result of less traffic and smoother traffic flow in the tunnels.
• Incidents involving over-height vehicles entering the tunnel have dropped by almost half, meaning motorists are spending less time stuck in gridlock while the incident is cleared.