 Tunnel, 60 metres (200 ft) under the Brisbane River, during the Clem7 Community Open Day | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Brisbane River |
| Coordinates | 27°27′48.38″S 153°02′07.30″E / 27.4634389°S 153.0353611°E |
| Status | Open |
| Route |  M7 |
| Start | Airport Link Inner City Bypass, Bowen Hills |
| End |  Shafston Avenue Pacific Motorway Ipswich Road, Woolloongabba |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | September 2006 |
| Opened | 15 March 2010 |
| Operator | RiverCity Motorway (2010–2013) Queensland Motorways (2013–2015) Transurban Queensland (since 2015) |
| Traffic | Automotive |
| Character | Motorway |
| Toll | $2.64–$15.85 (2020–2021) |
| Vehicles per day | 28,000 |
| Technical | |
| Length | 4.8 km (3.0 mi) |
| No. of lanes | 4 total in 2 parallel tubes |
| Operating speed | 80 km/h (50 mph) |
| Tunnel clearance | 4.6 m (15 ft) |
The M7 Clem Jones Tunnel (CLEM7), known during its development as the North–South Bypass Tunnel (NSBT), is a A$3.2 billion motorway grade toll road under the Brisbane River, between Woolloongabba and Bowen Hills in Brisbane, Queensland. The tunnel was progressively opened to traffic from late on 15 March 2010 until just after midnight on 16 March 2010. It was completely open by 12:02 am.[1]
The tunnel was originally proposed by Labor Lord Mayor Jim Soorley in 2001, and was incorporated into the Liberal Party candidate Campbell Newman's five tunnel vision, called TransApex, in 2002. In December 2007, Brisbane City Council decided to name the tunnel the Clem Jones Tunnel in honour of the former lord mayor.[2] On 16 July 2008, the Government of Queensland announced that the tunnel "heralds Queensland’s newest motorway - the M7".
It is Brisbane’s first privately financed inner city toll road,[3][4] the city's largest road infrastructure project and one of Queensland's largest infrastructure projects. With a length of 4.8 km (3.0 mi) it was the longest road tunnel in the country until the 6.7 km (4.2 mi) Airport Link tunnel was completed.[4][5]
Construction bids were provided by a tender process in which RiverCity Motorway was selected over the Brisconnections consortium. The project commenced in September 2006, with tunneling using two very large tunnel boring machines completed by May 2009. The tunnel is tolled via an electronic tolling system. It includes extensive safety systems, a traffic control centre and speed cameras. The price of the toll has been criticised as too expensive and the ventilation stacks as too intrusive.[6]
Patronage decreased by more than 65% in the week following the introduction of a reduced toll period, and remains considerably lower than predicted volumes.[7] Despite being completed on time and on budget, the tunnel has been an economic failure due to incorrect predictions of traffic volume. RiverCity Motorway did not collect enough tolls to pay the interest on its $1.3 billion debt and went into receivership.[8] With no hope of profit and therefore no dividend, RiverCity Motorways shares are now worthless, costing investors millions.[9]
On 25 February 2011, Rivercity Motorways was placed into receivership after being unable to pay interest on its debt.[10] In December 2013, Queensland Motorways, operator of the Gateway and Logan motorways, took over tolling and operation of CLEM7.[11] In July 2014, Queensland Motorways was acquired by a consortium (Transurban Queensland) led by toll road operator Transurban, which now manages and operates the tunnel.
- ^ "What's your Clem to fame?". 16 March 2010. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ Neil Hickey (17 December 2007). "Tunnel named after Clem Jones". The Courier-Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
- ^ "North-South Bypass Tunnel". maunsell.com. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
- ^ a b "Brisbane's CLEM7 tunnel opening". ABC News Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 March 2010. Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
rttwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
mcscwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Traffic Surveys And Airport Link Forecasts Reinforce Rivercity Motorway Traffic Predictions" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2009.
- ^ "Clem7 owners RiverCity Motorways go into receivership owing $1.3bn".
- ^ "RiverCity Motorway Group (Public, ASX:RCY)". Archived from the original on 24 March 2017.
- ^ "KordaMentha appointed Receivers and Managers to the RiverCity Motorway Group" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2011.
- ^ "Queensland Motorways reaches settlement of CLEM7 Tunnel". Queensland Motorways. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
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