BACKGROUND

In the early 1980s, the level of traffic that could travel between the expanding suburbs of North Sydney and the Sydney Central Business District was constrained by a lack of available highway capacity across the Sydney Harbor. Traffic on the Sydney Harbor Bridge became so congested that the New South Wales (NSW) Government decided that another harbor crossing was needed. Instead of adding another bridge or expanding the capacity of the existing bridge, the Government elected to build a tunnel. However, due to a shortage of public funding for the project, the Government sought alternative funding and financing to expedite delivery of the project. Exhibit 4.2 provides an area-wide site map for the tunnel relative to downtown Sydney and the Sydney Harbor Bridge.