Past proposals M1 Pacific Motorway, then known as F3 Sydney–Newcastle Freeway, was originally planned in the early 1960s to continue as the
Lane Cove Valley Expressway, which was to join the
North Western Expressway, leading to the Sydney Central Business District via
Gladesville Bridge and the
Western Distributor, but those plans were cancelled in 1977. The F3 Freeway was extended to Wahroonga in 1989, but there was no plan for a motorway route continuing beyond that location at the time. However, the corridor of land to link the F3 and the M2 via the Lane Cove Valley was reserved for road use since 1988. It was abandoned by the state government in 1996, but was retained as open space. In 2001, at the same time as announcing
Western Sydney Orbital (now Westlink M7), the
federal Coalition government proposed that the Orbital would form part of a bypass route, with a new road branching off the F3 near
Mount White and crossing the
Hawkesbury River with a new high-level bridge to join the Orbital at its distinct northwestern
corner at
Dean Park. Hence, the road would avoid the steep grades of the Mount White section of the F3 immediately north of the existing low-level bridges across the Hawkesbury River and would be a quite direct bypass of Sydney that would be separated from much of Sydney's
commuter traffic. A study was undertaken by
Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) into options for connecting the F3 with the Sydney Orbital. At the preliminary stage of that study, the then
Roads and Traffic Authority decided that the primary goal of the new road was the best possible relief of traffic on the existing route, Pennant Hills Road. Corridors for that proposal were broadly defined as types A, B and C. • Type A options were essentially from the existing end of the F3 to somewhere on the M2 • Type B corridors branched off the F3 in the vicinity of
Berowra and crossed the environmentally sensitive
Galston Gorge • Type C corridors were along the general lines of the Federal Government proposal (F3 to Western Sydney Orbital) The need to reduce traffic on Pennant Hills Road made the reduction of commuter traffic more urgent than that of traffic bypassing Sydney. As such, type B and C options were rejected early in the planning process. Four type A options were identified and all involved extensive tunnelling. The four type A options were put to public in 2003, • 'Purple' option: from the F3 at Wahroonga to the M2 at the existing Pennant Hills Road/M2 interchange, generally following the alignment of Pennant Hills Road. It will consist of mostly tunnels with an open cut adjacent to the railway corridor and in the vicinity of Brickyard Park at Thornleigh. • 'Blue' option: dual tunnels from the F3 at Wahroonga to the M2 at the existing Pennant Hills Road/M2 interchange, generally following an alignment to the east Pennant Hills Road • 'Yellow' option: dual tunnels from the F3 at Wahroonga to the M2 at North Epping, with direct connections to the east and west at M2 • 'Red' option: dual tunnels from the F3 at Wahroonga to the M2 at Macquarie Park, with direct connections to the east and west at M2. This followed the alignment of the cancelled
Lane Cove Valley Expressway The study report by SKM was released in April 2004. On 6 May 2004, the
Deputy Prime Minister and federal Minister for Transport and Regional Services,
John Anderson, and the federal Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads, Senator
Ian Campbell, announced that a preferred corridor had been chosen for a new link to be constructed from the F3 Freeway to the Sydney Orbital. The preferred corridor was the 'Purple' option, which was long, mostly in tunnel, and would connect the F3 Freeway at Wahroonga to the M2 Motorway at Pennant Hills Road interchange. The federal government strongly preferred that the corridor be fully tunneled which would ensure that there would no opening in Brickyard Park. The corridor was also the most favoured by the public in submissions. The review was carried out by
Mahla Pearlman , who is a former Chief Judge of the
NSW Land and Environment Court. The review was completed in August 2007 and the report was released on 14 September 2007.
Labor committed $150 million to undertake feasibility and planning studies under the National Building Program, while the
Coalition made election commitment of $1.5 billion over seven years to 2014 to fund the construction of the F3 to M2 corridor. Labor eventually won the election. In October 2008, the NSW government sought to receive federal funding from Infrastructure Australia on the F3-M2 connector. In May 2011, the federal Labor government announced deferral of its National Building Program feasibility study until 2015–16, creating uncertainty about the federal government's commitment to the project. The Environmental Impact Statement of the NorthConnex subsequently released in July 2014 showed that Pennant Hills Road carried approximately 62,000 vehicles per day, out of which roughly 10% were heavy vehicles. Until 2020, the average daily traffic volumes on Pennant Hills Road remained at the same numbers. Along with the
State Infrastructure Strategy report, the link between the F3 and M2 was also recognised in
Transport for NSW's
Long Term Transport Master Plan as "important infrastructure for freight traffic and the wider connectivity within NSW to reduce congestion and improve
traffic flow along
Pennant Hills Road." In 2013, The
National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA) identified the arterial, Pennant Hills Road as the third worst road in NSW and the
ACT. This rating reflected the level of frustration experienced by road users. Traffic congestion is often associated with poor road safety and further compounding congestion into the off-peak period. The rate of accidents along the arterial strip was significantly higher when compared to the NSW average. A proposed tunnel link was estimated to carry more than 100,000 vehicles per day (50,000 in each direction).
M7 owners proposal In March 2012, the
NSW government received an unsolicited proposal from the owners of M7, to design, build, operate, maintain and finance the F3–M2 Link. On 30 May 2013, the NSW Government announced the proposal had progressed to Stage 3, which would include a competitive tender to select a design and construction contractor. On 16 March 2014, the
NSW Government reached an agreement with the M7 owners (later known as NorthWestern Roads Group) to build, maintain and operate the tunnel link. It was also announced that the tunnel link would be known as NorthConnex. The toll concessions of
Westlink M7 and
Lane Cove Tunnel were extended from 2037 to June 2048 to fund the project. The toll concession of the
M2 Hills Motorway was also extended from 2046 to June 2048 for the M2's integration works with NorthConnex.
Criticism There was community opposition and criticism to a proposed ventilation exhaust to be built for the tunnels near schools in Sydney. There is also some contention within the local community about how successful the chosen route option would be in easing traffic congestion on Pennant Hills Road.
Ku-ring-gai Council has also raised a significant concern that the current proposal does not address the worsening traffic on the Pacific Highway from Wahroonga through to the Gore Hill Freeway at Artarmon. To help address this, construction of east-facing tunnel ramps under Pennant Hills Golf Course to the M2 Motorway may be considered in the future if required.
Construction Along with the announcement of the NorthConnex name in March 2014, the
Lendlease Bouygues joint venture was announced as the preferred construction contractor for the project. Planning approval for the construction and operation of NorthConnex was granted on 13 January 2015 by the NSW Minister of Planning. The project was originally due to be completed by the end of 2019 but was delayed with the contractor citing the depth of the tunnel (90m) as presenting challenges to the construction time frame. It was estimated to be open during the third quarter of 2020, but was further delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The tunnel finally opened on 31 October 2020.
Post-opening By August 2023, coverplates and new signage bearing the
route number M11 began to be signposted on entry approaches to NorthConnex. This gave an indication that NorthConnex was to be allocated route M11, however, no official announcement was given at the time. The route allocation was officially announced by Transport for NSW in late September 2023, with NorthConnex remaining as an official name of the tunnel. ==Toll==