Burnley Tunnel Upgrade Project

Keeping Melbourne moving

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the coming months, we'll be giving the Burnley Tunnel a major makeover to improve the traffic flow and make your trips quicker.

Among the changes, we’ll be installing Australian-first state-of-the-art pacemaker lighting to encourage drivers to maintain a consistent speed.

We’ll also be painting the tunnel walls and transforming the lighting with colourful, more energy efficient LEDs, to create a brighter, more open looking tunnel.

Why we’re upgrading the Burnley Tunnel

Project updates

From Sunday 19 June until September, there will be double lane closures in the Burnley Tunnel six nights a week. From Sunday – Thursday, works will occur between 8pm – 5am, with a longer closure every Saturday from 11pm – 8am.
 

Drive with care through our work areas

Take care driving through the tunnel during our works. Remember to obey lowered speed limits and on-road signage in our work areas. These safety measures are in place to keep our crews and drivers safe.

24/7 incident response

Our incident response crews have you covered 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Not sure what to do if you breakdown? Follow these tips to make sure you stay safe. 

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Why are you upgrading the tunnel?

    The Burnley Tunnel is much steeper and deeper than people realise. When going through the tunnel, drivers are actually driving down some 65 metres below the Yarra River, then back up again as they exit.

    Because of this, drivers tend to be going slower on the uphill, which leads to congestion and can create a backlog of traffic in the tunnel.

    We’ll be giving the Burnley Tunnel a major makeover this year to help drivers maintain consistent speeds, and these upgrades will see us transform the tunnel into a one-of-a-kind driving experience in Australia.

  • What changes are you making?

    In an Australian-first, we will be installing state-of-the-art pacemaker lighting to act as visual cues for drivers to maintain a consistent speed, as well as transforming the lighting in the tunnel with colourful, more energy efficient LEDs.

    When testing these changes in a virtual reality trial, we found they improved the experience for drivers by 40%, with increases in line of sight, improved driver comfort and consistency of speed at the slope.

  • What are the impact to motorists?

    In order to complete these major upgrades, there will be a significant amount of work being carried out in the Burnley Tunnel this year, which means months of disruptions at night. The works will involve nightly lane closures from June as well as some overnight tunnel closures.

    We know this will be a big disruption for drivers, so if you’re travelling through the Burnley Tunnel at night please allow an extra 10 minutes to your trips, and, we thank you for your patience while we work on these exciting upgrades.

    We encourage drivers to check linkt.com.au to stay informed with the latest closure details for the project and to help plan ahead.