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SICE completes OMCS and ITS for Melbourne’s West Gate Tunnel — Transforming CityLink and West Gate Tunnel Operations
The Westgate Tunnel is now open and offers a vital alternative to Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge: A large-scale implementation of urban transport.
Background: A project launched in April 2017
In April 2017 a consortium comprising John Holland and CPB Contractors was awarded the contract to construct the project. A Jacobs/Aurecon Joint Venture was selected by John Holland and CPB Contractors consortium to carry out the engineering design for the project.
Few months ago (December 2025) the Victorian Government announced that the West Gate Tunnel was operational.
It is now open, providing a vital alternative to the West Gate Bridge, improving freight efficiency, and removing thousands of trucks from residential streets.
The tunnel is expected to:
- Travel time savings and productivity gains
- 28,000 fewer vehicles on West Gate Bridge
- 22,000 fewer vehicles on Bolte Bridge
- Over 9,000 trucks removed from local streets daily
The main features of the project include:
1. Upgrading of the West Gate motorway with four additional lanes, widening the route from eight to twelve lanes. This will include express lanes between the M80 and the West Gate Bridge to reduce junctions and merges that cause heavy congestion. Ramp signals will be used on entries to the freeway to manage the flow of traffic needing to merge and help ease congestion.
2. A new state-of-the-art tunnel will take motorists from the West Gate motorway to the Maribyrnong River and Melbourne Harbour. This new tunnel will take motorists and trucks underground and off residential streets, providing a more efficient freight route and reducing congestion along the West Gate Bridge.
3. A new bridge over the Maribyrnong River will link to an elevated road along Footscray Road and allow motorists to quickly access the northern CBD, reducing congestion along the motorway. Indeed, it implies 14 kilometres of new and upgraded cycling and walking paths, including a 2.5 kilometre "veloway" for cyclists along Footscray Road and a pedestrian and cycle bridge across Footscray Road. The vital walking and cycling paths offer links between the suburbs of Altona North and Brooklyn and a second pedestrian overpass between Spotswood and Yarraville.
4. SICE is proud to announce the successful completion of both the Operations Management and Control System (OMCS) and the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) for the project, marking a major milestone in the transformation of Melbourne’s road transport network and setting new standards for safety and operational efficiency.
As part of the West Gate Tunnel project, SICE provided:
- SIDERA OMCS platform: Centralised operations for traffic management, plant and equipment control, and incident response.
- Intelligent Transport Systems: Driver advisory signage, CCTV, automatic video incident detection, vehicle detection systems, over-height vehicle detection, tunnel closure systems, emergency telephones, and more.
- Communications and control: OMCS hardware (servers and workstations), video wall, network communication system, complete PLC and RIO network, ITS cabinets, public address, radio re-broadcast, and mobile phone systems; all seamlessly integrated with the OMCS.
This achievement follows the successful migration of the CityLink motorway to the SIDERA OMCS platform, ensuring both CityLink and West Gate Tunnel assets are now operated from a unified, future-ready control centre. The transition supports Transurban’s commitment to safe and reliable journeys for Melbourne motorists.
Photo: ©West Gate Tunnel Authority ©Transurban
