West Gate Tunnel
West Gate Tunnel | |
|---|---|
West end East end | |
| Coordinates | |
| General information | |
| Type | Freeway |
| Length | 8 km (5.0 mi) |
| Opened | 14 December 2025 |
| Route number(s) | M4 (2025–present) |
| Major junctions | |
| West end | West Gate Freeway Yarraville, Melbourne |
| East end | Dynon Road West Melbourne, Melbourne |
| Location(s) | |
| Major suburbs / towns | Yarraville, West Melbourne |
| Highway system | |
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The West Gate Tunnel, formerly known as the Western Distributor, is an 8-kilometre (5.0 mi) freeway-standard toll road in Melbourne, Australia, linking the West Gate Freeway at Yarraville with the Port of Melbourne and CityLink at Docklands. The western half of the toll road consists of twin tunnels - an eastbound tunnel, known as Bundawanh Tunnel, approximately 2.8 km (1.7 mi) long, and a westbound tunnel, known as Eureka Tunnel, approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) long - while the eastern half consists of a new bridge over the Maribyrnong River and an elevated road above Footscray Road.
The tunnel project replaced an earlier $680 million freight route proposal, the West Gate Distributor, which the Victorian Labor Party had taken to the 2014 state election as an alternative to the abandoned East West Link tollway.
The elected Labor government announced in December 2015 that it would proceed with the tunnel project, with an initial construction cost of $5.5 billion. Planning approvals were granted in December 2017 and major construction began in January 2018. It was scheduled for completion on 30 September 2022, although delays related to disposal of contaminated soil pushed its opening back 3 years with an eventual cost of $10.2 billion. It opened on 14 December 2025, with toll-free periods on weekends during January 2026.