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CityLink is a tolled freeway system in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The company Transurban built two new freeways - the Western and Southern Links, directly link a number of existing freeways to provide a continuous, high-capacity road route, to, and around, the central business district.
Previously, the city centre was served by four separate freeways:
New freeways
The elevated Western Link directly connects the West Gate and Tullamarine Freeways. It includes the Bolte Bridge (named after former Premier Sir Henry Bolte) over the Yarra River in the Docklands; and a tube-like sound barrier in Flemington where the road passes close to a number of community housing towers. This structure has jokingly been called "Jeff's Condom" in reference to Jeff Kennett, the Premier at the time. A short distance to the north, a massive sculptural work was placed, called the Melbourne International Gateway or jokingly also known as "Jeff's Erect". It comprises a giant yellow beam hanging diagonally across the road (nicknamed the "Cheesestick") and a row of smaller red beams besides the road.
The Southern Link connects the start of the West Gate Freeway to the start of the Monash Freeway. This link is completed by the Burnley and Domain Tunnels which pass under the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Yarra River. Each tunnel is one-way. This Link also includes a connection to the CBD from the Monash Freeway over a bridge extension of Exhibition Street over the nearby railway lines.
CityLink contains 22 km of entirely new roads, as well as considerable widening of parts of the Tullamarine and Monash Freeways. Subsequently, parts of these older roads became tolled along with the new.
Tolling system
There are no toll booths along the entire length of the tollway, so traffic flow is not impeded.
CityLink uses a toll system called e-TAG, where an electronic tag is placed on the inside of the vehicles' windscreen. Gantries carrying toll sensors along the roads track vehicles, and deduct toll amounts automatically. Where a tag is not detected, the cars' number plate is recorded and the driver is fined via the transport registry in his/her state, unless they have registered (and paid for) their number plate over the phone. A "daypass" can be purchased in advance from customer centres or post offices, or up to three days after travelling, before a fine is recorded.
The system came under fire in 2003 when it was found that e-TAGs did not warn drivers when their batteries were running low, and non-functioning batteries caused vehicles not to be detected by the toll sensors.
See also
External links
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