1992
With the opening of the Gore Hill Freeway, the NSW government began extensive examination of a possible linking tunnel to Lane Cove, as a means of overcoming congestion on Epping Road.
1997
The opening of the M2 Motorway in 1997, added fuel to the discussion of a tunnel, with plans to link the M2 to the Gore Hill Freeway. The Minister for Roads, Carl Scully, established the M2 -Epping Task Force with the mayors of Lane Cove, Ryde, Willoughby and North Sydney Councils to conduct community discussions on the future development of the proposed road network between the M2 and the Gore Hill Freeway.
February
A report on the needs of the arterial road network between the M2 and the Gore Hill Freeway produced by Connell Wagner Consultants was put on public display in February, inviting community comment. The report outlined 6 different options for the tunnel:
Option H1 - a long tunnel from the Lane Cove River under Mowbray Road West to the Gore Hill Freeway
Option H2 - a short tunnel from Sam Johnson Way under Mowbray Road West to the Gore Hill Freeway
Option H3 - a long tunnel from the Lane Cove River under Epping Road to the Gore Hill Freeway
Option H3a - two short tunnels, one from the Lane Cove River to the western side of Stringybark Creek and the second from the eastern side of Stringybark Creek to the Gore Hill Freeway
Option H4 - a short tunnel from Johnson Crescent under Epping Road to the Gore Hill Freeway
Option H5 - a short tunnel from Tantallon Road under Epping Road to the Gore Hill Freeway
Comments made by members of local communities demonstrated considerable support for a longer tunnel.
1998
Hyder Consulting was commissioned by the Task Force to make a report on the technical and financial feasibility of the linking tunnel. The Task Force aimed to seek broad community responses to the study report, thus displays were made in Lane Cove, Willoughby, North Sydney and Ryde Council Chambers between 30 March and 15 May 1998.
1999
Following the public consultation period, Hyder were requested by the Task Force to undertake further technical and environmental studies and copies of the "Summary Report – Comparison of long tunnel options", were prepared and distributed, in August 1999, to the councils for comment. The report compared the provision of dual, tow lane tunnels between the M2 and the Gore Hill Freeway, which would divert traffic from Epping Road and other surrounding roads, allowing improvements to residents' amenity and local traffic movements in the Lower North Shore area. Tunnel users were requested to pay a toll electronically in both directions.
December
Minister Scully announced that following Councils' comments a decision would be made on the preferred proposal for the tunnel, and an Overview Report on the proposal would be distributed. This Overview Report was released on 17 December 1999. Within the overview report, were listed three options for tunnel ventilation, all involving unfiltered emission stacks, the only difference between the options being their location, and the number of stacks. The "preferred" option was a single vent stack near the eastern portal, to the south of the Shell Service Centre. The top of the stack would be about 20m above the Epping Road surface. The ventilation system it was stated would meet the "stringent air quality goals set by the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning (DUAP) on the advice from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA)."
2000
In opposition to the use of unfiltered stacks in the Lane Cove Tunnel proposal, a Lane Cove Tunnel Action Group formed, with Professor Ray Kearney as its chair. He estimated that an unfiltered stack on the two-lane 4.5 km M5 East tunnel with its estimated 70-80 000 vehicles per day will burn up at least 20,000 litres of fuel containing 400 litres of pure benzene each day. Benzene is well-known as a potent carcinogen, especially for leukemia. He stated that studies have shown irrefutably that people exposed to such toxic emissions over 30 years will have a 40% increased risk of lung cancer whether they smoke or not. Someone exposed for ten years would have an equivalent 20% increase in risk.
Professor Kearney also criticised the regulations governing acceptable levels of particulates in emissions, as the levels deal only with the maximum number of large particulate matter, referred to as PM10 but ignored the ultra-fine particulates (PM2.5), which can be as small as one-third the size of a red blood cell. Once the small particles, coated with toxic chemicals, reach the lung walls, they are swallowed-up by white blood cells which remove the surface chemicals but retain the larger carbon particles. The stripped molecules are released and can cause further tissue injury. Cancer-causing benzene or other dissolved carcinogens can then enter the bloodstream. He said that because of their numbers per unit volume, ultra-fine particles deliver much greater amounts of carcinogens and irritants than larger particles, which are removed in the upper respiratory tract. The combination of carcinogens plus inflammation due to irritants, including sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, accelerates the growth rate of cancer cells. Professor Kearney pointed out that motor vehicle emissions provide a cocktail of both cancer-causing factors as well as being implicated in cardio-vascular disorders and asthma and other respiratory diseases.
Professor Kearney called upon the government to exercise its duty of care in regard to residents' health, and urged the NSW State Cancer Council to be much more active on this vital issue. His group and the Eastern Distributor and Cross City tunnel groups formed a coalition with Residents Against Polluting Stacks to lobby for no stacks in urban areas.
2 May – Rally outside Parliament House in Macquarie Street, attended by residents affected by the M5 East tunnel, Eastern Distributor, Lane Cove Tunnel and Cross City Tunnel.
Present
Currently the RTA is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement for the Lane Cove Tunnel, with a view to receive community and stakeholder feedback before submission to the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning.