12 BWA | JUL 2026 The delivery structure is also notable. The $11.1 billion Primary Package was procured as an availability-based public-private partnership, with financial close reached in October 2021. The Spark consortium — including WeBuild, GS Engineering and Construction, CPB Contractors, China Construction Oceania, Ventia, Capella Capital, John Laing Investments, DIF and Pacific Partnerships — was awarded the main tunnel package. The primary package includes the twin three-lane tunnels, interchanges at Lower Plenty Road and Manningham Road, upgrades around Bulleen Road, new and upgraded green land bridges, and walking and cycling infrastructure forming part of the new North East Trail network. The PPP model matters because North East Link is not just being built for opening day. The tunnels will also need to be operated, maintained and renewed over a long asset life. The project therefore brings together design, construction, financing, operations, maintenance and lifecycle management in a way that reflects the modern reality of infrastructure delivery. Major roads are no longer simply concrete and asphalt assets; they are technology-enabled systems with ventilation, safety, tolling, communications, monitoring, incident response and managed motorway interfaces. That systems element is especially visible in the Eastern Freeway upgrades. As part of the broader program, the Eastern Freeway is being upgraded with new express lanes, managed motorway technology and Melbourne’s first dedicated busway. That last element is easy to overlook, but it is important. North East Link is a road project, but it is also intended to improve bus movement and multimodal connectivity across the corridor. The opening of a section of the Bulleen Road Interchange
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