The Government of Victoria in Australia has signed a contract with Transurban for the construction of the A$6.7bn ($5.07bn) West Gate Tunnel that will serve as an alternative to the West Gate Bridge.

Builders CPB Contractors and John Holland, selected by Transurban, started moving into a construction compound in Footscray, where they plan to begin work on the northern tunnel portal from the next month.

After completion, the six-lane tunnel would be used by trucks that operate on the residential streets in the inner west and help in eliminating congestion along the M1 corridor from Pakenham to Geelong.

The construction of the new road tunnel, which is due to be completed in 2022, will be partially funded with a ten-year extension of the CityLink Concession deed.

Appropriate legislation to operate the new road tunnel and necessary amendments to the CityLink concession deed are expected to be introduced in the parliament before the completion of the road.

“This project will deliver a long-overdue alternative to the West Gate Bridge, create thousands of jobs and construction starts next month.”

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said: “The time for talking is over – this project will deliver a long-overdue alternative to the West Gate Bridge, create thousands of jobs and construction starts next month.”

As part of the agreement, the JV partners worked with Transurban and the government through an Environment Effects Statement (EES) process.

The process evaluated the potential environmental, social, economic and planning impacts of the project, and recommended the approach to manage them.

The length of the tunnels is now twice as long as it was in the original business plan.

It also includes better city connections and additional noise walls, as well as the creation of new open spaces and more cycling paths.

The whole project is estimated to provide an A$11bn ($8.33bn) boost to the Victorian economy and create nearly 6,000 new jobs.