Cudgen Road Tunnel

Cudgen Road Tunnel

Overview
Location	Stotts Creek, Tweed Valley, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates	28°16′45″S 153°31′12″E / 28.279181°S 153.520100°E / -28.279181; 153.520100
Status	Open
Route	Pacific Motorway
Operation
Constructed	Abigroup
Opened	4 August 2002
Owner	Transport for NSW
Traffic	Road
Character	Dual carriageway motorway
Technical
Length	134 metres (440 ft)
No. of lanes	4
Operating speed	110 kilometres per hour (68 mph)

The Cudgen Road Tunnel is a twin-tube road tunnel that forms part of the Pacific Motorway (M1) located near Stotts Creek in the Tweed Valley of New South Wales, Australia. The twin 134-metre-long (440 ft) tunnels are illuminated inside with northbound traffic using one tunnel and southbound traffic in the other. The tunnels pass under the Cudgen Road and the Condong Range.^[1]

It was built by Abigroup as part of the Yelgun to Chinderah upgrade of the Pacific Highway, opening on 4 August 2002.^[2] It was jointly funded by the New South Wales and Federal governments.^[3] It is the first tunnel to be built as part of a rural road project in NSW.^[4]

This alignment of the Yelgun to Chinderah motorway was aimed at avoiding the loss of prime cane land, avoiding flood-prone areas and preserving important local animal habitat. The best route was through the Condong Range. A tunnel was chosen instead of a road cutting because it was sympathetic with the surrounding environment by removing the visual impact of a road cutting.^[4]

• List of tunnels in Australia