SICE has successfully delivered its Operations Management and Control System (OMCS), SIDERA, for the highly anticipated Sydney Gateway. The completion of this project marks a significant milestone in transforming Sydney’s transport infrastructure, providing a vital new direct connection from WestConnex St Peters Interchange to Sydney International and Domestic Airport Terminals and improved connections to and from Port Botany, separating airport traffic from Port Botany traffic.
For this project, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and Transurban entrusted SICE with integrating its advanced OMCS, SIDERA, including the design, integration, testing, and commissioning of multiple ITS subsystems for Sydney Gateway, such as the CCTV and AVID systems, the driver advisory signage, the tunnel closure system, the over-height detection system, the vehicle detection system, and the motorway network communications. The project’s extensive scope also involved integrating several Sydney Gateway WestConnex’s assets within the existing WestConnex network, managed and controlled from WestConnex Motorway Control Centre (WMCC) and TfNSW Traffic Management Centre (TMC), ensuring seamless traffic management and operational alignment between both networks.
SIDERA enables operators to efficiently manage the Sydney Gateway WestConnex on/off ramps and associated ITS devices from both the TfNSW and the WMCC in a coordinated manner. It allows for faster incident responses, improved traffic management, and enhanced safety by providing operators with a comprehensive, real-time view of the entire network, ensuring optimal performance and safety standards across one of Sydney’s most critical transport links.
The delivery of this project posed unique technical challenges due to its location and integration with existing infrastructure. The combination of greenfield and brownfield developments, due to the extension of M8 with the new roads and bridges along with the integration with M4-M5 Link and the rest of WestConnex stages, each with its own unique operational dynamics and infrastructure, added further complexity. Maintaining traffic flow throughout such a busy and critical corridor, particularly near Sydney Airport, required advanced traffic management systems and a phased implementation approach.
The Sydney Gateway project is part of the broader Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan, announced by the NSW Government in 2018. Described as the “missing link” in Sydney’s motorway network, it represents a critical improvement to the city’s transport infrastructure. The connection is expected to significantly reduce travel times, improve passenger and freight access, and provide a high-capacity road network “skipping up to 60 sets of traffic lights (compared to surface roads)”, ensuring faster and more reliable journeys.
SICE’s team of engineers from both Spain and Australia brought a wealth of experience and technological expertise to the project, ensuring that the Sydney Gateway WestConnex assets operate with the highest levels of efficiency and safety and underscoring SICE’s capability to deliver reliable, scalable, and future-proof solutions. “This project is a significant addition to SICE’s growing portfolio in Australia,” said Manuel Gonzalez Arrojo, Managing Director of SICE ANZ. “We are proud to contribute to such an essential piece of Sydney’s transport infrastructure, which will have lasting positive impacts on the city’s economy and the daily lives of its residents.“
