Obayashi Corporation
The CityLink contract was awarded in 1995 by the Victorian Government to a consortium of Australia's Transfield Holdings and Japan's Obayashi Corporation. Transurban was formed to operate the CityLink contract. The specifications called for a tolled freeway to augment two existing freeways and the construction of two new toll roads – labelled the Western and Southern Links – directly linking a number of existing freeways to provide a continuous, high-capacity road route to, and around, the central business district, using electronic toll collection technology, called e-TAG. The total value of the project was estimated in 1996 at about 1.8 billion, and the 34-year concession to operate the road expires in 2034. The road was built between 1996 and 2000. The first of the sections opened to traffic in August 1999, and tolling commenced on 3 January 2000 before final completion occurred on 28 December 2000 with tolling commenced the same year.