[8] The northbound tunnel contains backlit silhouettes of native birds and trees such as eagles, cockatoos, galahs, and lorikeets, an attempt to reflect the journey to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.

The preferred corridor was the 'Purple' option, which was 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) long, mostly in tunnel, and would connect the F3 Freeway at Wahroonga to the M2 Motorway at Pennant Hills Road interchange.

[16][17] The federal government strongly preferred that the corridor be fully tunneled which would ensure that there would no opening in Brickyard Park.

[13] On 19 February 2007, the federal Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads Jim Lloyd announced the establishment of an independent review of the F3 to M7 Corridor Selection.

[19][17] The conclusions of the report were that the proposed tunnels should proceed but that planning for the longer term connection between the F3 and the M7 should also commence immediately.

[24] Along with the State Infrastructure Strategy report, the link between the F3 and M2 was also recognised in Transport for NSW's Long Term Transport Master Plan as "important infrastructure for freight traffic and the wider connectivity within NSW to reduce congestion and improve traffic flow along Pennant Hills Road.

[citation needed] In March 2012, the NSW government received an unsolicited proposal from the owners of M7, to design, build, operate, maintain and finance the F3–M2 Link.

[28] On 30 May 2013, the NSW Government announced the proposal had progressed to Stage 3, which would include a competitive tender to select a design and construction contractor.

[29] On 16 March 2014, the NSW Government reached an agreement with the M7 owners (later known as NorthWestern Roads Group) to build, maintain and operate the tunnel link.

[35] There is also some contention within the local community about how successful the chosen route option would be in easing traffic congestion on Pennant Hills Road.

[36] Ku-ring-gai Council has also raised a significant concern that the current proposal does not address the worsening traffic on the Pacific Highway from Wahroonga through to the Gore Hill Freeway at Artarmon.

[37] To help address this, construction of east-facing tunnel ramps under Pennant Hills Golf Course to the M2 Motorway may be considered in the future if required.

[42] The project was originally due to be completed by the end of 2019 but was delayed with the contractor citing the depth of the tunnel (90m) as presenting challenges to the construction time frame.

[46] By August 2023, coverplates and new signage bearing the route number M11 began to be signposted on entry approaches to NorthConnex.

[53] Toll prices on the M2 and NorthConnex would increase in line with the proposed concession agreement with the Government and will end in June 2048.

Since the opening of NorthConnex on 31 October 2020, all trucks and buses over 12.5 metres long or over 2.8 metres clearance height (except vehicles transporting dangerous goods, oversize vehicles, or that have a genuine destination only accessible via Pennant Hills Road) travelling between the M1 and M2 are forbidden to use Pennant Hills Road and must use the NorthConnex tunnels instead.

A fine of A$194 with no demerit points will also be imposed on truck and bus drivers detected (with the use of cameras mounted on gantries) using Pennant Hills Road with the traffic flow.