Two new walking and cycling bridges have opened over the Eastern Freeway.

The new bridge at Estelle Street, Balwyn North opened in early December 2025. To mark the occasion, local residents were invited to check out the new 133-metre cable stay bridge over a coffee and sausage.

The new 90-metre arched bridge at Heyington Avenue, Doncaster, opened to the local community in mid-December 2025. The bridge is a striking architectural landmark across the freeway between Doncaster and Elgar roads and reinstates an important crossing for local residents.

Students from Birralee Primary School celebrate the opening of the new Heyington Avenue bridge.

Noise walls rising along the freeway

We’ve installed all the recycled plastic panels for the new noise wall east of Elgar Road, ready for acrylic panels to be installed in the coming months.

The recycled plastic noise walls are made using approximately 104 tonnes of plastic, or around 2.4 million two-litre milk bottles, that would otherwise go to landfill, contributing to the project’s ongoing commitment to sustainability.

We've also installed noise wall posts in Koonung Creek Reserve in preparation for weathered steel panels to be installed.

Flyovers in focus

After a year of building the piers that will support the new elevated ramps connecting the Eastern Freeway to the North East Link tunnels, we reached a major milestone in December 2025. The first of 188 massive steel beams was installed to form the bases of these elevated ramps.

Over the next 12 to 18 months, we’ll finish installing the steel beams over the Eastern Freeway, Thompsons Road and Bulleen Road.

The largest beams will exceed 105 tonnes and stretch more than 45 metres in length. Together, the beams will transform the Bulleen Road interchange into a mega interchange.

With 33 steel beams already installed, stay tuned for further updates and upcoming freeway and road closures as we prepare for some of the largest and most complex lifts ever undertaken on an infrastructure project in Australia.

Building big at Doncaster

We demolished the old Doncaster Road bridge in early January during a full freeway closure, creating the space needed to begin work on the Ringwood-side bridge.

With traffic now flowing on the city side of the bridge, we’re on track to complete the Doncaster interchange in late 2026.

Once complete, the new Doncaster Road interchange will accommodate 10 lanes of traffic on the bridge and provide space underneath for six express lanes and Melbourne's first dedicated busway.

High Street trader activation

Members of the project team popped up at High Street Village on Thursday 4 December with their ‘Spin and win’ prize wheel.

To encourage our community to continue supporting local traders, the team gave away voucher prizes from the High Street Village shops and restaurants, which remained open during the closure of High Street at Doncaster Road in November and December.

The pop-up event also provided an opportunity for locals to learn more about works happening in the area during the closure.

North East Link tunnels update

We thank the community for their patience during the recent disruptions on Manningham Road, Bulleen Road, and Bridge Street. With eastbound traffic now moved back to Manningham Road, we're continuing construction of the interchange entry and exit ramps.

Nearby, we're also continuing construction of the Motorway Control Centre. We've also assembled the 550-tonne gantry crane needed to retrieve our Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs), which will complete their journey this year.

Further south, great progress is being made on the Yarra Link green bridge and tunnel entrance. You'll continue to see these structures take shape over the coming months.

We’re working hard to minimise disruption and will continue to keep the community informed as works progress.

Works ramping up on the freeway

Traffic barriers have now been installed along the full length of the Eastern Freeway, with an 80km/h daytime speed limit typically in place.

Between Hoddle Street and Burke Road, and Tram and Springvale roads, areas of open space have been closed to the public to create safe construction zones, build site compounds and make space for future works.

We'll continue to relocate services, install temporary fencing and divert sections of the Koonung Creek Trail as works progress.