The first contracts for the 2 biggest freeway overhauls in the state’s history have been signed, with major upgrades to the Eastern Freeway and M80 Ring Road to start next year.
The freeway upgrades and 6.5km North East Link tunnels will cut travel times by 35 minutes in the north east, taking 15,000 trucks off local roads a day, and creating 12,000 jobs across these 3 massive projects.
Through 6 years of detailed design and planning work, significant additional scope has been added to North East Link in response to community feedback – including a longer tunnel, a major upgrade of the M80 Ring Road at Greensborough, better interchanges and more public open space, all of which will create thousands more jobs.
In the first major upgrades to the Eastern Freeway in decades, more than 45kms of new lanes and traffic management systems will cut travel times by 11-minutes between Springvale Road and Hoddle Street, with 10kms of walking and cycling paths and a rebuilt Koonung Creek Reserve.
New noise walls along the freeway will give local homes even better protection and the project will also deliver Melbourne’s first dedicated busway from Doncaster to the city, and an upgraded Park and Ride at Doncaster.
In the north, a major upgrade will finally complete the M80 Ring Road at Greensborough, adding nearly 15kms of new lanes from Plenty Road to the new North East Link, a more efficient interchange at Grimshaw Street, new walking and cycling links and with new green bridges connecting to a revitalised Watsonia precinct.
The awarding of key contracts followed an extensive competitive process with the world’s most experienced construction contractors.
Nexus – made up of Laing O’Rourke Australia Construction Pty Ltd, Symal Infrastructure Pty Ltd, WSP Australia Pty Ltd and Arcadis Australia Pacific Pty Ltd – has been appointed to deliver the first part of the $5.7 billion overhaul of the Eastern Freeway from Burke to Tram roads.
AMA – made up of Acciona Construction Australia Pty Ltd, AECOM Australia Pty Ltd, and MACA Civil Pty Ltd – will deliver the $3.8 billion M80 Ring Road Completion.
Work on the 2 massive freeway overhauls will step up from early 2024 and are expected to cause significant disruption over coming years as both freeway upgrades are tied in with the new North East Link tunnels from Watsonia to Bulleen.
The Eastern Freeway Upgrades will stretch from Hoddle Street to Springvale Road and be delivered in 3 key stages. We're starting with Burke to Tram roads first, with local designs still to be released for Hoddle to Burke roads and Tram to Springvale roads, with contracts still to be awarded for these 2 stages.
The North East Link tunnels, Eastern Freeway Upgrades and M80 Ring Road Completion are expected to open in 2028.