North East Link bringing our road, bus and bike network together.
The North East Link Tunnels will take 15,000 trucks off local roads a day and reduce travel times by up to 35 minutes. In response to community feedback, we’re building longer tunnels and simpler interchanges to create more space for parklands, wetlands and a tree-lined Greensborough Road boulevard.
A massive upgrade to the M80 Ring Road will improve traffic flow with new lanes and up-to-date technology. Two new green bridges in Watsonia will connect locals to brand new multi-level train station car parking.
A major overhaul will modernise the Eastern Freeway. Express lanes will reduce travel times and a new green bridge in Bulleen will connect Koonung Creek Trail to Yarra River parklands.
Melbourne’s first dedicated busway will make it quicker and easier to get to and from the city with a bus every minute in the peak, an upgraded park and ride in Doncaster and a fast-tracked park and ride in Bulleen.
The North East Link Trail includes 34km of new and upgraded walking and cycling paths, linking our city’s north-east to Yarra River trails and parklands.
Explore the project design
View a printable version of the North East Link project overview map (PDF, 2.4 MB)
Getting builders on board
To deliver this massive program of work, we will progressively appoint teams of builders for each big element. The North East Link Tunnels will take the longest to build, so we started with these first. In June 2021, the Spark consortium was appointed as our partner to take on the next stage of more detailed design and manage construction.
In October 2022, two world-class consortia were selected as the preferred bidders for the next big elements of the North East Link Program – the overhaul of the Eastern Freeway and the completion of the M80 Ring Road. We’ll now work with both bidders ahead of contracts being awarded in 2023, and we will go out to market to seek Expressions of Interest to overhaul other sections of the Eastern Freeway – with the program delivering upgrades from Hoddle Street to Springvale Road.
We’re also going out to market for other elements of North East Link, including the Eastern Express Busway and surrounding sections of the North East Trail.
The timing for detailed design and construction will be carefully staged, so the whole project is completed in 2028, bringing all the pieces of North East Link together.
