Eastern Freeway Upgrades

We’re upgrading the Eastern Freeway with new express lanes, new traffic management technology and Melbourne’s first dedicated busway. These changes will reduce travel times by up to 11 minutes between Springvale Road and Hoddle Street and improve public transport in Melbourne’s east.

We’ll also connect the Eastern Freeway to the new North East Link tunnels in Bulleen – linking Melbourne’s east to the M80 Ring Road in Greensborough, cutting travel times by 35 minutes, skipping 18 sets of traffic lights and taking 15,000 trucks a day off local roads.

As we overhaul the Eastern Freeway we will deliver:

• 6 new express lanes and on-road technology to ease congestion
• new dedicated bus lanes improving public transport in Melbourne’s east
• revitalised parklands wetlands and waterways
• smarter on-road traffic technology to get you home safer and sooner
• new and upgraded walking and cycling connections including wider dedicated bridges over the Eastern Freeway and a bridge over the Yarra River
• new and upgraded noise walls designed to meet Victoria’s toughest noise standard – 63 dBA during the day and 58 dBA at night
• 2 park and rides at Bulleen and Doncaster, doubling the number of commuter parking spaces.

The Eastern Freeway Upgrades will be delivered in 3 stages:

• Burke Road to Tram Road major works are underway now.
• Hoddle Street to Burke Road designs are on exhibition for community feedback until Sunday 16 November 2025 on EngageVic.
• Tram Road to Springvale Road designs were on exhibition for community feedback in September 2025. We’re now finalising the Urban Design and Landscape Plan before submitting it to the Minister for Planning for approval, and will share a summary of how submissions were considered ahead of major works starting in 2026.

The Eastern Freeway Upgrades will be timed to open in 2028 around the same time as the North East Link tunnels from Bulleen to Watsonia and the M80 Ring Road Completion from Watsonia to Greensborough.

Explore the project