Overview

Planning is underway for a potential upgrade of the Western Freeway between Melton and Caroline Springs to improve safety, freeway access and road capacity to help accommodate growing demand.

The Western Freeway is a critical road link and every single day approximately 86,000 vehicles travel the stretch between Melton and Caroline Springs, with this figure expected to rise to approximately 113,000 by 2031.

Options being explored to upgrade the Western Freeway include:

• additional road lanes
• new interchanges and overpasses
• upgrades to existing interchanges
• upgrades to walking and cycling paths
• traffic signal and street lighting improvements
• public transport priority facilities.

Planning and development

We’re currently undertaking planning and development work to inform the potential Western Freeway Upgrade between Melton and Caroline Springs. This includes traffic modelling, engineering designs, constructability assessments, economic modelling, community engagement and environmental investigations.

This will give us a complete picture of the area, allow us to understand environmental and social impacts, develop project options, and confirm scope and costs of the different options.

Our planning will take into consideration the Precinct Structure Plans developed for the area as well as residential estate developments currently in planning or construction in the local area that will have an impact on the demand for the freeway.

Technical investigations

To help inform our planning, we’re completing roadside technical investigations. At times, we may need to implement traffic control measures, including temporary lane closures, stop/slow traffic and reduced speeds. We’ll keep traffic disruption to a minimum and avoid busy periods.

Have your say

We’re currently seeking feedback to help inform our planning including the development of a business case.

We want to hear your views on safety and traffic flow, new interchanges that should be prioritised to be built, existing interchanges that should be prioritised for upgrade and what we should consider in our planning.

To have your say, visit engage.vic.gov.au/wfu and complete an online survey or drop a pin on the interactive map by Sunday 10 December 2023.

Feedback received will be considered in our planning and help shape the development of potential design options.

Come and meet the team

Drop in to have a chat to the project team, provide your feedback or ask us a question about the potential upgrade. We’ll be in the local area at:

• Woodgrove Shopping Centre on Thursday 23 November from 11am to 2pm
• Woodlea Town Centre on Thursday 23 November from 4pm to 7pm
• CS Square on Saturday 25 November from 9am to 12pm
• Woodgrove Shopping Centre on Saturday 25 November from 2pm to 5pm.

Timeline

A business case is currently being developed and our planning work is expected to be complete late 2024.

The business case will provide a detailed examination of the potential upgrade to help inform government decision-making.