Elevated road above Footscray Road

An artist's impression of the new elevated roadway.

We're building an elevated road above the centre of Footscray Road.

The road connects the twin tunnels with CityLink, Dynon Road, Footscray Road and Wurundjeri Way creating a new way to get to the city from the west.

What we're building

A dual elevated carriageway with up to 3 lanes in each direction above Footscray Road.
Ramps from the elevated road connecting directly into the port.
A 2.5km veloway from Footscray to Docklands that will provide an off-road route that removes six intersections for cyclists, making trips safer and quicker. It will run from Shepherd Bridge to the city side of Moonee Ponds Creek.

For motorists

To access the city and Melbourne’s north from the west, drivers can enter the new twin tunnels from the West Gate Freeway near Williamstown Road, emerge at Yarraville and travel over the bridge across the Maribyrnong River.

They will then go over Footscray Road using the new elevated roadway and use the new city connections to access:

CityLink
Dynon Road
Footscray Road
Wurundjeri Way

This is a quicker alternative than having to drive along the existing West Gate Freeway and onto the West Gate Bridge.

For trucks

Freight trucks coming from the west can also travel along the elevated road before taking the exit ramp to Footscray Road, to get to industry at Appleton Dock Road.

Together with the new ramps from the bridge over the Maribyrnong River to MacKenzie Road (to access West Swanston Terminal), trucks will now be able to move freight through Melbourne more efficiently and effectively, while minimising the number of truck trips on inner west roads.

Serving as a cycling highway from Footscray to Docklands, the veloway is built to make trips quicker and safer for cyclists. The elevated bike path that is connected to the underside of the elevated road will let cyclists avoid the entrances to the port.

The veloway will:

be suspended between the citybound and westbound carriageways of the new elevated road.
have CCTV cameras, two emergency stair exits and be wide enough for an ambulance to drive on in case of emergencies.

Cyclists and pedestrians can also continue to use the existing Footscray Road walking and cycling path as an alternative to the veloway.

The elevated road has been built using a custom-designed crane, referred to as a launching gantry. The launching gantry started building the road at the westbound side of Footscray Road. It made its way for 1.2km toward the Maribyrnong River and then changed direction, moving to the citybound side of Footscray Road, to construct the inbound road toward CityLink. In total, the machine travelled 3.7km to build up to 6 new lanes.

The elevated road was built using a span-by-span method. The launching gantry lifts precast concrete segments into place to form a span, before moving forward to build the next span, as it travels above Footscray Road.

Learn more about how we use the launching gantry to build the elevated road.

In May 2024, the first segment of the veloway was lifted into place.

An inside look of the new veloway. — An inside look of the new veloway that's suspended above Footscray Road.

Artist impression – cyclists using the veloway suspended under the new elevated road over Footscray Road.

Artist impression – elevated road above Footscray Road with connections to the city, Dynon Road and Footscray Road. — Artist impression – elevated road above Footscray Road with connections to the city, Dynon Road, Footscray Road and Wurundjeri Way.

Building the new city connections on the elevated road above Footscray Rd.

An aerial view of the elevated road above Footscray Rd, looking westbound.

Map of the elevated road and the surrounding area

What we're building

Learn more

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