The Victorian government has confirmed the very first section of the state’s major North East Link project has officially opened to traffic.
Once completed, the road will connect the upgraded Eastern Freeway to the M80 Ring Road, cutting travel for trucks by 35 minutes and allowing them to skip 18 sets of traffic lights. It will ultimately take 15,000 trucks off local roads each day.
A section of the Bulleen Road Interchange has opened, becoming the first permanent section of road to open in the project.
“The North East Link will take thousands of trucks off local roads and slash travel times across Melbourne’s suburbs,” federal transport minister Catherine King says.
The new connection will allow traffic to keep moving while crews build the North East Link tunnel entrance and massive interchange that will connect the Eastern Freeway to the 6.5-kilometre tunnels.
MORE OWNERDRIVER TRENDING STORIES:
- Transtar Linehaul the latest operator to enter administration
- TOTM: McNaughts adorns Scania with visionary visor
- Major logistics operator enters voluntary administration
- Laura Wilkinson and X Logistics – hard working Aussie
- Don Watson Group announces shock closure
To build the new 270-metre section of Bulleen Road, crews installed more than 100 of the largest ‘Super T’ beams ever built in Victoria, each up to 43 metres long and weighing up to 126 tonnes.
Work is ramping up on the major upgrade to the Eastern Freeway, which includes new express lanes, managed motorway technology and Melbourne’s first dedicated busway.
In the coming months, crews will replace two key pedestrian bridges over the Eastern Freeway at Estelle Street (Balwyn) and Heyington Avenue (Doncaster), to improve connections for walkers and bike riders who cross over the freeway, and provide connections to the Koonung Creek Trail.
To safely replace the existing bridges, sections of the Eastern Freeway will close at times overnight from late July to September.
In September, there will also be a planned weekend full closure of the Eastern Freeway between Doncaster and Tram roads to safely lift the new Heyington Avenue bridge over the freeway without endangering traffic below. Major delays of up to 90 minutes are expected, with motorists strongly encouraged to avoid the area.
“The North East Link has been talked about for decades and we are getting on and delivering it – creating thousands of jobs in the process,” Victorian transport minister Gabrielle Williams says.
Subscribe to the weekly Owner//Driver newsletter here.