The West Gate Freeway is one of Victoria's busiest road networks, linking the CityLink tunnels and Melbourne’s CBD with the West Gate Bridge and western suburbs. Since its opening, traffic volumes on the West Gate Freeway have grown steadily and it now carries more than 160,000 vehicles every day.
The West Gate Freeway upgrade is a huge undertaking, with major improvements to safety and flow to meet increasing traffic demands.
The key project features include:
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An additional elevated road structure joining the Kings Way westbound entry-ramp to the West Gate Freeway
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New elevated road structures over the Montague Street interchange
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An additional dedicated eastbound exit-ramp from the Bolte Bridge to the West Gate Freeway
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Road widening (both eastbound and westbound) between Todd Road and Montague Street
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Reconfiguration of the Montague Street interchange.
Click here to view an animation of the West Gate Freeway Upgrade.
In addition to the introduction of an intelligent freeway management system, all these works will help reduce merging and weaving movements at key points on the West Gate Freeway and will lead to a smoother traffic flow and improved driver safety.
Staged construction works
As part of the staged construction progress, new ramps are now available on the West Gate Freeway. Click here to view a flyer showing these major changes to traffic conditions.
Following the traffic shifts onto these new ramps, major construction activities will continue on the freeway, including replacing the bridge expansion joints and re-asphalting the main carriageway. These works will require a number of ongoing full and partial freeway closures, which will continue until March 2010.
Section delivery
The West Gate Freeway Alliance has harnessed the skills of five experienced organisations to help deliver one of the largest state funded road projects in Victoria’s history. Embracing the knowledge and expertise that Baulderstone, Hyder Consulting, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Thiess and VicRoads have to offer, means that the project can be delivered within a shorter timeframe, with fewer risks.
Timing
Early works on the West Gate Freeway, including geotechnical investigations and service proving, commenced in late 2007.
Traffic lanes and ramps will be completed and made available in various stages, with the total project scheduled to finish in mid-2010.
Go to frequently asked questions for more information.