Commuters will see less congestion and extra lanes as building will continue on a freeway upgrade in Melbourne’s north.

Jointly funded from the Australian and Victorian Governments, the M80 Ring Road Upgrade is a $2.25 billion project under the federal Nation Building Program.

The federal government has invested $900 million in the upgrade so far, along with $300 million from the Victorian Government.

Construction already completed includes 16 kilometres of road between the Western Highway and Sunshine Avenue and from Calder Freeway to Sydney Road, with following upgrades across the 38 kilometre corridor including improvements to key interchanges and an electronic freeway management system.

Between Edgars Road and Plenty Road, works now underway will include three lanes in each direction to reduce congestion and improve safety.

An additional lane in each direction between interchanges will also minimize the congestion impacts of vehicles entering and exiting the freeway from adjacent interchanges.

Victorian Minister for Roads, Terry Mulder said the improved freeway with extra lanes and “better access” will help ease congestion and reduce travel times and costs for commuters and road freight industry.

Mr Mulder said 20000 trucks currently use the Ring Road each day.

“As Victoria’s biggest road project on the ground, the M80 Upgrade is providing a much needed boost to the state’s economy, directly supporting up to 6500 jobs over the life of the project, with thousands of other flow on jobs for services and suppliers,” Mr Mulder said.

The project is expected to be completed by mid-2014.
 

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