47-749: South Gippsland Freeway is a short freeway linking Dandenong in Melbourne 's south–east to other south–eastern destinations, including the Mornington Peninsula and the Gippsland region. The freeway bears the designation M420 . South Gippsland Freeway starts at the interchange with Monash Freeway in Endeavour Hills and runs south as a four-lane, dual-carriageway route, under the Princes Highway at Eumemmering , over
94-404: A joint venture of Australian construction companies Thiess Contractors and John Holland , with tolling system contracted to SICE, and mechanical and electrical work contracted to United Group Infrastructure. The final project cost was A$ 2.5 billion. Signs at the entrances and on the tollway direct to Ringwood , Dandenong , Frankston and Doncaster . The road was originally shown in
141-536: A metropolitan ring road to Greensborough . In light of the court case, state government bureaucrats removed references to the metropolitan ring road from a draft Metropolitan Strategy. In 2003, the Southern and Eastern Integrated Transport Authority (SEITA) was established by the Victorian Government , to manage and oversee the project on behalf of the government. SEITA was responsible for managing
188-490: A loss of almost $ 93 million. In 2010, the road had to be refinanced, with its traffic forecasts rewritten due to lower than expected traffic volumes. Over the years the project was variously referred to as the Eastern Ring Road , Scoresby Freeway , Scoresby Bypass , and Mitcham-Frankston Freeway . On 23 March 2005, with the beginning of construction on the project, then Premier Steve Bracks announced that
235-606: A medium amount of rain the underpasses flood and trail users must cross over the major roads to continue along the path. This can prove dangerous and during peak traffic times, trail users are known to have waited up to 20 minutes to safely cross the roads when the underpasses have flooded. The Eastlink trail stops in Dandenong and does not continue. Users may take the Dandenong Creek Trail from this point which will take them to Carrum, where they will be able to join
282-524: A new junction with the Monash Freeway. In 2010, the Pound Road half-diamond interchange was substantially upgraded with a new four-lane carriageway being constructed over the freeway, the addition of traffic lights to the on-ramp intersection, and ramp metering signals. These works were completed late 2011. In recent years, the freeway has become very busy, carrying high volumes of traffic off
329-578: A preferred route for the Rowville railway line and extend tram route 75 to Knox, neither of which have eventuated. However, in a "major policy about-face", the Bracks Government announced in August 2000 that it would seek federal funding for the freeway. To obtain funding, the freeway would need to be classified as a road of "national importance", despite the fact that it did not form part of
376-632: A uniquely designed electronic vehicle tag, the "Breeze Tag", which is about half the size of the standard design of e-TAG. The Breeze system is provided by Spanish company SICE, with the Road Side Equipment, including the Breeze Tags, provided by Swedish firm Kapsch TrafficCom AB, under the PREMID brand of DSRC products. Tolls on EastLink can be charged in three different ways: If a driver travels on EastLink without taking any of
423-491: Is due to end on 30 November 2043, after which the ownership of the road will be transferred to the state. Multiple toll points are located along the EastLink, with each toll point charging a fixed fee. The total toll incurred per trip is the smaller of the trip cap or the total price of toll points passed through. The exception is taxis which pay a fixed price for travel on any section south of Maroondah Highway, regardless of
470-466: Is electronically tolled with no cash booths, using a system developed by SICE . The SICE Tolling System is similar to (and interoperable with) the e-TAG system used on the CityLink tollway. EastLink was opened to traffic on Sunday 29 June 2008 and in conjunction with the opening, a month-long toll-free period occurred before regular tolling commenced on 27 July 2008. The project was constructed by
517-468: The 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as the F35 Freeway. The freeway has been a contentious issue, amid concerns over environmental damage and the possibility it would lead to a 'complete' metropolitan ring road. In October 1999, the incoming Bracks Government announced that the freeway (which Labor had not promised at the election) had been scrapped. Instead the government promised to investigate
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#1732779768209564-490: The Burwood Highway and 7 minutes between the Burwood Highway and Springvale Road ). Typical travel time is between 30 and 40 minutes. EastLink does not regularly have peak period congestion like other urban metropolitan freeways in Melbourne . However, delays can be experienced following roadworks or they might be residual, following an incident. Occasionally, traffic congestion occurs between Thompsons Road and
611-550: The Mullum Mullum Valley and Dandenong Valley Wetlands). However, the road was the subject of an extensive Environmental Effects Statement (June 1998), which was followed by an extensive public hearing process in April 1999 before the final Government decision to proceed. The statement predicted an 18.5per cent increase in carbon dioxide, impacts on groundwater and wetlands, high impacts on areas of conservation value and
658-700: The Pakenham railway line , then along the western border Hampton Park until it ends at the interchange with the South Gippsland and Western Port Highways in Lynbrook . The standard travel time on the South Gippsland Freeway is 4 minutes (city-bound) and 3 minutes (Lynbrook-bound). The usual peak period travel time, is between 6–8 minutes. However, in times of extreme congestion or roadworks, including being residual due to an incident,
705-492: The Peninsula Link trail to Frankston and Mornington. For those using the trail, substantial deviations from EastLink must be taken into account in travel times as the shared path does not follow the freeway in many cases as existing trails were joined up to the trails specifically built during the construction of the road. This has led to some very twisty sections of trail and in some cases, detours of over 3 km from
752-567: The South Gippsland Highway , Western Port Highway and the Pound Road and Princes Highway on-ramps. The freeway attracts all these vehicles, a large proportion of which are freight (hence two ramp metering sites inbound have a priority lane), due to the Monash Freeway which connects to it, being the major south-east freeway leading to Melbourne City. It is also the only freeway (or non-tollway, such as EastLink ) to
799-517: The EastLink project. The bypass opened on 9 December 2007. EastLink is electronically tolled via a system commercially called Breeze , entirely provided by SICE, Spanish system integrator company with broad experience in the tolling market. This system is fully interoperable with all other tollways in Australia, including the Transurban e-TAG system used on CityLink. The system features
846-480: The EastLink. On 18 February 2010, at 3.15 pm, a semi-trailer lost control on the north-bound side of the tollway, 300m from the Wellington Rd exit. The truck crossed the road and crashed through the median safety barrier, before crashing into a large pylon holding up a road sign gantry. The truck exploded into flames and the driver was killed. The tollway was closed in both directions, the first time since
893-477: The Eastern Freeway and has attracted an increase in commuters using arterial roads in local areas. Decreases appear to be on small stretches of local roads where Eastlink provides a quicker alternative. The EastLink Trail is a shared walking and cycle path that follows a similar north–south route to the EastLink project. Using it, cyclists and pedestrians are able to cycle or walk most of the distance of
940-677: The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, to prevent Transport Minister Peter Batchelor and the Roads Corporation ( VicRoads ) from "taking any further action relating to the construction of the Scoresby freeway or the Eastern Ring Road" . He alleged that the freeway would threaten migratory birds, plant species and wetlands and that the freeway was part of a larger plan to build
987-471: The South Gippsland Freeway / Pound Road / Princes Hwy (inbound) on-ramps (the outbound on-ramp already had an existing metering site). With this, it also included electronic real-time information signs on the three inbound on-ramps, showing travel times and flow conditions downstream from that respective location to either destinations on the Monash Freeway and/or South Gippsland Freeway. Therefore, it also included installation of hundreds of new in-road sensors on
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#17327797682091034-568: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.237 via cp1104 cp1104, Varnish XID 211681950 Upstream caches: cp1104 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:42:48 GMT EastLink (Melbourne) EastLink is a tolled section of the M3 freeway linking a large area through the eastern and south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne , Australia . EastLink
1081-466: The city. On average 270,868 cars, trucks and motorbikes travelled on the road every day until the tolling was introduced on 23 July. In the first week after the introduction of tolls, the average number of daily trips fell to 133,722. This was in line with estimates of a 40 to 50 per cent decline, but is a third below prospectus forecasts. The average toll per trip was $ 3.10 – above the estimate of $ 2.91. In its first six months of operation, Eastlink made
1128-489: The city. It has led to slow or heavy traffic (inbound) during the morning peak and gets even more congested when the Monash Freeway is already heavy. Outbound is not so bad, although when very heavy traffic comes off the Monash Freeway (outbound), it can cause a bottleneck near and around the Princes Highway interchange, so a ramp signal site was installed to meter out traffic and reduce flow breakdown. So, as part of
1175-467: The cost of any car trip(s) taken on a Saturday or Sunday and also to one way trips between two consecutive interchanges (excluding the tunnels) on weekdays. Whilst the construction of Eastlink alleviated congestion on Springvale Road, it has had the effect of funnelling the traffic onto other roads, particularly increasing traffic on the Eastern Freeway. Many local councils, organisation, community groups and individuals expressed concerns throughout
1222-537: The distance travelled or number of toll points passed through. The cheapest toll points are located between Maroondah Highway and High Street Road, with slightly more expensive toll points located in the longer sections near the south of the tollway, and the most expensive one within the tunnel section between Maroondah Highway / Ringwood Bypass and Springvale Road. Motorcycle prices are half of cars, while higher rates apply for larger vehicles. Discounts are also offered to car drivers. A 20 per cent discount applies to
1269-696: The freeway with associated access point poles, data stations and CCTV cameras. It is completely integrated with the M1 Monash Freeway. The freeway was signed Freeway Route 81 upon its opening in 1972, until its replacement with National Route 1 in 1988 (with a portion of it renamed to the South Eastern Arterial) until the Princes Highway in Eumemmering, and the remaining stretch between Eumemmering and Lyndhurst Interchange allocated Metropolitan Route 65. With Victoria's conversion to
1316-671: The junction with the other three freeways in Carrum Downs , where the freeway changes from three to two lanes. If the congestion builds, the travel time can reach 40 minutes or beyond. A 4.8 km section of the Dingley Freeway called the Dandenong Bypass (also referred to as the Dandenong Southern Bypass during its construction) was built by ConnectEast and Thiess John Holland as part of
1363-666: The late 1998s, leading to increased use of the road, mostly to semi-trailers and heavy freight to get to the docks in the Westernport district (Dandenong-Hastings Road was yet again renamed the Western Port Highway to reflect this and was eventually duplicated). Traffic levels dropped substantially when the Hallam bypass opened in 2003; the South Gippsland Freeway was extended back to its original terminus in Doveton at
1410-462: The major 2007 M1 (Monash-CityLink-WestGate) Upgrade; which included widening to more lanes, updates to safety, electronic drive time signs and associated arterial road real-time information signs and a freeway management system with ramp metering (key component). The freeway was also upgraded to include a Freeway Management System, from its start at the South Gippsland Highway interchange to the Monash Freeway junction. It added Ramp Metering signals to
1457-615: The national highway system. The "U-turn"' on the freeway was strongly criticised by opponents such as the Public Transport Users Association , because it would result in proposed public transport alternatives, such as the Rowville railway line, being scrapped. In 2001, University of Melbourne academic Paul Mees launched legal action in the Federal Court seeking an injunction, under section 475 of
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1504-764: The newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s this was replaced by routes M1 and M420 respectively. When the Hallam bypass opened and route M1 reallocated along it in 2003, route M420 was officially extended north to the new junction with the Monash Freeway. The passing of the Road Management Act 2004 granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads : in 2004, VicRoads re-declared South Gippsland Freeway (Freeway #1310) from Monash Freeway at Doveton to Western Port Highway in Lynbrook . Freeway Too Many Requests If you report this error to
1551-481: The northern end of the Frankston Freeway. The majority of the freeway has three lanes running in each direction, while between Thompson Rd and Frankston Freeway, there are 2 lanes running in each direction. The standard travel time on EastLink in both directions, is 26 minutes, (12 minutes between Frankston Freeway / Peninsula Link and the Monash Freeway , 7 minutes between the Monash Freeway and
1598-424: The potential to affect 38 species of rare or threatened fauna and flora if the freeway was built. According to EastLink's builders, the road will relieve traffic congestion throughout Melbourne's eastern and south-eastern suburbs, resulting in more efficient traffic flow, therefore reducing fuel consumption and exhaust output. However, like all such road projects, the phenomenon of induced demand will work against
1645-559: The process of selecting a private sector bidder. In October 2004, SEITA awarded the contract for the design, construction, and operation of EastLink to ConnectEast , a company that was publicly listed on the ASX in November 2004. ConnectEast subsequently contracted Thiess John Holland, a group formed by the partnership of two major construction companies, to carry out the detailed design and construction of EastLink. ConnectEast, as owner of
1692-658: The proposal and construction phases, over the alterations to traffic patterns and flows and how Eastlink would impact upon local roads in their respective areas. In 2009, the City of Manningham was able to conduct a traffic report which found that: Another study conducted by Banyule Council showed that, since EastLink opened in June 2008, 800 more trucks a day use main roads in Heidelberg and Rosanna. In general, it appears as though Eastlink has funnelled large amounts of traffic onto
1739-427: The realisation of those benefits. During the planning phase (then a VicRoads project), a large debate surrounding damage to the Mullum Mullum Valley occurred. A number of options for the path of the road through the valley were considered. The option chosen – for two 1.6 km tunnels – was the second-to-most expensive, and the second-to-most environmentally friendly. Other options considered in planning included
1786-538: The road opened, between the Monash Freeway and Ferntree Gully Road. It remained closed until the early hours of the following morning so police could conduct an investigation and ConnectEast could carry out repairs to make the road safe to reopen. The police report is yet to be finalised. Many environmental groups in Melbourne's east and south-east objected to the project, due to a number of factors, including vehicle emissions and disruption of habitat (in places such as
1833-454: The road would be called EastLink , at a ceremony in Rowville . The new name was reportedly chosen because it was easier to say, apparently easier to remember, and would fit on street directories. On 27 February 2008, it was announced that the EastLink / Monash Freeway interchange would be named the "Tom Wills Interchange", after the founder of Australian rules football Tom Wills . On 24 March 2008, Roads Minister Tim Pallas announced that
1880-545: The road, along a 3-metre wide dedicated concrete path. Many major roads are crossed via under or over passes. Some roads, such as High Street Road (and until November 2009, Burwood Highway), require crossing the road at grade . In wet weather, two underpasses are not trafficable as they have been built on floodways. These are the Ferntree Gully Road underpass and the Wellington Road underpass. After
1927-544: The road, is responsible for its day-to-day management until the concession deed expires in 2043. EastLink's construction began in March 2005, and the road opened on 29 June 2008. The opening of the road on 29 June 2008 saw traffic on nearby Stud, Springvale and Blackburn Roads drop by 30% to 40%, but traffic on the Eastern Freeway rose by 5 per cent at the Burke Road intersection, and by about 1–2 per cent at Hoddle Street in
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1974-427: The three actions above to pay for the toll(s) either prior to, or within three days after travel, an invoice for cost of the toll(s) plus an account processing fee will be sent to the registered vehicle's owner. If the toll invoice is not paid, an overdue notice (with an additional processing fee) is issued. If the invoice is still not paid, a fine is issued by Victoria Police. The concession period held by ConnectEast
2021-705: The travel time can well exceed 10 minutes. Plans for a "Mulgrave By-pass Road and Eumemmerring By-pass Road" had been made as far back as 1966, between Warrigal Road in Chadstone and Princes Highway at Eumemmerring. The freeway began as an overflow from construction of Mulgrave Freeway (now Monash Freeway ) in 1970, where the freeway entered a sweeping turn south, crossed Eumemmerring Creek in Doveton and officially terminated at Princes Highway in Eumemmerring : this section opened in 1972 as Eumemmering Freeway , and
2068-689: The twin tunnels would be named "Melba" and "Mullum Mullum", in the inbound and outbound direction respectively. EastLink begins at the eastern end of the Eastern Freeway at Springvale Road in Nunawading , before tunnelling eastward towards Ringwood under the Mullum Mullum Creek area. It then travels 40 km south towards Frankston , passing through the suburbs of Wantirna , Wantirna South , Scoresby , Rowville , Mulgrave , Dandenong North , Noble Park , Keysborough , Dandenong South , Bangholme , and Carrum Downs , before ending at
2115-497: Was duplicated and upgraded into the new stretch of the freeway, and a new dual-carriageway alignment of the South Gippsland Highway was constructed approximately a kilometre to the freeway's west. Pound Road was extended a few hundred metres west across a new bridge over the freeway, with Dandenong-bound ramps. Lyndhurst Interchange, where the freeway and the old and new alignments of the South Gippsland Highway met,
2162-434: Was later renamed South Gippsland Freeway in April 1974. The freeway was extended 2.5 kilometres further south to terminate at the original alignment of the South Gippsland Highway where it met Pound Road in 1976. The last extension 3.5 kilometres south connected Pound Road to Lyndhurst , where Lyndhurst Road (renamed Dandenong-Hastings Road not long afterwards) met the South Gippsland Highway. The highway's old alignment
2209-554: Was reconstructed to allow traffic to head south via an overpass above the realigned South Gippsland Highway to Dandenong-Hastings Road. Extensions to the Mulgrave Freeway – renamed the South Eastern Arterial in 1988, subsuming the section between Doveton and Eumemmering – also resulted in heavier use of the South Gippsland Freeway. The bridge over Lyndhurst Interchange was duplicated with little fanfare in
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