West Gate Tunnel Project works to widen the West Gate Freeway are in full swing, with two new permanent ramps at Millers Road open following the completion of a summer works campaign.
Crews worked around the clock to reach major milestones including: installing new rail guards; widening ramps; installing new freeway barriers; strengthening and widening bridges above Millers Road; and completely reconstructing road pavement, with 9740 tonnes of asphalt installed on the new Millers Road ramps.
Near Grieve Parade, crews installed 343 metres of new drainage, completely removing and replacing road, to deliver 600 metres of new road surface – the biggest area of brand-new pavement on the project to date.
The complete reconstruction of these road surfaces ensures the freeway will withstand traffic volumes for many years to come.
In order to complete such a significant amount of work, 24/7 ramp closures were in place at Millers Road and at the M80 interchange for up to seven weeks, as well as a lane closure on the freeway outbound at Grieve Parade.
Throughout the entire summer works campaign, crews worked around 118,790 hours in total to get the job done.
“There’s been so much progress on the West Gate Freeway over the past few months, to ultimately widen the road from eight to 12 through lanes,” says Peter Sammut, Chief Executive Officer of the West Gate Tunnel Project.
“We understand the closures can be disruptive to drivers, so we’re really thankful for everyone’s patience whilst we completed this important work.”
Over the March/April school holidays, further 24/7 ramp closures will be in place at Williamstown Road to complete further utility relocation works.
As well as adding an extra two lanes in each direction on the freeway, once the project is complete, there will be new walking and cycling paths, including completing the missing links in the Federation and Kororoit Creek trails and new overpasses at Williamstown Road and Stony Creek.
Additionally, when the project finishes there will be close to nine hectares of new parks and wetlands, over 17,000 trees and vegetation and enhanced waterway environments.
Learn more about the project here:
westgatetunnelproject.vic.gov.au
