From Friday 17 September, construction activity on the West Gate Freeway will step up a gear, with West Gate Tunnel Project crews delivering a month-long spring roadworks blitz. Motorists are strongly encouraged to plan ahead for the four-week construction program that includes road closures at the following locations:
- Princes Freeway to Geelong Road city-bound exit ramp to allow crews to demolish and rebuild a section of the ramp above, as well as install new guard rails and light poles along the ramp.
- Grieve Parade city-bound entry ramp and a southbound lane on Grieve Parade towards Altona North to allow crews to rebuild the road at the top and bottom of the ramp, as well as install new drainage pipes and permanent safety barriers.
- No left turn from the Williamstown Road westbound exit ramp onto Melbourne Road. There will also be nightly closures of the Williamstown Road westbound exit ramp to allow crews to build the Hyde Street ramps. This will facilitate a large scope of works, including installing new drainage pipes, new permanent barriers, traffic and streetlight signals and concrete beams to build the new Hyde Street ramps.
Crews will operate around the clock to carry out these vital works for delivering critical upgrades at Grieve Parade, Williamstown Road and the M80 interchange. The works are scheduled during the school holidays to make the most of less traffic on the roads and reduce the impact to road users.
Each closure will help deliver tremendous benefits to the community. The Williamstown Road works will ensure the Hyde Street ramps can be built, which will take thousands of trucks off local streets in the inner-west, while the Grieve Parade and M80 works will vastly improve traffic flow on and off the freeway.
The community is already benefiting from a huge amount of work that has been completed along the West Gate Freeway. This includes rebuilding existing lanes, adding new and improved noise walls to replace outdated ones, and installing two new pedestrian bridges as part of 14 kilometres of new and upgraded walking and cycling paths.
West Gate Tunnel Project, Major Transport Infrastructure Authority, Chief Executive Peter Sammut, said that a massive amount of work will be condensed in this four-week campaign and will take the project one step closer to widening the West Gate Freeway from eight to 12 through lanes.
“We want to thank motorists in advance for their patience over the spring construction campaign and remind everyone to keep calm and drive safely,” Mr Sammut said.
“Our crews are toiling around the clock to get these works done swiftly and safely, and we are eager to get them finished so we can open up the upgraded ramps to motorists. Each construction blitz goes a long way to adding the four extra through lanes to the West Gate Freeway, and slashing travel times between the west and the city by 20 minutes.”
For motorists travelling on the Princes Freeway to exit at Geelong Road:
- Drivers will need to stay on the West Gate Freeway and detour via Millers Road and Geelong Road.
For motorists joining the West Gate Freeway at Grieve Parade to travel towards the city:
- Drivers need to detour at Millers Road via either Geelong Road or Blackshaws Road.
For West Gate Bridge motorists heading west and exiting at Williamstown Road turning left onto Melbourne Road:
- Drivers will need to stay on the West Gate Freeway and use the Millers Road exit and detour via Blackshaws Road.
Motorists should allow an extra 15 minutes if traveling along the freeway.
To prepare for your journey, check Victoria’s Big Build website at www.bigbuild.vic.gov.au.
