The Victorian Government has decided on the route for the North East Link connecting the Eastern Freeway with the M80 Ring Road.
A new road will run alongside the existing Greensborough Highway south from the M80 to Lower Plenty Road. There it will enter a 5 km tunnel under the Yarra River to meet the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen.
Included in the project will be an expansion of the Eastern Freeway between Bulleen and Springvale Road. An additional six lanes will see the capacity of that freeway doubled.
“This is the biggest transport project in Victoria’s history," said Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.
“People have been talking about connecting the Ring Road and the Eastern Freeway for decades but it’s always been put in the too hard basket – not anymore.”
He estimated that travel times between Melbourne’s north and south will be cut by up to 30 minutes in each direction, and the project will benefit travelling from the city's east and south to the airport.
While the business case is yet to be finalised, it is estimated the project will cost around $16.5 billion. Procurement and planning approval processes should begin in 2018, ahead of a preferred builder being selected in 2019, and major construction starting in 2020.
North East Link CEO Duncan Elliott said they conducted extensive consultation and one of the questions they were asked was why they didn't take the road further out through Eltham and Warrandyte to create a true ring road.
"We are building a ring road," he said. "But we're taking a more direct route and building it where people live, work and travel. More people will use this route than any others we looked at."
[An illustration of how the North East Link will connect with the Eastern Freeway. Image: Victorian Government]