By Victoria Stone-Meadows
TRAFFIC on the Princes Highway is set to ease with VicRoads scheduled to complete resurfacing works on the Pakenham Bypass a day early.
The city bound lanes of the Monash Freeway have been closed since 8am Wednesday 4 January and were not planned to be reopened until 6pm Friday 6 January.
However, VicRoads said the closed sections of the bypass will be reopened by 6pm Thursday 5 January.
VicRoads Acting Regional Director Savoula Lidis said the favourable weather and closure of the road allowed for the work to be carried out quicker than planned.
“Our program allowed for three days of works, but because of the favourable weather conditions, the efficiency of our workers and contractors, and being able to close the inbound carriageway, we are able to finish the resurfacing of the road a day earlier,” Ms Lidis said.
“If delivered under traffic, with lane closures, the work would have taken a week to complete and traffic delays on the Freeway could have been much longer.”
While the works were undertaken, city bound traffic was diverted away from the bypass and onto the Princes Highway through Pakenham.
The high level of traffic on the Princes Highway saw travel times increase significantly and the roads around central Pakenham become severely congested.
“We would like to thank road users for cooperating and for planning ahead, which has made our job easier on site to get the works completed and create a smoother road,” Ms Lidis said.
