By Mitchell Clarke
Commuters reliant on the Monash Freeway are set to cut nine minutes off a peak-hour trip between Pakenham and the city under a joint federal and state partnership which would see an extra 36 kilometres of new lanes added.
Putting aside their differences to address the growing issue of congestion in the south eastern suburbs, Prime Minister Scott Morrison joined Premier Daniel Andrews in Officer on Wednesday 4 September to announce an extra $367.5 million towards the Stage 2 upgrade of the Monash Freeway.
The funding boost will take the total cost of the project to $1.4 billion and create 600 local jobs.
The second stage of the upgrade would see an expansion from four to six lanes between Cardinia Road in Pakenham and Clyde Road in Berwick while eight lanes will expand to ten between Eastlink and Springvale Road inbound and Warrigal Road and Eastlink outbound.
Prime Minister Morrison said the project is a “top-order congestion busting priority” and that Melburnians could feel confident about the future of their city, thanks to projects and partnerships like these.
“It’s a partnership to get stuff done, to build stuff,” the Prime Minister said.
“The elections are over, the Australian people and the people of Victoria have made their judgements and their judgement is they want us to work together to get these projects done and that’s exactly what we’re doing.
“This project is going to be a significant boost to the local economy which is why we’ve been working closely with Premiers like Daniel Andrews to get this work underway as quickly as possible.”
Premier Andrews said: “there’ll be times when we don’t agree on things but where we can work together, we absolutely should do that and waste no time in getting on and delivering.”
He said the upgrade would significantly improve safety and reduce congestion for the 470,000 drivers relying on the Monash daily.
“We’ve already delivered the first stage of upgrades on the Monash and we’re getting on with the next – to get people in Melbourne’s booming south east home safer and sooner,” the Premier added.
Meanwhile, Member for La Trobe Jason Wood said Beaconsfield will benefit from the project, with two extra lanes added in each direction on O’Shea Road between Clyde Road and Soldiers Road.
O’Shea Road will also be extended to join the Beaconsfield interchange, upgrading the interchange by adding an inbound freeway off-ramp and an outbound freeway on-ramp.
“This project includes the upgrade of the Beaconsfield Interchange and the extension of O’Shea Road in Berwick, which will facilitate the Minta City development, opening 10,000 new job opportunities which would greatly benefit residents in the south east,” Mr Wood said.
This is the final stage of the $1.4 billion Monash Freeway Upgrade, with the project set to begin in early 2020 with completion scheduled for late 2022.
