Monash upgrade slated for September

The Victorian Government has announced that Fulton Hogan has been awarded the contract to upgrade Melbourne’s Monash Freeway, scheduled to start in September.

According to the State Government, the Monash will be widened from four to five lanes in each direction between EastLink and the South Gippsland Freeway, and from two to three lanes in each direction from the South Gippsland Freeway to Clyde Road.

“Our project will widen the Monash to slash travel times by 10 minutes and create 400 jobs,” said State Premier, Daniel Andrews.

Victorian Minister for Roads & Road Safety, Luke Donnellan, added, “With more lanes and smart technologies we’re removing choke points and ensuring a more reliable journey for motorists now and into the future.”

The upgrades will include new ramp signals installed at nine new locations between Chadstone and Pakenham, including the EastLink Interchange to improve traffic flow and reduce stop-start driving conditions and dangerous sudden braking.

38 electronic Lane Use Management Signs (LUMS) will be installed between Warrigal Road and the South Gippsland Freeway, creating one of the longest stretches of managed motorway in the world.

The LUMS will be used in conjunction with a new automatic incident detection system to improve traffic flow by providing motorists with information in the event of an incident.

The project will slash travel times by 10 minutes for the more than 200,000 vehicles that use it every day.

Construction is expected to be completed in 2018.