Nearly a kilometre worth of bridges and ramps will be erected in the coming weeks as works on the West Gate Tunnel project in Victoria enters the next stages.
New bridges and ramps will be lifted into place over Dudley Street extending the Wurundjeri Way city bypass, which is expected to take up to 5000 vehicles daily away from surrounding streets to Melbourne’s CBD.
The new bridge, made up of 17 steel beams weighing 80 tonnes each, has been taking shape in the rail yard area near North Melbourne. Over the next eight weeks, workers will build the bridge structure that arches over the intersection from the ground up, lifting and installing the huge steel beams.
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Work will also progress on ramps connecting into the elevated road over Footscray Road, and the widening of the existing Footscray Road Bridge over Moonee Ponds creek.
Minister for Transport Infrastructure Danny Pearson said the works would deliver significant improvements to Melbourne’s transport infrastructure.
“The Wurundjeri Way extension will change the way people move around the city – taking cars off busy CBD roads and providing Melbourne’s west with a much-needed alternative to the West Gate Bridge,” Pearson said.
When complete, the West Gate Tunnel Project will ease congestion on the West Gate Freeway and West Gate Bridge, and reduce the number of trucks on residential streets.