Cash boost takes bypass to freeway

The Mordialloc Bypass will become a four-lane freeway thanks to $75 million in next month’s state budget.
Premier and Mulgrave MP Daniel Andrews announced funding for the upgrade on Monday 9 April.
He said it would remove three sets of traffic lights from the existing design.
The $375 million project will connect the Mornington Peninsula Freeway at Springvale Road in Aspendale Gardens to the Dingley Bypass in Dingley Village, creating a continuous freeway from Frankston to Clayton.
The new freeway will have entry and exit ramp interchanges at Springvale Road, Governor Road, Lower Dandenong Road, Centre Dandenong Road and Thames Promenade.
Mr Andrews said the freeway would ease congestion on the Nepean Highway, Boundary Road, Wells Road, Westall Road and Springvale Road and cut 10 minutes from a trip between the Mornington Peninsula Freeway and the Dingley Bypass.
Construction will start next year and is expected to be finished by the end of 2021.
The State Government committed $300 million to the project in last year’s budget.
It was then designed to only include an overpass at Springvale Road, but will now be elevated for the entire stretch.