Everything about The Western Ring Road totally explained
The
Western Ring Road is a
freeway in
Melbourne,
Australia connecting the northern suburbs and the western suburbs to various highways and freeways:
It is linked to the eastern suburbs by the shorter
Metropolitan Ring Road; the two are collectively called 'the Ring Road', and are generally considered together on traffic reports. It is signed
M80 for its entire length, and is officially a
National Highway between the
Western Freeway and the
Hume Freeway (signified by a National shield for this portion).
The road relieves freight traffic from
Sydney Road,
Pascoe Vale Road and
Geelong Road and funnels them to the freeways. With connections to every major interstate and regional freeways, it has encouraged both industrial and residential growth in Melbourne's western suburbs.
Over the past few years there have been discussions about extending the Metropolitan Ring Road from Greensbourgh Road and tunnelling it under Greensbourgh and going through the Banyule Flats and connecting to the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen. A study has been initiated by
VicRoads to supplement the Western Ring Road with an
Outer Metropolitan Ring Road.
History
The Ring Road project was proposed in 1969, under the
1969 Melbourne Transport Plan and proposal at the time was documented in almost every edition of the
Melway Street Directory since 1969. Construction of the Western Ring Road began in 1989 with work on the Broadmeadows section, and was completed with the final link between the Calder and Tullamarine Freeways. Under the Keating Commonwealth government, a total $555 million was provided by the Federal Government for the Western Ring Road, with a $76 million contribution from the Victorian Government; and this allowed the opening to occur in 1999.
The project is generally divided into 3 sections:
Western Ring Road
This is the section between the
West Gate Freeway and the
Hume Freeway. It is signed M80 for its entire length, and is officially a National Highway between the Western Freeway and the Hume Freeway (signified by a National shield for this portion).
Northern Ring Road
This section is currently named
Metropolitan Ring Road although many people don't know that's its current official title. It is located between the Hume Freeway and the Greensborough Highway.
Eastern Ring Road
This section is currently under construction, as the
EastLink tollway. It is located between the
Eastern Freeway and the
Frankston Freeway.
Missing Section
Currently, the easternmost point of the Northern Ring Road terminates at Greenborough at the Greensborough Bypass. There are no announced plans to extend the road further to the Eastern Ring Road (Eastern Freeway or Eastlink) or to any other roads in the South East of Melbourne. As a result, it's unclear when or even if the Metropolitan Ring Road will ever be totally complete.
While the route for this missing section is unclear, it would take the road through areas that are environmentally and politically sensitive, such as
Eltham,
Templestowe or
Warrandyte. The link to the east may well have be provided by other means, such as the proposed tunnel to connect the Eastern Freeway with Melbourne's west.
If completed it'll provide a circumferential route around Melbourne starting from
Altona and ending in
Frankston. The resulting beltway will be similar to the size and scope of
Sydney's
Orbital Motorway.
Purpose
Much controversy surrounds the Metropolitan Ring Road project in Melbourne in many different topics including; environmental, economical, social, private & public transportation and both positive and negative aspects are well represented for each topic by many people and groups small and large. This has led to heavy debate in all areas of society in Melbourne from political and media to general public views and conversations.
The road serves various uses:
integrating the metropolitan area by linking middle and outer suburbs
assisting circumferential travel through the middle suburbs as opportunities for cross town movement are limited
linking the growing populations in the south-east and west suburbs to jobs and economic opportunities throughout the metropolitan area
providing access to Melbourne Airport, the ports of Melbourne and Geelong, and rail freight terminals, from all parts of Melbourne and from across the State
provide good access to the whole of the Melbourne metropolitan area to and from country Victoria and interstate.
Route
The Western Ring Road is 28km long, and the Metropolitan Ring Road is 10km long, for a total length of 38km. The freeway changes its name at the Hume Freeway (Craigieburn Bypass). The freeway had previously changed its name at Sydney Road, but that point shifted with the opening of the Bypass, extending the Western Ring Road by 2km.
A major feature of the road is the EJ Whitten Bridge over the Maribyrnong River, named after AFL player Ted Whitten.
The road is divided, carries between two and four lanes of traffic in either direction, and has a non-peak speed limit of 100 km/h for almost its entire length; between Greensborough Bypass and Plenty Road, the speed limit drops to 90 km/h and the road is undivided (although there are still two lanes in either direction). During peak hour, all of the Western Ring Road between the Western Highway and the Tullamarine Freeway is patrolled by variable speed limits, which typically vary between 60 km/h and 100 km/h depending upon traffic conditions.
The off-peak travel time for the Ring Road is 25 minutes: 19 minutes on the Western Ring Road and 6 minutes on the Metropolitan Ring Road. Peak-hour travel times typically vary between 30-40 minutes, unless there are accidents which can stretch travel times beyond an hour. The road is generally at its heaviest at the Western Highway, Pascoe Vale Road and Edgars Road in the Greensborough direction; in the Altona direction, Dalton Road and Pascoe Vale Road are the slowest points.
Interchanges
The Western Ring Road officially begins at the West Gate Interchange in Altona North:
Princes Freeway / West Gate Freeway , Laverton North: bi-directional
Boundary Road , Laverton North: bi-directional
Fitzgerald Road, Sunshine West: bi-directional
Western Freeway, Future route number Sunshine West: bi-directional (Currently Under Construction)
Ballarat Road , Ardeer: bi-directional
Furlong Road, Sunshine: bi-directional
Sunshine Avenue/McIntyre Road , Kealba: bi-directional
Keilor Park Drive , Keilor Park: bi-directional
Calder Freeway , Keilor Park: city-bound only (limited)
Sharps Road, Airport West: bi-directional
Melrose Drive , Airport West: out-bound only
Tullamarine Freeway , Gowenbrae: out-bound only
Pascoe Vale Road, Pascoe Vale: city-bound only
Sydney Road , Fawkner: bi-directional
The freeway then changes its name to the Metropolitan Ring Road east of the interchange with Sydney Road.
Hume Freeway , Thomastown: bi-directional
Edgars Road, Thomastown: bi-directional
Dalton Road, Thomastown: bi-directional
Plenty Road, Bundoora: bi-directional
The freeway then finishes at a traffic light controlled T intersection with Greensborough Highway in Greensborough.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Western Ring Road'.
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