Work on the $300 million upgrade of the M80 Ring Road between Sunshine Avenue and the Calder Freeway is on track to begin before the end of the year.
The state government announced 12 months ago that it would allocate $150 million from the 2015-16 state budget to ease congestion on the freeway.
The federal government matched the state’s funding commitment.
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The upgrade will see the EJ Whitten Bridge widened to five lanes in each direction, up from the current three lanes.
Following the death of two teenagers after their car crashed through a guard rail at the bridge in January, new safety barriers will be installed.
The entire 3.1-kilometre section of the road will be widened to provide at least three and up to six lanes in each direction.
The notorious bottleneck at Sunshine Avenue will be alleviated by widening the freeway from two lanes to four and improving traffic flow.
VicRoads’ M80 project director Trevor Boyd said tenders for the project closed late last month.
“Given the upgrade involves the technical strengthening and widening of EJ Whitten Bridge, there will be an extensive evaluation period with the contract for the project expected to be awarded in August,” he said.
“Works are expected to start in December and be completed by late 2018.”
