Type Freeway | Length 27 km | |
Formerroute number South end Boneo RoadRosebud, Victoria Via | ||
Mornington Peninsula Freeway is a freeway in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, that provides a link from outer suburban Melbourne to the Mornington Peninsula.
Contents
- Map of Mornington Peninsula Fwy Victoria Australia
- Route description
- History
- Timeline of development
- Peninsula Link Frankston Bypass
- Northern extension Mordialloc Bypass
- Southern extension
- References
Map of Mornington Peninsula Fwy, Victoria, Australia
Route description
The Mornington Peninsula Freeway exists in two halves, connected by the Peninsula Link.
Its northern section links Springvale Road just outside Edithvale to the Moorooduc Highway in Frankston. From here, it continues in a south-easterly direction onto the newly built Peninsula Link.
The Peninsula Link runs for 25 kilometres until it meets Moorooduc Highway, at which points it links to the southern section of the Mornington Peninsula Freeway. The freeway then continues south until Boneo Road, in Rosebud. This section of the freeway passes through vineyards, stud farms and gardens along the Mornington Peninsula.
At the northern end of the northern section, Melbourne-bound traffic may turn right onto Springvale Road to access Monash Freeway or Princes Highway. Turning left offers an alternative way to the city via Nepean Highway, which in many cases is faster, due to the common traffic congestion on the Monash Freeway.
History
The freeway was originally designated in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as the F6 Freeway corridor.
On 18 March 1980 the section of freeway from Springvale Road Keysborough to Seaford opened alongside the existing Wells Road. At the time it was planned that the rest of the freeway be completed from Springvale Road onwards but a change of Government in 1982 saw a change in policy. The new policy was to duplicate Wells Rd through Aspendale Gardens and Boundary Rd through Braeside. The Southern section of the Mornington Peninsula Freeway, known as the F87 between Nepean Highway at Dromana and Jetty Road at Rosebud South was completed in 1975. The freeway between Dromana and Moorooduc South linking to Moorooduc Highway was completed in 1994.
Timeline of development
Peninsula Link (Frankston Bypass)
The construction of the Eastlink freeway and its interchange with the northern section has led to speculation of possible congestion on the Frankston Freeway, especially at the southern terminus at McMahons Road. This possible congestion would be alleviated by the construction of a missing section of the Mornington Peninsula freeway, a Frankston Bypass. Vicroads however does not anticipate such congestion on the Frankston Freeway will actually occur. Federal MP Bruce Billson however, believed otherwise, and raising this issue in the local press as these roads are strictly a state responsibility.
The Victorian minister for Transport, Peter Batchelor, stated that simply because the freeway's projected path appears on a map (referring to the route shown in the Melway), that this does not mean that the road is intended to, or will ever actually be built. City of Frankston councillors however, along with Mr. Billson, pushed for the bypass to be built in any case.
Since that time, and the recent State Election, Peninsula Link (Frankston Bypass) was given approval, has now been completed and was opened on 18 January 2013.
When the Peninsula Link was opened in January 2013, the route numbers were slightly altered. The Frankston Freeway carries the M3 route from the EastLink interchange, while the whole of Mornington Peninsula Freeway, including the Peninsula Link, is designated M11. The freeway, along with the Moorooduc Highway, was previously signed with a State Route 11 shield.
Northern extension (Mordialloc Bypass)
A reservation for a northern extension of the Mornington Peninsula Freeway between Springvale Road, Aspendale Gardens and the proposed Dingley Bypass, Dingley Village has been in place for many years. The reservation is bordered by residential housing, industrial estates and Braeside Park. As of October 2014 a feasibility study has found a freeway is not required. However an arterial road, now known as the Mordialloc Bypass, in the freeway reservation is considered to be the optimal solution. If in the future any freeway is considered it will be most likely that the Dingley Arterial would be upgraded to freeway standard. The 2014 State Budget includes $10.6 million over 4 years to undertake detailed planning and project development. An arterial road would probably consist of a divided road, at grade traffic light controlled intersections, a speed limit of 80 km/h and bike/pedestrian paths.
Southern extension
Where the current southern section reaches Jetty Road in Rosebud, freeway conditions end, with a two-lane, single carriageway link from Jetty Road to Boneo Road. From Jetty Road the freeway was meant to adopt full freeway standards with overpasses over Jetty Road and Boneo Road, but this section has remained incomplete for over a decade (at this stage there appears to be no plans to complete the second carriageway or interchange crossing for Jetty Road). The freeway would then dissect the Tootgarook swamp, the most biodiverse part of the Nepean Peninsula and largest remaining swamp in the Port Philip Catchment Management Authority's region. Then move on to cut through the largest last remaining section of Moonah Woodland on the planet, and then bypass Rye before terminating at Melbourne Road at the intersection of Canterbury Jetty Road in Blairgowrie.