Eastern Freeway
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| Eastern Freeway | |
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| Length | 18 km |
| General direction | West-East |
| From | Collingwood |
| To | Donvale |
| Via | Bulleen, Doncaster, Box Hill North |
| Established | 1970s |
| Major Exits / Interchanges | Hoddle Street, Doncaster Road, Springvale Road |
The Eastern Freeway is one of Melbourne's major freeways, connecting Alexandra Parade and Hoddle St in the inner suburbs, with Springvale Road in Melbourne's east. It is mostly three lanes in each direction, including an inbound "transit lane" reserved for vehicles with two or more occupants during peak hour.
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[edit] History
Originally designated F-19 during its construction in the ealy 1970s, it was supposed to be linked to the then-new Tullamarine Freeway. Protests from inner Melbourne suburbs residents led it be terminated at Hoddle St. From there it stretches to Doncaster. The designation in the 1980s was F-83.
It is designed to take traffic off Maroondah Highway. In late 1997, it was extended to Donvale. Extensions to Ringwood are currently being done, due for completion within five years which will connect the Eastern Freeway with the new EastLink arterial, and under current plans, this section from Springvale Rd to Maroondah Hwy will be tolled with the rest of Eastlink.
The Eastern Freeway was designed with the idea of constructing a heavy-rail track down its median, and engineering provisions for this had been made, examples include the lack of support pylons for bridges crossing the freeway and the generous space afforded by the median strip. Although the plan eventually fell out of favour in the 1980s, in recent years, amidst growing congestion problems in Melbourne, the idea has been revived and public pressure has been mounting for the project to be restarted.[1]
[edit] Extension Plans
There has been widespread interest in building a tunnel linking from Hoddle st at the city end, joining to Citylink and the Western Ring road, particularly to concerns there will be a major traffic bottleneck once the Eastlink opens. The idea has been mooted since the Kennett Government brought up the idea, however no decision has been made yet.
[edit] Speed enforcement
The entire freeway has an 100 km/h speed limit. Unlike other major Melbournian freeways, there is only one speed camera located on the freeway. It is situated at the Hoddle St/Alexandra Pde splitoff point. As the camera is located well after prominent signage encouraging motorists to "Reduce Speed Now", relatively few violations are incurred. However, Victoria Police regularly patrol the full length of the freeway, strictly enforcing its speed limit.
[edit] Interchanges
[edit] List of interchanges
At its entrance at Hoddle St, exiting traffic causes congestion in the inner suburbs. It is currently designated Metro 83, and forms the border between a number of suburbs. Interchanges are
- Springvale Road
, Donvale / Nunawading (Start of freeway) - Blackburn Road
, Doncaster East / Blackburn North: citybound onramps only - Middleborough Road
, Box Hill North / Blackburn North: bi-directional - Tram Road / Station Street
, Doncaster / Box Hill North: eastbound onramps only - Elgar Road, Doncaster / Mont Albert North: citybound onramps only
- Doncaster Road
, Doncaster: bi-directional - Bulleen Road / Thompsons Road
, Balwyn North/ Bulleen: bi-directional - Burke Road
, Balwyn North: citybound onramps only - Chandler Highway
, Kew: bi-directional - Hoddle Street
, Collingwood: bi-directional
The freeway then flows into Alexandra Parade (Eastern Highway) 
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[edit] Freeway Plan
To have a closer look at the plan, please click the image 
