| Calder Freeway | |
| Calder Freeway facing Mount Macedon Formerly |
|
| Length | 113 km (70 mi) |
| Direction | Northwest - Southeast |
| From | Calder Highway, Ravenswood South, Victoria |
| Major suburbs | Harcourt, Malmsbury, Kyneton, Woodend, Macedon, Gisborne, Diggers Rest, Sunbury |
| To | Tullamarine Freeway, Niddrie, Melbourne |
| Major junctions | Midland Highway Pyrenees Highway Melton Highway Western Ring Road for full list see exits and interchanges |
Calder Freeway is a freeway linking Melbourne to Ravenswood South in Victoria, Australia, superseding stretches of the Calder Highway. Originally just a short spur of the Tullamarine Freeway linking to the Calder Highway in Keilor in suburban Melbourne, it has been extended in phases to Ravenswood South subsuming all the older Calder Highway stretches. It continues beyond as Calder Highway through to Bendigo and to Mildura. The Victorian Government completed the duplication of the Calder Highway from Melbourne to Bendigo to Freeway conditions on 20 April 2009, several months earlier than expected.
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The Calder Highway was named after William Calder, who was chairman of the Victorian road construction authority formerly known as the Country Roads Board (Victoria) from 1913 to 1928. The CRB is today known as VicRoads.
The highway was originally allocated a National Route 79 shield. With Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s this was altered to a designation for the majority highway portion, and a designation for the remaining freeway portion into Melbourne.
Originally, the Calder Highway (an undivided highway) started at the end of Keilor Rd in Niddrie. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the road was upgraded to Freeway standard together with the Tullamarine Freeway, ending in Keilor East and rejoining the Calder Highway. By the early 1980s the Freeway was extended to Keilor and then rejoined the Calder highway. However, it was not until the 1990s that work began to duplicate the rest of the highway to Bendigo.
The Calder Highway between the Melton Highway and the Western Ring Road is shown in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as part of the F4 Freeway corridor, which extends past the Tullamarine Freeway and Bell Street to Templestowe.
At Ravenswood South, the Calder Highway, becomes the Calder Freeway, , adopting freeway standards, with two lanes running either way (three inside Melbourne) and begins bypassing most of the towns the old alignment of the highway used to serve. Former bypassed sections of the Calder Highway are generally designated sequentially from to , or (oddly enough) still keep the old shield (within suburban Melbourne).
The north-western end of the freeway is also duplexed with the until south of Harcourt where the Midland Highway resumes south-westerly to the major regional centres of Ballarat, and Geelong.
Towns bypassed by, but still accessible from, the from this point include:
It gains the shield at the Green Gully Road interchange in Keilor, which continues east onto the Tullamarine Freeway city-bound, along with the old shield.
The freeway ends at the newly reconstructed interchange with the Tullamarine Freeway, the main route from the central business district to Melbourne Airport. Continuing on the Tullamarine Freeway eventually brings drivers onto CityLink, and thus, central Melbourne.
The upgrade of the Calder Highway is a jointly funded project between the Australian and Victorian Governments at an estimated total cost of $404 million. Between Melbourne and Bendigo, the highway has been upgraded to a high standard four lane divided road. Construction was completed on 20 April 2009.
The Calder Highway Upgrade between Kyneton and Ravenswood will be delivered in two sections: Kyneton to Faraday and Faraday to Ravenswood. Construction on both sections is well underway with construction now completed and open to road traffic.
Duplication of the Calder Highway from Wards Lane, Kyneton to Malmsbury East Rd, Malmsbury was opened to the public in January 2005.
The contract for construction of the bridge over the Melbourne to Bendigo Railway was completed in February 2006 by Cut and Fill Pty Ltd. Access to the bridge is now open to traffic now that the Malmsbury Stage is completed.
The Malmsbury stage of the freeway is 12 months ahead of schedule, and 15 km of the stage was opened in April 2008 in conjunction with the Pyrenees highway connection. This will extend freeway conditions from just south of Malmsbury to the Pyrenees highway interchange near Elphinstone. The intersection of the existing Calder Highway and Pyrenees Highway connection was altered to favor Pyrenees Hwy traffic, instead of the Old Calder Hwy, to separate traffic going to Castlemaine and Bendigo.
The 6.2 km Ravenswood Stage opened to traffic in May 2005, it runs from Fogartys Gap Road reconnecting with the Calder Highway south of Ravenswood. Key features include 1 bridge, 7 wildlife crossings and a fully equipped rest area for trucks, buses and cars.
For more information visit the VicRoads website
VicRoads has completed the widening of the Calder Freeway from the Western Ring Road to Melton Highway. The road was widened from 2 lanes each direction to 3 lanes in each direction. As a result the speed limit is reduced permanently from 100 km/h to 80 km/h. .[1] Confusingly the 80 km/hr limit applies northbound from Keilor Park Drive until the Service Centre at Calder Park, whereas southbound it applies from the Service Centre, until the Green Gully Road bridge. In October 2010, it was announced that as part of a year long trial, the speed limit on this section of freeway will be increased back to 100 km/h in off-peak times (8pm-5am), with 30 variable speed limits to be installed along the stretch of freeway.
VicRoads will extend Kings Road to the Calder Freeway at Taylors Lakes as a part of a $62 million project to reduce the number of at-grade intersections between Sunshine Avenue and Calder Park Drive. This will feature an overpass of Kings Road and a full-diamond interchange allowing local residents to access the freeway to Bendigo and Melbourne, as well as the closure of the Robertsons Road intersection.[2] Major construction will commence late 2010 and is expected to be completed by late 2011.
| Calder Freeway | |||
| Northbound exits / intersections | Distance to Bendigo (km) |
Distance to Melbourne (km) |
Southbound exits / intersections |
| End Calder Freeway continues as Calder Highway to Bendigo |
25 | 126 | Start Calder Freeway from Calder Highway |
| Maldon Fogartys Gap Road Harcourt Old Calder Highway |
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| continues as | 31 | 120 | Harcourt, Castlemaine, Ballarat Midland Highway |
| Castlemaine, Harcourt Midland Highway |
continues as | ||
| BENDIGO RAIL LINE | 31.1 | 119.9 | BENDIGO RAIL LINE |
| Castlemaine, Metcalfe Pyrenees Highway |
43 | 108 | Metcalfe, Castlemaine Pyrenees Highway |
| Malmsbury, Taradale, Elphinstone Old Calder Highway Edgecombe Malmsbury East Road |
57 | 94 | Edgecombe Malmsbury East Road Malmsbury Old Calder Highway |
| Kyneton Burton Avenue |
61 | 90 | Kyneton Burton Avenue |
| Kyneton, Heathcote Edgecombe Road |
66 | 85 | Heathcote, Kyneton Edgecombe Road |
| Kyneton Bourke Street Trio Road |
68 | 83 | no exit |
| Carlsruhe Springvale Road |
73 | 78 | Carlsruhe Springvale Road |
| no exit | 77 | 74 | Woodend Macedon-Woodend Road |
| Woodend, Lancefield Lancefield-Woodend Road |
82 | 69 | Lancefield, Woodend Lancefield-Woodend Road |
| BENDIGO RAIL LINE | 85 | 66 | BENDIGO RAIL LINE |
| Woodend, Macedon Macedon-Woodend Road |
89 | 62 | Macedon, Woodend Macedon-Woodend Road |
| Macedon Macedon-Woodend Road Mount Macedon Mount Macedon Road |
95 | 56 | no exit |
| Gisborne, Bacchus Marsh Station Road Riddells Creek Station Road |
97 | 54 | Riddells Creek Station Road Gisborne, Bacchus Marsh, Melton Station Road |
| Gisborne Melbourne Road Emmeline Drive |
100 | 51 | Emmeline Drive Gisborne Melbourne Road |
| Couangalt Road Mundy Road |
106 | 45 | Mundy Road Couangalt Road |
| Sunbury Gap Road |
111 | 40 | Sunbury Gap Road |
| Diggers Rest, Sunbury Vineyard Road |
116 | 35 | Sunbury, Diggers Rest Vineyard Road |
| BENDIGO RAIL LINE | 118 | 33 | BENDIGO RAIL LINE |
| Diggers Rest, Bulla Bulla-Diggers Rest Road |
119.5 | 31.5 | Bulla, Diggers Rest Bulla-Diggers Rest Road |
| Toolern Vale Holden Road |
123 | 28 | BP SERVICE CENTRE |
| BP SERVICE CENTRE | |||
| Calder Park Calder Park Drive |
125.5 | 25.5 | Calder Park Calder Park Drive |
| Taylors Lakes Robertsons Road Road closure expected mid 2012 |
126.7 | 24.3 | no intersection |
| Taylors Lakes Kings Road Under construction Expected completion mid 2012 |
127.3 | 23.7 | Taylors Lakes, Deer Park, Laverton Kings Road Under construction Expected completion mid 2012 |
| St Albans, Sunshine Sunshine Avenue |
129.1 | 21.9 | St Albans, Sunshine Sunshine Avenue |
| Taylors Lakes, Melton Melton Highway |
130.2 | 20.8 | no exit |
| continues as | 132.4 | 18.6 | no exit |
| Keilor, St Albans Green Gully Road |
continues as | ||
| no exit | 134.1 | 16.9 | Keilor Park, To Geelong Keilor Park Drive |
| Keilor, Keilor Park Keilor Park Drive |
135.5 | 15.5 | Seymour, Sydney Western Ring Road |
| Geelong, Ballarat, Adelaide Western Ring Road |
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| Keilor East, Airport West Woorite Place |
136.5 | 14.5 | no exit |
| Niddrie Keilor Road |
137.5 | 13.5 | Niddrie McNamara Avenue Fullarton Road |
| Start Calder Freeway from Tullamarine Freeway |
138 | 13 | Essendon Bulla Road |
| End Calder Freeway continues as Tullamarine Freeway to Melbourne |
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