| Western Ring Road Metropolitan Ring Road |
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| Formerly | |
| Length | 38 km (24 mi) |
| Direction | Southwest–Northeast |
| From | Princes Freeway / West Gate Freeway, Laverton North, Melbourne |
| Major suburbs | Sunshine West, Ardeer, Cairnlea, St. Albans, Keilor East, Keilor Park, Tullamarine, Airport West, Gowanbrae, Campbellfield, Thomastown, Bundoora |
| To | Greensborough Highway, Greensborough, Melbourne |
| Established | 1990 |
| Allocation | Princes / West Gate Freeway – Western Freeway: Western Freeway – Hume Freeway: Hume Freeway – Greensborough Highway: |
| Major junctions | Western Freeway Ballarat Road Calder Freeway Tullamarine Freeway Sydney Road Hume Freeway Plenty Road for full list see exits and interchanges. |
The M80 Ring Road, more formally known as the Western Ring Road or Metropolitan Ring Road, is a freeway in Melbourne, Australia connecting the northern suburbs and the western suburbs to various 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 Greensborough Road and tunnelling it under Greensborough 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.
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The Ring Road project was proposed as part of the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan (F3 & F5 Freeway corridor) and has documented in almost every edition of the Melway Street Directory since that time. 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:
Proposed widening of the Western and Metropolitan Ring Roads is to be carried out between 2009 and 2014, to be funded by the Federal Government Auslink 2 program.[1]
Currently, the easternmost point of the Northern Ring Road terminates at Greensborough 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 is 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 Viewbank, Banyule Flats, Eltham, Templestowe or Warrandyte. The link to the east may well have to be provided by other means, such as the proposed tunnel to connect the Eastern Freeway with Melbourne's west.
Another possible route for the freeway has been suggested that would result in existing transmission line corridors being utilized [2]. The official reservation for the extension ends at Ryans Road in Eltham North, but these transmission line corridors could be used to carry the freeway through to Eastlink in Ringwood. Environmental impacts would still be a problem including noise, pollution, possible destruction of vegetation and the interruption of wildlife crossings. Less opposition from local politicians and the public would be likely if the much more expensive option of tunneling is chosen (if the extension does actually proceed).
If completed it will 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.
On 7 July 2008 it was announced by Premier John Brumby that the completion of the Missing Section was again being considered by the Victorian State Government as part of a wider plan to deal with Melbourne's traffic problems [3]. A new freeway through some of the city's most environmentally sensitive areas is among a series of proposals considered in the plan. The idea has for many years stirred intense debate both at the political level and among the community. The history of the proposal is extensive and renewed public interest to the issue is likely to result from this revelation by the premier. Options or possible routes for the freeway are complex. The project, if it does happen, is likely to face heavy scrutiny from the public and the local councils: both explain that the only option is the extension of the public transport infrastructure, not the construction of more freeways.
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:
The Western Ring Road is 28 km long, and the Metropolitan Ring Road is 10 km long, for a total length of 38 km. 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 2 km.
A major feature of the road is the EJ Whitten Bridge over the Maribyrnong River, named after Australian rules football 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). The Western Ring Road between the Western Highway and the Tullamarine Freeway is configured with variable speed limits, which can 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.
| Western / Metropolitan Ring Road | |||
| Northbound exits | Distance to Greensborough (km) |
Distance to Melbourne (km) |
Southbound exits |
| Traffic Lights (clockwise from freeway) Greensborough Highway to Diamond Creek (7km) and Kinglake (36km) Greensborough Highway to Greensborough (3km) and Heidelberg (7km) |
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| End Metropolitan Ring Road | 3 | 34 | Start Metropolitan Ring Road |
| Whittlesea, Bundoora Plenty Road |
5 | 32 | Bundoora, Whittlesea Plenty Road |
| Epping, Reservoir Dalton Road |
8 | 29 | Reservoir, Epping Dalton Road |
| EPPING RAIL LINE | 9 | 28 | EPPING RAIL LINE |
| Thomastown, To via Epping Edgars Road |
10 | 27 | To via Campbellfield, Thomastown Edgars Road |
| Northbound exits | Distance to Sydney (km) |
Distance to Melbourne (km) |
Southbound exits |
| End Western Ring Road continues as Metropolitan Ring Road |
855 | 25 | Seymour, Sydney Hume Freeway |
| Seymour, Sydney Hume Freeway |
End Metropolitan Ring Road continues as Western Ring Road |
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| Craigieburn, Coburg Sydney Road |
857 | 23 | Coburg, Craigieburn Sydney Road |
| UPFIELD RAIL LINE | UPFIELD RAIL LINE | ||
| NORTH EAST RAIL LINE | 859 | 21 | NORTH EAST RAIL LINE |
| Broadmeadows, Glenroy Pascoe Vale Road |
no exit | ||
| Sunbury Tullamarine Freeway |
862 | 18 | Melbourne, Sunbury Tullamarine Freeway |
| Tullamarine, Airport West Melrose Drive |
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| Northbound exits | Distance to Sydney (km) |
Distance to Adelaide (km) |
Southbound exits |
| Tullamarine, Airport West Airport Drive Westfield Drive |
864 | 725 | Airport West, Tullamarine Westfield Drive Airport Drive |
| Melbourne Calder Freeway |
866 | 723 | Bendigo Calder Freeway |
| To via Bendigo; Keilor Park, Avondale Heights Keilor Park Drive |
868 | 721 | Keilor Park, Avondale Heights Keilor Park Drive |
| Taylors Lakes, Sunshine McIntyre Road Sunshine Avenue |
872 | 717 | Sunshine, Taylors Lakes McIntyre Road Sunshine Avenue |
| St Albans, Sunshine Furlong Road |
874 | 715 | Sunshine, St Albans Furlong Road |
| BENDIGO RAIL LINE | 875 | 714 | BENDIGO RAIL LINE |
| Deer Park, Sunshine Ballarat Road |
876 | 713 | Sunshine, Deer Park Ballarat Road |
| WESTERN RAIL LINE | 877 | 712 | WESTERN RAIL LINE |
| Northbound exits | Distance to Adelaide (km) |
Distance to Melbourne (km) |
Southbound exits |
| End continues as |
711 | 18 | Ballarat, Adelaide Western Freeway |
| Laverton, Ardeer Fitzgerald Road |
Ardeer, Laverton Fitzgerald Road |
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| Ballarat, Adelaide Western Freeway |
End continues as |
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| Mobil SERVICE CENTRE | 712 | 17 | Mobil SERVICE CENTRE |
| Truganina, To via Footscray Boundary Road |
713 | 16 | To via Footscray, Truganina Boundary Road |
| Start Western Ring Road continues from West Gate Freeway |
714 | 15 | Geelong Princes Freeway |
| End Western Ring Road continues as West Gate Freeway to Melbourne |
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In late 2009, construction began to upgrade and widen 38km of the M80 from Princes Freeway at Laverton North to the Greensborough Highway at Greensborough.[4]
The first stage involves widening the 9.7km stretch from Calder Freeway to Sydney Road to 6-8 lanes.[5]
The 2009 - 2012 upgrade has slowed the average speed on the Western Ring Road to 25kmph from Sydney Rd on ramp to the exit onto the Princess Fway. Vic roads now accept that if you were to ride a donkey to work in the morning you would get to the city much faster.[6]
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