Mornington Peninsula Freeway

Mornington Peninsula Freeway
Victoria
General information
Type Freeway
Length 27 km (17 mi)
Route number(s)
  • M11 (2013-present)
  • Entire Route
Former
route number
  • State Route 11 (1980-2013)
  • Entire route
  • Freeway Route 87 (1975-1988)
  • Dromana-Rosebud[1]
Major junctions
North end
 

for full list see exits and intersections

South end
Location(s)
Major suburbs / towns Patterson Lakes, Seaford, Frankston, Moorooduc, Tuerong, Dromana, McCrae
Highway system
Highways in Australia
National HighwayFreeways in Australia
Highways in Victoria

Mornington Peninsula Freeway is a freeway in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, that provides a link from outer suburban Melbourne to the Mornington Peninsula.

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.[2] 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.[3] The freeway between Dromana and Moorooduc South linking to Moorooduc Highway was completed in 1994.[4]

Timeline of development

Peninsula Link (Frankston Bypass)

Main article: Peninsula Link

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.

Proposals

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 80km/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.

Exits and intersections

LGALocationkm[11][12]miDestinationsNotes
KingstonGreater Dandenong boundaryAspendale GardensChelsea HeightsBangholme tripoint00 Springvale Road (State Route 40)  Edithvale, Mordialloc, SpringvaleNorthern freeway terminus at traffic lights
Chelsea Heights–Bangholme boundary2.61.6Thames Promenade  Chelsea, BangholmeNorthbound exit and southbound entrance only
KingstonPatterson Lakes4.93.0 Thompson Road (State Route 6)  Carrum, Cranbourne
FrankstonCarrum DownsSeaford boundary6.94.3 Frankston Freeway (M3)  FrankstonSouthbound exit and northbound entrance only
Carrum Downs7.84.8 Peninsula Link (M11)  PortseaSouthern terminus of northern section: continues as Peninsula Link
Gap in route
Mornington PeninsulaMoorooducMount MarthaTuerong tripoint32.320.1 Peninsula Link (M11) east / Moorooduc Highway (C784) north  Frankston, Mornington, BalnarringNorthern terminus of southern section: continues as Peninsula Link
Mount Martha–Tuerong boundary37.123.1 Nepean Highway (B110 north / C787 south)  Mornington, Red Hill
Safety BeachDromana boundary42.226.2 Nepean Highway (B110 west / C788 east)  Safety Beach, Red Hill
Dromana45.128.0 McCulloch Street (C789) north / Arthurs Seat Road (C789) west / Caldwell Road south / Boundary Road eastNo southbound entrance
46.028.6 Arthurs Seat Road (C789) – no exitSouthbound entrance only
McCrae48.029.8Lonsdale Street / Bayview RoadSouthbound exit and northbound entrance
Rosebud50.731.5Jetty Road  Rosebud, Main RidgeRoundabout; Mornington Peninsula Freeway continues south as a single carriageway
Rosebud–Rosebud West boundary52.532.6 Boneo Road (C777)  Flinders, Rosebud, PortseaSouthern freeway terminus at roundabout

See also

References

  1. Freeway Route Numbering System, Main Roads Victoria. Retrieved on 4 September 2013.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Country Roads Board Victoria. 67th Annual Report. 1979-1980. Kew, Victoria: Country Roads Board Victoria, 1980. p. 9
  3. 3.0 3.1 Country Roads Board Victoria. Sixty-Second Annual Report: for the year ended 30th June, 1975. Burwood, Victoria: Brown, Prior, Anderson, 1975. p. 6
  4. 4.0 4.1 Vicroads. Vicroads Annual Report 1993-94. Kew, Victoria: Vicroads, 1994, p. 14
  5. Country Roads Board Victoria. Fifty-Ninth Report: for the year ended 30th June, 1972. Burwood, Victoria: Brown, Prior, Anderson, 1972. p. 9
  6. Country Roads Board Victoria. Sixtieth Annual Report: for the year ended 30th June, 1973. Burwood, Victoria: Brown, Prior, Anderson, 1973. p. 6
  7. Country Roads Board Victoria. Sixty-First Annual Report: for the year ended 30th June, 1974. Burwood, Victoria: Brown, Prior, Anderson, 1974. p. 5
  8. Country Roads Board Victoria. Sixty-Fourth Annual Report: for the year ended 30th June, 1977. Burwood, Victoria: Brown, Prior, Anderson, 1977. p. 21
  9. Road Construction Authority Victoria. 1st Annual Report 1983-84, Kew, Victoria: Road Construction Authority, Victoria, 1984. p. 11
  10. Road Construction Authority Victoria. Annual Report 1988-1989, Kew, Victoria: Road Construction Authority, Victoria, 1989. p. 47
  11. Google (13 February 2015). "Mornington Peninsula Freeway (northern section)". Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  12. Google (13 February 2014). "Mornington Peninsula Freeway". Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 13 February 2014.