Completing the 'missing link' in Melbourne's freeway network

Closing the gap in the orbital link between Melbourne's north and east 

For decades, a missing link between two of Melbourne’s busiest freeways pushed traffic onto local roads, causing delays and safety issues. North East Link (NEL) will connect the M80 Ring Road at Greensborough to the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen, with 6.5km of new tunnels completing an orbital link around the city.

As Victoria’s largest road project, NEL will create faster and more reliable connections across Melbourne. Once complete, it will save drivers up to 35 minutes on peak-period journeys, remove up to 15,000 trucks a day from local streets and allow motorists to bypass 18 sets of traffic lights on the way to Melbourne Airport. It will also improve access to jobs and services through new public transport, walking, cycling and freight links.

A critical part of this effort is upgrading the Eastern Freeway – its first major overhaul since the 1970s. The challenge is to modernise 6km of live freeway while keeping approximately 180,000 vehicles moving safely each day.

Justin Dwyer, technical director for major projects, explains: "On a corridor shaped by waterways, parklands and established communities, success depends not just on adding capacity, but on keeping the city moving during construction, designing for public transport and active travel from the outset, and building resilience into every decision."

The dedicated Eastern Busway will improve travel reliability between Hoddle Street and Doncaster Road (image credit: Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA)).

Designing for construction in a live freeway

To tackle this complexity, the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA) appointed the Momentum Alliance – comprising Mott MacDonald, John Holland, Seymour Whyte and Jacobs – to deliver the Hoddle Street to Burke Road section of the Eastern Freeway Upgrades. The package runs from Clifton Hill to Kew East and ties into the 6.5km North East Link tunnels to the west of Burke Road.

As joint designer, we are delivering the design from tender through to detailed design and construction support as part of the integrated alliance team.

For Justin, the alliance model sets the project apart. Instead of working through a traditional chain of handovers, designers, contractors and the client work together to make faster decisions, solve problems earlier and focus on the best result for the project.

From the outset, the team has designed around the demands of staging, sequencing and safety in a constrained, live environment. This means planning construction around the need to keep the freeway open, limit disruption and respond to changing site conditions.

That pressure has made digital coordination central to delivery. A shared federated 3D model gives disciplines, contractors and the client one view of the corridor, helping the team identify clashes, test staging assumptions and resolve issues before they become costly construction problems. The model also helps operators, councils and community representatives understand the design and provide feedback.

The upgrade will bring the corridor up to modern freeway standards. Ramp signals, variable speed systems and improved incident response will give operators better tools to manage safety and congestion once the road opens. Continuous safety barriers and dedicated bus lanes will also separate traffic movements and reduce conflict points.

With up to 180,000 users relying on the Eastern Freeway each day, the team considered construction needs from the start. Early contractor input improved road barrier and pavement designs and helped refine the construction stages, reducing traffic changes, disruption and construction time.

“The alliance works collaboratively to optimise cost, schedule and safety while maintaining traffic flow,” says Justin. “This close alignment between design intent and construction reality is one of the defining strengths of the project. It enables changes to be made earlier, risks to be managed more effectively and disruption to road users reduced wherever possible.”

Designing for every journey

Matthew Cooper, technical director for transport, explains that the upgrade isn't just about moving cars. "It’s also about buses, cyclists, pedestrians and how the community connects. Noise, urban design and landscape aren’t secondary to design; they’re what the community cares about the most.”

That’s why public transport and active travel form a core part of the design. The upgrade will deliver Melbourne’s first dedicated bus corridor within a freeway, along with 4.74km of new and upgraded walking and cycling paths.

The Eastern Busway will give passengers a faster and more reliable journey between Hoddle Street and Doncaster Park & Ride. Buses will travel at up to 100km/h, while dedicated flyover bridges will allow express services to bypass congestion. Together, these features will cut bus journey times by up to 30%.

A long-span steel truss pedestrian and cyclist bridge across the Yarra River will close a gap in the Main Yarra Trail, while new landscaped shared paths will better connect neighbourhoods to open space and help the freeway blend into its surroundings.

The new long-span steel truss pedestrian and cyclist bridge over the Yarra (image credit: Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA)).

Noise walls will be made from recycled plastic, which has excellent sound-absorbing qualities (image credit: Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA)).

Resilience and sustainability by design

The freeway passes through a flood-sensitive area near the Yarra River and Koonung Creek, making flood risk and waterway protection central to the engineering response.

The alliance has combined flood modelling, drainage and environmental design to protect the corridor from extreme weather while safeguarding surrounding waterways. Working with Melbourne Water and the programme’s independent environmental auditor, the team has incorporated climate resilience measures such as culvert upgrades and permeable barriers that retain floodwater paths. Modernised stormwater treatment will also improve the quality of water entering the Yarra.

Lower-carbon materials and non-intrusive ground investigation methods, like 3D utility scanning, will further reduce the project's environmental impact, balancing the corridor's long-term performance with the need to protect the waterways and green spaces it passes through.

Reducing noise and improving liveability

For nearby communities, traffic and construction noise is a top concern. In response to community feedback, the alliance has included new and upgraded noise walls and open-graded asphalt, which reduces noise at its source. These measures ensure the project can meet the highest level of residential traffic noise protection in Victoria, while supporting a consistent corridor design.

A more connected corridor

The Eastern Freeway Upgrades bring the client, designers and contractors together early, allowing the team to respond to construction, environmental and community needs as the design develops. By planning for roads, public transport, walking and cycling as one connected system, the alliance is shaping a corridor that supports movement and the communities around it.

“North East Link is a city-shaping project where transport infrastructure provides the foundation for better connected and more liveable communities,” says Justin. “We’re proud to bring our highways expertise to one of Australia’s most complex programmes, embedding sustainability, safety and collaboration at every stage.”