Skip to main content

Melbourne picks PPP deal for roads between Werribee and Footscray

The Australian city of Melbourne has laid out plans for a US$1.4 billion public-private partnership to revamp major city streets. Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and, with around 4.6 million people, the second most populous city in Australia. Some areas of Melbourne are growing by up to 6% a year. More than 700km of suburban roads will be upgraded by 2022 as part of the 20-year construction and maintenance package, said state premier Daniel Andrews. Eight h
November 14, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The Australian city of Melbourne has laid out plans for a US$1.4 billion public-private partnership to revamp major city streets.

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and, with around 4.6 million people, the second most populous city in Australia. Some areas of Melbourne are growing by up to 6% a year.

More than 700km of suburban roads will be upgraded by 2022 as part of the 20-year construction and maintenance package, said state premier Daniel Andrews.

Eight high-priority roads are targeted, as well as "choke points" on other streets.

The Age newspaper reported that state treasurer Tim Pallas said the project will be paid for by the same availability model that paid for Peninsula Link, a 25km freeway between Carrum Downs and Mount Martha that opened in 2013.

The private sector will receive quarterly payments over 20 years to upgrade the eight roads and maintain the wider western suburban network.

Melbourne has also been considering constructing elevated bike lanes through the central business district. The $72 million “cycle highways” scheme is one of 200 ideas put forward by Infrastructure Victoria, a Victoria state agency, to improve public transportation in the next 30 years. The agency estimates that more than 81,000 bike trips are recorded in Melbourne each weekday, according to a report by ABC News last June.

Related Content

  • Russian road plans
    May 2, 2012
    Plans are in hand for major upgrades to Russia’s road network. Russian Highways (Avtodor) aims to construct 958km of roads, as well as to reconstruct 963km of road and improve 700km of road bed by 2019. The 684km M11 highway linking Moscow with St Petersburg is the top-priority. A 72km bypass road will be built in the Tver region.
  • Russian road plans
    March 16, 2012
    Plans are in hand for major upgrades to Russia’s road network. Russian Highways (Avtodor) aims to construct 958km of roads, as well as to reconstruct 963km of road and improve 700km of road bed by 2019.
  • Construction materials and road design in East Africa
    June 25, 2013
    An envisaged shortage in the supply of angular rock or crushed stone in Tanzania and a determination to conserve the environment by Kenyan authorities dictated the engineering design of a multi-national road linking the two largest economies in Eastern Africa. Shem Oirere reports The cost of buying crushed stone or hiring a site for mining the material and the expenses of moving it from the crushing site to the project area, saw designers opt for an intermediate alignment and discarding of the inner and out
  • Tackling the UK's traffic congestion
    February 28, 2012
    The biggest problem on UK roads is congestion, and there is no shortage of ideas as to how it should be tackled. Patrick Smith reports. Congestion (and how to relieve it), along with safety, are among the top priorities facing those responsible for looking after the UK's roads. Road pricing, car-share lanes, greener vehicle initiatives and alternative methods of transport such as buses, trams and rail are all part of the approach, but prior to the current economic climate the nation's love affair with the c