Northern section (Springvale Road–Frankston Freeway) The original northern section (prior to the
2021 northern extension) was built originally as an extension of
Frankston Freeway, a short but wide 2 km length curve opening to the Eel Race Drain in 1976. It was built in small successive sections, starting at
Nepean Highway at
Dromana in late 1971 with construction starting the following year. EastLink opened in 2008. In early 2006, operator of EastLink,
ConnectEast, offered to build the bypass by June 2009, but was rejected by the state government. The government would be required to contribute $100 million to the project, which would also have been funded through a 1c-2c increase in tolls. ConnectEast also wanted the EastLink concession period extended from 39 to 49 years. A leaked report sent by VicRoads to the
City of Frankston in 2006 and obtained by the State Opposition in 2008 showed the cost of building the Frankston bypass was $240 million. In October 2006, $6.5 million was allocated by the Bracks Government towards extra ramps at the Frankston end of EastLink to cater for a future bypass. Recommended by the Southern and Eastern Integrated Transport Authority (SEITA), the Transport Minister said that "no decision has been made about the requirement for a bypass of Frankston". Work on the EES started in March 2007 at a cost of $5 million. The Victorian Transport Minister
Peter Batchelor stated that simply because the freeway's projected path appeared on a map (referring to the route shown in the
Melway street directory), that it did not mean that the road was intended to, or would ever actually be built.
City of Frankston councillors however, along with Mr. Billson, pushed for the bypass to be built. On 28 October 2007, the Federal Liberal Party pledged a maximum of $150 million towards constructing the road toll-free if elected, to be matched by Victorian Government. The report said: The Frankston Bypass would be a 25 km freeway standard road with two lanes in each direction with a speed limit of 100 km/h. A full grade separated junction would be provided with
EastLink and the
Frankston Freeway, along with full grade-separated
diamond interchanges at Dandenong-Frankston Road, Cranbourne-Frankston Road, Golf Links Road, Frankston-Flinders Road, Bungower Road and Old Moorooduc Road / Mornington Peninsula Freeway. Interchanges at Skye Road and Mornington-Tyabb Road will have half-diamond grade-separated interchanges with northbound entry and southbound exit ramps. The cost was estimated between $500 million to $750 million. In September 2008, ConnectEast held talks with Roads Minister
Tim Pallas, but the State Government refused to discuss the issue with the media, or promise to build it without tolls. and confirmed that it would be toll-free. Throughout 2008 and early 2009, the State Government examined a number of
Public Private Partnership (PPP) models for the delivery of the project, selecting the
Partnerships Victoria 'Availability' model, where the private sector company designs, builds, finances and operates the project for an agreed period of time, with the State Government making regular payments to the company based on performance against a set of key
performance indicators, which avoided any charges being imposed on road users. with no charges to motorists. An invitation for Expressions of Interest was issued in March 2009 followed by a Request for Proposals, with two bidders short listed by November 2009. Final bids were received a month later, with the Southern Way consortium (made up of construction companies
Abigroup and
Bilfinger Berger, along with financier
Royal Bank of Scotland) being awarded the contract to design, build and operate the freeway on 20 January 2010. Construction commenced in February 2010, with completion expected in early 2013, These payments are adjusted on an availability basis, with reductions being made when each half-hour of unavailability, weighted according to the nature and severity of the unavailability. Failure to meet key
performance indicators for emergency contact points, incident response, compliance with operational plans, maintenance inspections and works, reporting and environmental management will also results in the government deductions being applied to the service payments.
Northern extension A reservation for a northern extension of the Mornington Peninsula Freeway between Springvale Road in Aspendale Gardens and the Dingley Bypass in Dingley Village has been in place for many years. The reservation is bordered by residential housing and industrial estates to the west, and Braeside Park to the east. In October 2014 a feasibility study found that a freeway standard road was not required. However, an arterial road, called the Mordialloc Bypass, in the freeway reservation was considered to be the optimal solution. If in the future any freeway was to be considered, it would have been most likely the Dingley Arterial would be upgraded to freeway standard. The 2014 State Budget included $10.6 million over 4 years to undertake detailed planning and project development. The arterial road would have probably consisted of a divided road, at-grade traffic-light controlled intersections, a speed limit of 80 km/h and bike/pedestrian paths. On 2 May 2017, the state government announced that it had allocated $300 million in the State budget to completing the Mordialloc Bypass as an arterial road, with an overpass to be constructed at the Springvale Road intersection. On 9 April 2018, the state Labor government announced an extra $75 million in funding and that the road would instead be built as a freeway with four lanes and grade separations along the entire length. The freeway was named Mordialloc Freeway during construction. In October 2018, the state government produced plans for the freeway, with a public consultation period. The state government claimed that the freeway would "improve travel times and ease congestion in Melbourne's south east" and provide "safer, more reliable journeys". The government promises the freeway will save 10 minutes off journeys during evening peak hour between the Springvale Road and the Dingley Bypass with the freeway carrying 80,000 cars daily by 2031. The freeway is set to remove up to 13,000 trucks from the nearby local and arterial roads each day. Construction started in October 2019 and the freeway was opened as an extension of the Mornington Peninsula Freeway on 21 November 2021 with all signage reflecting this. The extension involved the construction of 6 new bridges, 4 new grade-separated interchanges as well as a new full diamond interchange with Thames Promenade on the previous northern section. The extension also included the construction on a new shared walking and cycling path. The extension was built with entry and exit ramps on major roads including Springvale, Governor, Lower Dandenong and Centre Dandenong Roads. The extension intersects Dingley Bypass with traffic lights. A new shared walking and cycling path was also built along the extension.
Timeline of construction • 1971 – Southern section, from
Nepean Highway to McCulloch Street,
Dromana, opened December 1971. • 1972 – Southern section, extended for a total of south-west from Nepean Highway at
Dromana, opened December 1972. • 1973 – Southern section, extended to Jetty Road at
Rosebud South, for a total of from Nepean Highway at
Dromana, including completion of Burrell Road (today Latrobe Parade) overpass, opened December 1973. • 1975 – Southern section completed between Rosebud South and Dromana, elimination of last at-grade intersection with the $7 million Kangerong Avenue overpass in Dromana, opened July 1975. • 1976 – Northern section, 2 km section from
Frankston Freeway to Eel Race Drain, opened November 1976, at a cost of $1.1 million. • 1980 – Northern section, extended 6.7 km from Eel Race Drain to
Springvale Road, opened by Minister for Transport the Hon
Robert Maclellan MLA, on 18 March 1980, at a cost of $14 million. • 1984 – Southern section, initial 5 km two-lane single carriageway between Dromana and Nepean Highway at
Mount Martha, opened by
Federal Minister for Transport the Hon.
Peter Morris MHR on 8 June 1984, including dual-carriageway interchange over Nepean Highway at Dromana. • 1989 – Southern section, Dromana to Mount Martha duplicate carriageway, opened 16 May 1989, at a cost of $5 million. • 1993 – Southern section, initial 6 km dual-lane single carriageway from Mount Martha to Moorooduc Road in Tuerong, opened in June 1993, at a cost of $5 million. • 1994 – Southern section, Mount Martha to Tuerong duplicate carriageway, opened in May 1994, at a cost of $2.5 million. • 2013 – Peninsula Link, 25 km connecting the Northern and Southern sections, opened on 18 January 2013, at a cost of $759 million. • 2021 – Northern extension, extended 9 km from
Springvale Road in
Aspendale Gardens to
Dingley Bypass in
Dingley Village, completed on 21 November 2021, at a cost of $523 million. In September 2018 flexible safety barriers were installed between Jetty Road and Boneo Road along the freeway. Barriers were also installed along the centre of the road which were completed in December 2018.
1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan The freeway was originally designated in the
1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as the F6 Freeway corridor. == Proposed extensions ==