Victorian Premier John Brumby today officially opened the $2.5 billion EastLink project five months ahead of schedule and said the roadway would transform travel around Melbourne, delivering massive economic and social benefits for Victoria.
Mr Brumby said Eastlink is the safest and most stunning road in Australia and the road's
biggest achievement would be in allowing people to spend more time with their families by avoiding
about 50 sets of traffic lights operating on the alternative routes between Mitcham and Frankston.
EastLink was the biggest road project in Australia during its construction and its completion in
just 39 months made it the most successful ever delivered in the state.
EastLink's traffic control room would set new standards in Australian safety, and the road
followed function with form like no other, he said.
"This one is the best in terms of its visual amenity, in terms of its engineering
construction, in terms of its art," he said. "If other states around Australia want to build
world-class road infrastructure, they can now learn from … EastLink."
Unique to Australia, interoperability enables drivers to travel on CityLink, EastLink and
interstate tollways with the same account and electronic tags.
Gordon Ralph, Project Director at construction Joint Venture Thiess John Holland, told the
assembled politicians, engineers, road builders, bureaucrats and RACV representatives that 14
million hours had gone into building the road, without one serious "loss time" injury.
He thanked SICE, the prime subcontractor from Spain, who developed the Tolling and Back
Office systems.
Roads and Ports Minister Tim Pallas urged motorists to take care on the roads over the
weekend of opening.
“Take care on the roads over the weekend and be aware of the changed conditions on our
network as EastLink opens.”
“There is no need to rush out to drive on EastLink immediately, particularly with the four
week toll free period allowing motorists to experience the benefits and creative design of
EastLink.”
“People and businesses in this corridor now have the option of paying the cheapest vehicle
tolls for any private toll road in Australia on EastLink and avoiding countless traffic signals or
continuing to use existing roads which will enjoy less congestion.”
“My special thanks to those 13,000 people who worked on the EastLink project over its 39
months of construction and achieved this exceptional outcome for Victoria,” Mr Pallas said.
Each end of EastLink opened on the 29th June w008 at 1.01am in a carefully planned exercise
designed to minimise traffic hazards in the single largest road opening in Victoria’s history.
Victoria Police escorted the first motorists from the north at Mitcham and the south at Frankston,
with on-ramps then progressively opened. EastLink was fully operational by 1.30am.
ConnectEast Managing Director, John Gardiner said the opening was smooth and, most
importantly, safe.
He paid tribute to Victoria Police for their outstanding support for EastLink’s opening phase
and for maintaining a highly visible presence on the road to deter dangerous behaviour such as
speeding. “Safety is paramount for ConnectEast and we appreciate the work of police in patrolling
the motorway and helping to keep it as safe as possible,” Mr Gardiner said. “ConnectEast continues
to urge motorists to be careful in the coming days as traffic patterns settle down and people learn
how to use EastLink to their best advantage.”
“EastLink represents the single largest road opening undertaken in Victoria and motorists
need to be aware of the changed traffic conditions on and around the new motorway,” Mr Gardiner
said.
