Another major milestone reached on North East Link development

The development of the North East Link in Victoria has reached its latest milestone with the opening of the new Bulleen Road lanes – a day ahead of schedule – and motorists can now begin travelling on the new lanes for the first time. 

The new Bulleen Road sections were built to create space for the new tunnel entrance as well as the Yarra Link green bridge, allowing traffic to keep moving as tunnelling works are carried out starting in the new year. 

The new 700-metre section of Bulleen Road includes a safer signalised intersection at Bulleen Park Access Road. 

“This is another significant milestone for the North East Link as we get ready to launch our tunnel boring machines next year. 

“The new section of Bulleen Road means we have the space for the North East Link tunnel entrance – bringing is another step closer to move traffic below ground and give local roads back to the local people,” Minister for Transport Infrastructure Danny Pearson said. 

More than 200 crew members worked on the project between Thompson Road and Trinity Grammar. The works involved re-using 60,000 tonnes of soil from North East Link’s Watsonia site and over 8,000 tonnes of asphalt for the northbound and southbound lanes. 

Works on this project were carefully planned to minimise disruptions to the community while maintaining access to the Veneto Club, local schools and shops as well as homes and sporting grounds. 

Over the summer, construction teams will continue works to prepare for tunnelling. This includes assembling the massive tunnel boring machines (TBMs), constructing the launch and retrieval boxes for the TBMs, and establishing temporary traffic staging for the Manningham Road interchange. 

In August of this year, the first of two massive tunnel machines to be used in the project arrived at the Port of Melbourne. You can read more about it here. 

“This important work will keep Bulleen Road moving as we get on with building the missing link Melbourne needs to slash congestion,” Member for North-Eastern Metropolitan Shaun Leane said. 

Aerial view looking north of the tunnel portal and Bulleen Road (source: Victoria's Big Build)

The North East Link is the biggest investment in Melbourne’s north east to date. It brings together three major road projects: 

• North East Link – the State’s longest twin tunnels, spanning 6.5 kilometres from Watsonia to Bulleen, taking cars and trucks under instead of through suburbs. This project will also create five MCGs worth of parklands along Banyule Creek at Borlase Reserve along with a new 2-kilometre tree-lined boulevard on Greensborough Road 
• M80 Ring Road Completion – this project will complete the M80 Ring Road, delivering five new lanes and smart technology, new interchange and seamless connection to North East Link. The project will see the construction of two landscaped bridges that will make it easier for locals to get to Watsonia station, shops and community spaces 
• Eastern Freeway Upgrades – the works will include new express lanes, modernised traffic management technology and Melbourne’s first dedicated busway. This major upgrade project will help reduce travel times and improve public transport in Melbourne’s east. The Eastern Freeway Upgrades will also deliver new and upgraded walking and cycling paths, bridges and underpasses as well as revitalise wetlands and waterways, and plant thousands of new trees and plants. This project is going to be delivered in three stages, with major works from Burke Road to Tran Road to begin in 2024 

Construction on the overall North East Link is well underway and major tunnelling works are due to commence in mid-2024. 

The Spark consortium is delivering the North East Link tunnels. The consortium is comprised of WeBuild, CPB Contractors, GS Engineering and Construction, China Construction Oceania, Ventia, Capella Capital, John Lain, DIF and Pacific Partnerships. 

On the other hand, two consortia were announced as the preferred bidders for the Eastern Freeway Upgrades and the M80 Ring Road Completion projects. The Nexus consortium has been chosen for the first part of the Eastern Freeway Upgrades while the AMA consortium was selected for the M80 Ring Road Completion project. 

Nexus consortium is comprised of Laing O’Rourke Australia Construction Pty Ltd, Symal Infrastructure Pty Ltd, WSP Australia Pty Ltd and Arcadis Australia Pacific Pty Ltd. Meanwhile, AMA consortium is comprised of Acciona Construstion Australia Pty Ltd, AECOM Australia Pty Ltd and MACA Civil Pty Ltd. 

The North East Link Program is projected to see more than 10 million work hours carried out, creating over 10,000 jobs during its construction. The North East Link tunnels alone are expected to generate 900 jobs. 

North East Link is expected to be completed in 2028 and once open to traffic, it will slash travel times by up to 35 minutes and remove 15,000 trucks from local roads. 

Source: Premier of Victoria – Media Centre; Victoria’s Big Build – North East Link Program (1, 2, 3); Infrastructure Magazine