Dingley Arterial Project

Dingley Arterial Project
The Westall Road section of the Dingley Arterial is marked as State Route 49. All other sections are currently not marked with a route number.
Length	19 km (12 mi)
Direction	West-East
From	Warrigal Road, Moorabbin, Melbourne
Major suburbs	Dingley Village, Keysborough, Dandenong
To	South Gippsland Freeway, Dandenong South, Melbourne
Major junctions	Present Warrigal Road Westall Road Springvale Road Perry Road EastLink Dandenong - Frankston Road South Gippsland Highway Future Cheltenham Road South Gippsland Freeway

The Dingley Arterial (in the Dingley Freeway reserve) is a partially completed arterial standard road which runs east to west through the southern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.

Although the road was designed to be a freeway for the full length of the planned 19 kilometre route, it has been instead constructed as bypasses for the Melbourne suburbs of Mordialloc, Springvale, and Dandenong over the years.

Intended Course

Starting at the intersection of Warrigal Road and South Road in Moorabbin, the route travels east, crossing Old Dandenong Road, Clarinda Road, Kingston Road and Boundary Road before intersecting with the proposed northern extension of the Mornington Peninsula Freeway. It then interchanges with Westall Road as the route starts to travel in a south easterly direction. The route then crosses Springvale Road, Cheltenham Road, Chapel Road, Stanley Road, Perry Road and Chandler Road before approaching a diamond interchange with the EastLink tollway. The route then continues east crossing Hammond Road, Dandenong - Frankston Road and the South Gippsland Highway before finishing with a fully grade separated T interchange with the South Gippsland Freeway in Dandenong South.

The freeway was originally designated in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as part of the F2 Freeway corridor. The original plan shows the freeway extending down South Road over Nepean Highway heading north through Brighton and Elwood, following the Barkly Street-Punt Road-Hoddle Street corridor up through Merri Creek joining the Craigieburn Bypass to the Hume Highway.

A map showing an overview of the planned Dingley Freeway route including surrounding roads. Sections that have been constructed are in fluro blue while proposed sections are in bright yellow. For full legend, click the image.

Completed sections

South Road Extension

The South Road Extension runs along the Dingley Freeway route from Warrigal Road in Moorabbin to Old Dandenong Road in Heatherton. This was designed to remove traffic from White Street, Mordialloc as it was experiencing heavy-local traffic congestion, as a result of the most direct route linking the Mornington Peninsula Freeway with the Nepean Highway, along with Boundary and Wells Road.

The one kilometre extension commenced construction in September 2006 and was completed by the end of 2007, at a cost of $9.3 million dollars for the South Road extension alone, but cost $24.5 million dollars when combined with the associated projects.

The works involved constructing a two lane road to bypass a stretch of Old Dandenong Road which travelled through a residential area to Warrigal Road. A bicycle path was also constructed along the length of the extension. The extension also involved improvements to Old Dandenong Road and surrounding intersections as well as permanently blocking access to Old Dandenong Road north of the extension. The extension has a speed limit of 70 km/h.

Despite the road having successfully removed traffic from Old Dandenong Road (between Warrigal Road and the current South Road connection) it has also created a major bottleneck at the intersection of Kingston and Old Dandenong Road, particularly during peak hour. This intersection will be receiving a major traffic signal upgrade in the coming months.^[1]

South Road Extension
Westbound	Distance to Melbourne (km)	Distance to Frankston (km)	Eastbound
Traffic Lights (clockwise from extension) Warrigal Road to Mentone (6 km) and Mordialloc (10 km) South Road to Moorabbin (4 km) and Melbourne (21 km) Warrigal Road to Oakleigh (6 km) and Burwood (12 km)
End South Road Extension	20	29	Start South Road Extension
Start South Road Extension from Old Dandenong Road	21	28	End South Road Extension continues as Old Dandenong Road to Dandenong / Frankston

Westall Road Extension

See also: Westall Road

The Westall Road Extension runs along the Dingley Freeway route from Westall Road to Springvale Road in Springvale South. It commenced construction in 1994 and was finished in 1995. The extension is also known as the Springvale Bypass.

The works involved creating a 2.8 km divided four lane semi-freeway standard road to bypass the busy and congested centre of Springvale. The extension involves constructing part of the Dingley Freeway to the future site of an interchange with Westall Road before travelling along a temporary alignment to join up with the extended Westall Road south of Heatherton Road. A speed limit of 100 km/h applies between Heatherton Road and Rowan Road, while a 80 km/h limit applies on the approaches to Heatherton and Springvale Roads. A bicycle path was completed along the entire length of the road.

Associated works included a northern extension of Westall Road from Rayhur Street, Springvale to Princes Highway in Clayton. Westall Road from Heatherton Road to Centre Road consisted of a two lane undivided road while the road from Centre Road to the Princes Highway was constructed as a six lane divided road. In order to enable Westall Road to truly serve as a high capacity alternative route to Springvale Road, the level crossing with the Cranbourne / Pakenham railway line was grade separated in conjunction with duplication works to upgrade Westall Road to a six lane divided road between Heatherton Road and Centre Road. These works were completed by April 2001.^[2]

Westall Road Extension
Northbound	Distance to Melbourne (km)	Distance to Frankston (km)	Southbound
Traffic Lights (clockwise from extension) Heatherton Road to Moorabbin (15 km) Westall Road to Blackburn (15 km) and Melbourne (29 km) via Freeway Heatherton Road to Noble Park (4 km)
End Westall Road Extension	29	22	Start Westall Road Extension
Spring Road	30	21	Spring Road
Dingley Village Rowan Road	31.5	19.5	Dingley Village Rowan Road
Pedestrian Crossing	31.6	19.4	Pedestrian Crossing
Start Westall Road Extension	32	19	End Westall Road Extension
Traffic Lights (clockwise from extension) Springvale Road to Springvale (3 km) and Glen Waverley (12 km) Springvale Road to Edithvale (7 km) and Frankston (19 km) via Freeway
DINGLEY ARTERIAL CONNECTION Proposed completion 2013

Dandenong Bypass

The Dandenong Bypass runs along the Dingley Freeway route from Perry Road in Keysborough to the South Gippsland Highway in Dandenong South. The bypass commenced construction in late 2005 and opened on 9 December 2007.^[3]

The 4.8 km bypass was constructed as part of the EastLink project, with the $65 million dollar works involving the creation of a four lane divided road with traffic light controlled access at roads which run north-south along the constructed route. The works also involved the construction of an overpass at the Cranbourne railway line as well as a diamond interchange with EastLink. The entire bypass has a 80 km/h speed limit.

Dandenong Bypass
Westbound	Distance to Melbourne (km)	Distance to Cranbourne (km)	Eastbound
DINGLEY ARTERIAL CONNECTION Proposed completion 2013
Traffic Lights (clockwise from bypass) Perry Road to Mordialloc (9 km) Perry Road to Keysborough (1 km) and Mentone (11 km) via Cheltenham Road
End Dandenong Bypass	--	17	Start Dandenong Bypass
Noble Park Chandler Road	--	16.5	Noble Park Chandler Road
WANGOONI BRIDGE Frankston, Ringwood, Melbourne EastLink __ _	35.5	15.5	WANGOONI BRIDGE Ringwood, Melbourne, Frankston EastLink __ _
Bangholme, Dandenong Hammond Road	37	14	Dandenong, Bangholme Hammond Road
Frankston, Dandenong Dandenong-Frankston Road	37.5	13.5	Dandenong, Frankston Dandenong-Frankston Road
CRANBOURNE RAIL LINE	38.5	12.5	CRANBOURNE RAIL LINE
Start Dandenong Bypass	39	12	End Dandenong Bypass
Traffic Lights (clockwise from bypass) South Gippsland Highway to Dandenong (3 km), Berwick (16 km) via Highway and Warragul (73 km) via Freeway South Gippsland Highway to Cranbourne (12 km), Phillip Island (90 km) via Highway and Leongatha (97 km) via Highway

Future sections

Springvale Road to Perry Road^[4]

The Springvale Road - Perry Road section, when finished, will connect the Westall Road Extension with the Dandenong Bypass, creating an arterial standard highway, with traffic light controlled intersections and an overpass at Cheltenham Rd, for 11 km from Westall Road to the South Gippsland Highway. The new section of road is expected to carry between 30,000 and 40,000 vehicles per day as well as a shared path being constructed alongside, linking to existing shared paths which already run along the built sections of the arterial. The contstruction of this section (at a cost of $74.6M) was brought forward to commence in 2010 as part of the "Nation Building" initiatives in the 2009 Victorian State Budget.^[5] . The project was previously estimated to cost $80 million, with construction to commence in 2011, with all works completed in 2013.^[6]

Dingley Arterial
Northwestbound	Distance to Melbourne (km)	Distance to Cranbourne (km)	Southeastbound
LINKS TO Westall Road Extension to Blackburn / Melbourne
Traffic Lights (clockwise from arterial) Springvale Road to Edithvale (7 km) Springvale Road to Springvale (3 km) and Glen Waverley (12 km)
End Dingley Arterial	32.5	20.5	Start Dingley Arterial
Chapel Road	35	18	Chapel Road
Start Dingley Arterial	36	17	End Dingley Arterial
Traffic Lights (clockwise from arterial) Perry Road to Keysborough (1 km) Perry Road to Mordialloc (9 km)
LINKS TO Dandenong Bypass to Dandenong / Cranbourne / Frankston

South Gippsland Highway to South Gippsland Freeway

After the estimated completion of the Springvale Road - Perry Road section in 2013, the viability of building the section to connect the South Gippsland Highway with the South Gippsland Freeway will be taken into consideration.

Old Dandenong Road to Westall Road

After promising to build the entire Dingley Bypass project, the State Labor Government has been silent on the future of the section of the Dingley Arterial from Old Dandenong Road to Westall Road, believing that the improvements to Old Dandenong Road would be adequate for traffic needs.

On 26 October 2010, the Labor government announced plans for funding the section between Warrigal Road and Westall Road as a 4 lane arterial road.^[7]

References

1. ^ South Road Extension Package: VicRoads Retrieved on 22 August 2008.
2. ^ VicRoads - Road Safety Management Page 5
3. ^ EastLink tollway to open six months early Herald Sun 10 December 2007. Retrieved on 12 December 2007.
4. ^ http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/RoadProjects/MelbourneRoadProjects/SouthEasternSuburbs/DingleyArterialKeysborough.htm
5. ^ Gren Light for $74.6 Million Dingley Arterial Project Retrieved on 7 May 2009.
6. ^ [1]
7. ^ http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/component/index.php?option=com_content&task=article&id=12496.html

External links

• VicRoads - South Road Extension Package Document
• Dandenong Bypass - Southern and Eastern Integrated Transport Authority (SEITA)