Deer Park Bypass now operational

When we visited the site yesterday, we noticed that Deer Park bypass has opened so we used it going back to where we are staying at present. It only took 12 minutes from our lot to Kings Way (it usually took 20). This translates to City travel time saved of at least 8 minutes with no traffic lights from our place up until we reach Kingsway.

Some excerpts from Vicroads site:

Project overview

The Deer Park Bypass is a four lane freeway link extending 9.3 km from the Western Ring Road at Sunshine West to the Western Highway at Caroline Springs.

As the principal interstate road link between Melbourne and Adelaide the Western Highway at Deer Park carries over 70,000 vehicles per day with 10 percent of these being heavy vehicles.

The Bypass will allow traffic to and from the Ring Road to travel at freeway speeds, avoiding 20 intersections and many traffic signals compared with the old Western Highway route. When completed, peak period journeys will be reduced by up to 15 minutes.

In association with the Deer Park Bypass works, the Western Freeway/Leakes Road intersection at Rockbank has also been eliminated with a new freeway interchange opening in August 2008.

The $331 million project which is due for completion by mid-2009 is jointly funded by the State and Federal Governments as part of the AusLink agreement.

Features

Two lanes in each direction, with provision for an additional lane each way in the future when needed
Freeway interchanges with direct access at the Western Highway, Christies Road, Robinsons Road and at the Western Ring Road
Overpasses of the Melbourne-Ballarat railway line and Riding Boundary Road, Ravenhall
A bridge to take Mt Derrimut Road over the Bypass
Noise walls at some locations to help reduce traffic noise impacts on nearby residential areas
A shared path adjacent to the Bypass route for pedestrians and cyclists


Benefits
The Deer Park Bypass will benefit the local community, motorists, the road freight industry and its customers. Motorists will avoid the delays currently experienced on the Western Highway, reducing travel times and transport costs, as well as improving road safety.

Traffic congestion on the Western Highway through Deer Park will be eased. This will help reduce delays and traffic noise within the local community and improve safety for local traffic and pedestrians. Urban amenity for the community within Deer Park will be enhanced with the reduction of traffic conflict between local and through traffic.

The Bypass will provide better and more direct access from the Western Freeway to the Western Ring Road and to Melbourne’s ports for both local and interstate produce.

Other benefits include improvements to the environment through reduced emissions from vehicles idling at intersections, and increased regional economic growth through improved freight efficiency and freight and logistics.

Elimination of the Western Freeway-Leakes Road intersection at Rockbank will improve safety and reduce delays for local traffic and freeway users.