Contractors are gearing up for the major upgrade of the Eastern Freeway between Burke Road and Hoddle Street with traffic changes and construction activity expected to spill traffic onto bike routes.
With construction of new dedicated busways, a new bike trail alongside the freeway and other upgrades to the road, traffic management and restrictions are already being imposed.
These constraints, combined with the typically clueless detours that Google Maps invents for drivers to get around road works congestion, may cause changed traffic volumes and driver behaviour on routes that riders usually choose.
In addition, contractors are establishing large site compounds that will attract hundreds of employees and construction vehicles at peak periods.
Already Yarra Boulevard, which has large numbers of riders each morning, is becoming hazardous due to both detoured commuter traffic, and contractor employees arriving each morning at a new site compound on Wilshire Drive, Kew.
Bicycle Network will be working with North East Link Project and its contractors to manage these impacts over the next few years.
Update
A new Eastern Freeway entry and exit point for heavy vehicles is now operational at the Chander Road construction compound as the primary entry and exit point for heavy vehicles with the Yarra Boulevard now a secondary and light vehicle access point.
There are currently no detours or works on Yarra Boulevard however we would advise everyone to take care with an increase of North East Link Project-related vehicles in the area.
This works notice gives a general overview of what to expect in the short-term future.
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