Road improvements, faster

The new process means works will start sooner.

Major some of Melbourne’s busiest suburban thoroughfares will be kick-started early in the new year as part of a new State Government approach to delivering vital road projects.

Early works will begin from January at Hallam North Road and Heatherton Road in Endeavour Hills.

Local contractor Symal Infrastructure (Hallam North and Heatherton Road) will deliver the project.

As part of a new partnership approach to road building contracts, a 20-strong panel of prequalified contractors has been established to deliver this and three other initial projects across Melbourne as well as a $3 billion pipeline of future vital road upgrades.

This will see these major upgrades move from paper to pavement sooner and easier.

More projects will go into construction next year, with detailed planning currently underway for upgrades to Pound Road West and Frankston-Dandenong Road Bridge in Dandenong South, and Golf Links Road in Langwarrin South.

Upgrades to Healesville-Koo Wee Rup in Pakenham, Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road in Cranbourne and a series of bridge rehabilitation projects will follow.

This new partnership approach will also be used to fast-track other vital projects such as Narre Warren North Road in Narre Warren North too.

These projects will mean more than 4500 direct Victorian jobs and will support a further 11,000 jobs within the Victorian economy in industries such as manufacturing, freight and tourism.

Future road upgrades will be progressively awarded to pre-qualified contractors using the new model, with projects awarded based on the contractor’s capability, capacity, past performance and ability to deliver value-for-money solutions.

The move away from public-private partnerships for these projects to this model was developed after extensive industry consultation, gives smaller companies access to more work and helps reduce risks.

The approach is based on the successful Level Crossing Removal Project model and follows refinements made to the North East Link procurement process that will help improve collaboration with construction partners.