The bypass was first funded under last year’s budget, with a $300 million commitment. The next state government budget, which will be released in about one month, will include an extra $75 million for the upgrade, bringing the total cost of the project to $375 million. The route has not been changed under the new plan, and will link the Mornington Peninsula Freeway at Springvale Road in Aspendale Gardens to the Dingley Bypass in Dingley Village. Converting the four-lane road into a freeway means that it will have no traffic lights at intersections. The speed limit will be set at 100km/h. Construction will start next year and the road, now called the Mordialloc Freeway, is expected to be finished by the end of 2021. The new Mordialloc Freeway will be 9km long

Premier Daniel Andrews described the road as a "vitally important link". "It’s all about giving local roads back to local residents," he said. "This is all about getting people home faster, getting people home safer, and making sure that we don’t [just] talk about projects, we get on and deliver them. “Governments 30, 40 years ago reserved this land, but it is our government that is getting on and delivering this." Premier Daniel Andrews and Roads Minister Luke Donnellan and MP for Carrum Sonya Kilkenny. Credit:Paul Jeffers Meanwhile, Mr Guy vowed to tear up a plan to build a three-kilometre missing link in the popular off-road cycling trail alongside Beach Road, siding with locals who do not want to see any of the arterial road narrowed.

Under a plan developed by the Kingston City Council in Melbourne’s south-east, a 3.2-kilometre stretch of Beach Road will be narrowed to make space for a new cycling and walking path along the foreshore. The council’s plan is meant to preserve vegetation along the foreshore, but will require the loss of 17 parking spaces, and a reduction by up to one metre in the width of Beach Road, a four-lane carriageway. VicRoads has approved the council plan. The Opposition has targeted the Andrews government repeatedly for its decision to tear up the East West Link contract, a move Labor leader Daniel Andrews incorrectly said would cost the taxpayer nothing.

Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy. Credit:AAP But Mr Guy vowed to stop the project if the Coalition wins November's state election, including cancelling and reversing any roadworks that have begun. He said a narrower Beach Road would be less safe and more congested. "I’m sick to death of seeing roads being narrowed across Melbourne when we are the fastest growing city in Australia," he said. Part of the council plan involves the removal of indented off-road car parking spaces and in their place the addition of new on-street parking spaces on the foreshore side of Beach Road. This side of the road is subject to a Saturday morning clearway to accommodate thousands of cyclists take to the road.

Mr Guy argued the change would increase the risk of cyclists being 'doored' by someone exiting a parked car, as well as force them to ride in the same lane as motorists. Geoff Gledhill, the Liberal candidate for the marginal Labor-held seat of Mordialloc, said Kingston council’s design for an off-road cycling path should be rejected because it would make Beach Road more dangerous. "Sure we want the infrastructure of a shared pathway, that’s fabulous - but we don’t want it at the expense of safety,” Mr Gledhill said. Cycling group Bicycle Network has previously endorsed council’s plan though, arguing that when completed, Kingston residents will finally be able to access bike paths to take them as far as Sanctuary Lakes, Craigieburn, Ringwood, and Mt Eliza. The new Mordialloc Freeway.

Back in Aspendale Gardens, the Premier was flanked by MPs in marginal seats - member for Mordialloc Tim Richardson, member for Carrum Sonya Kilkenny and member for Frankston Paul Edbrooke. When asked if the new Mordialloc Freeway would be tolled, the Premier said: "No, this will be a freeway, and that is the most appropriate thing to do." The new freeway will have entry and exit ramp interchanges at Springvale Road, Governor Road, Lower Dandenong Road and Centre Dandenong Road, and a new interchange will be built at Thames Promenade. The new road was initially designed to include an overpass at Springvale Road, but continue at the same level as other roads elsewhere. It will now be an elevated road for the entire stretch.

It is expected to cut 10 minutes off a trip between the Mornington Peninsula Freeway and the Dingley Bypass. Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said the new freeway would create more efficient routes to the Monash and Dandenong employment precincts. He said the road, connecting Frankston and Clayton, will cut travel time by 20 per cent, and will take 76,000 vehicles a day by 2031, up from 60,000 vehicles under the old plan for the bypass.