Calder Freeway

Calder Freeway
Calder Freeway facing Mount Macedon Formerly
Length	113 km (70 mi)
Direction	Northwest - Southeast
From	Calder Highway, Ravenswood South, Victoria
Major suburbs	Harcourt, Malmsbury, Kyneton, Woodend, Macedon, Gisborne, Diggers Rest, Sunbury
To	Tullamarine Freeway, Niddrie, Melbourne
Major junctions	Midland Highway Pyrenees Highway Melton Highway Western Ring Road for full list see exits and interchanges

Calder Freeway is a freeway linking Melbourne to Ravenswood South in Victoria, Australia, superseding stretches of the Calder Highway. Originally just a short spur of the Tullamarine Freeway linking to the Calder Highway in Keilor in suburban Melbourne, it has been extended in phases to Ravenswood South subsuming all the older Calder Highway stretches. It continues beyond as Calder Highway through to Bendigo and to Mildura. The Victorian Government completed the duplication of the Calder Highway from Melbourne to Bendigo to Freeway conditions on 20 April 2009, several months earlier than expected.

History

The Calder Highway was named after William Calder, who was chairman of the Victorian road construction authority formerly known as the Country Roads Board (Victoria) from 1913 to 1928. The CRB is today known as VicRoads.

The highway was originally allocated a National Route 79 shield. With Victoria's conversion to the newer alphanumeric system in the late 1990s this was altered to a designation for the majority highway portion, and a designation for the remaining freeway portion into Melbourne.

Originally, the Calder Highway (an undivided highway) started at the end of Keilor Rd in Niddrie. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the road was upgraded to Freeway standard together with the Tullamarine Freeway, ending in Keilor East and rejoining the Calder Highway. By the early 1980s the Freeway was extended to Keilor and then rejoined the Calder highway. However, it was not until the 1990s that work began to duplicate the rest of the highway to Bendigo.

The Calder Highway between the Melton Highway and the Western Ring Road is shown in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as part of the F4 Freeway corridor, which extends past the Tullamarine Freeway and Bell Street to Templestowe.

Route

At Ravenswood South, the Calder Highway, becomes the Calder Freeway, , adopting freeway standards, with two lanes running either way (three inside Melbourne) and begins bypassing most of the towns the old alignment of the highway used to serve. Former bypassed sections of the Calder Highway are generally designated sequentially from to , or (oddly enough) still keep the old shield (within suburban Melbourne).

The north-western end of the freeway is also duplexed with the until south of Harcourt where the Midland Highway resumes south-westerly to the major regional centres of Ballarat, and Geelong.

Towns bypassed by, but still accessible from, the from this point include:

• Harcourt
• Elphinstone
• Taradale
• Malmsbury
• Kyneton
• Woodend
• Macedon
• Gisborne
• Diggers Rest

It gains the shield at the Green Gully Road interchange in Keilor, which continues east onto the Tullamarine Freeway city-bound, along with the old shield.

The freeway ends at the newly reconstructed interchange with the Tullamarine Freeway, the main route from the central business district to Melbourne Airport. Continuing on the Tullamarine Freeway eventually brings drivers onto CityLink, and thus, central Melbourne.

Upgrades

The upgrade of the Calder Highway is a jointly funded project between the Australian and Victorian Governments at an estimated total cost of $404 million. Between Melbourne and Bendigo, the highway has been upgraded to a high standard four lane divided road. Construction was completed on 20 April 2009.

The Calder Highway Upgrade between Kyneton and Ravenswood will be delivered in two sections: Kyneton to Faraday and Faraday to Ravenswood. Construction on both sections is well underway with construction now completed and open to road traffic.

Kyneton to Faraday

Malmsbury Stage

Start Date: 24 November 2005,

Completion Date: April 2008,

Contractor: FRH Group Pty Ltd,

Contract Cost: $153.3 million,

Location: South of Malmsbury East Road to Golden Point Road, Faraday,

Length: 21.2 km

Kyneton North Stage

Duplication of the Calder Highway from Wards Lane, Kyneton to Malmsbury East Rd, Malmsbury was opened to the public in January 2005.

Elphinstone Rail Bridge

The contract for construction of the bridge over the Melbourne to Bendigo Railway was completed in February 2006 by Cut and Fill Pty Ltd. Access to the bridge is now open to traffic now that the Malmsbury Stage is completed.

Malmsbury stage opening

The Malmsbury stage of the freeway is 12 months ahead of schedule, and 15 km of the stage was opened in April 2008 in conjunction with the Pyrenees highway connection. This will extend freeway conditions from just south of Malmsbury to the Pyrenees highway interchange near Elphinstone. The intersection of the existing Calder Highway and Pyrenees Highway connection was altered to favor Pyrenees Hwy traffic, instead of the Old Calder Hwy, to separate traffic going to Castlemaine and Bendigo.

Faraday To Ravenswood

Harcourt South Stage

Start Date: 18 October 2006,

Completion Date: 20 April 2009,

Contractor: Winslow Constructors Pty Ltd,

Contract Cost: $71.7 million,

Location: Golden Point Road, Faraday to the Midland Highway, Harcourt,

Length: 6.6 km

Harcourt North Stage

Start Date: 1 August 2006,

Completion Date: 20 April 2009,

Contractor: Thiess Pty Ltd,

Contract Cost: $52.8 million,

Location: The Midland Highway, Harcourt to Fogarty's Gap Road, Ravenswood,

Length: 6.3 km

Ravenswood Stage

The 6.2 km Ravenswood Stage opened to traffic in May 2005, it runs from Fogartys Gap Road reconnecting with the Calder Highway south of Ravenswood. Key features include 1 bridge, 7 wildlife crossings and a fully equipped rest area for trucks, buses and cars.

For more information visit the VicRoads website

Calder Highway / Calder Alternative Route intersection

• Proposed upgrade of the intersection of the Calder Hwy and Calder Alt Route at Ravenswood, to be funded by Auslink 2 (2009–2014)[1].

Western Ring Road to Melton Highway

VicRoads has completed the widening of the Calder Freeway from the Western Ring Road to Melton Highway. The road was widened from 2 lanes each direction to 3 lanes in each direction. As a result the speed limit is reduced permanently from 100 km/h to 80 km/h. . Confusingly the 80 km/hr limit applies northbound from Keilor Park Drive until the Service Centre at Calder Park, whereas southbound it applies from the Service Centre, until the Green Gully Road bridge. In October 2010, it was announced that as part of a year long trial, the speed limit on this section of freeway will be increased back to 100 km/h in off-peak times (8pm-5am), with 30 variable speed limits to be installed along the stretch of freeway.

• Proposed safety and capacity improvements, to funded by Auslink 2 (2009–2014) [2].

Kings Road Interchange Project

VicRoads will extend Kings Road to the Calder Freeway at Taylors Lakes as a part of a $62 million project to reduce the number of at-grade intersections between Sunshine Avenue and Calder Park Drive. This will feature an overpass of Kings Road and a full-diamond interchange allowing local residents to access the freeway to Bendigo and Melbourne, as well as the closure of the Robertsons Road intersection. Major construction will commence late 2010 and is expected to be completed by late 2011.

Exits and Interchanges

Calder Freeway
Northbound exits / intersections	Distance to Bendigo (km)	Distance to Melbourne (km)	Southbound exits / intersections
End Calder Freeway continues as Calder Highway to Bendigo	25	126	Start Calder Freeway from Calder Highway
Maldon Fogartys Gap Road Harcourt Old Calder Highway
continues as	31	120	Harcourt, Castlemaine, Ballarat Midland Highway
Castlemaine, Harcourt Midland Highway			continues as
BENDIGO RAIL LINE	31.1	119.9	BENDIGO RAIL LINE
Castlemaine, Metcalfe Pyrenees Highway	43	108	Metcalfe, Castlemaine Pyrenees Highway
Malmsbury, Taradale, Elphinstone Old Calder Highway Edgecombe Malmsbury East Road	57	94	Edgecombe Malmsbury East Road Malmsbury Old Calder Highway
Kyneton Burton Avenue	61	90	Kyneton Burton Avenue
Kyneton, Heathcote Edgecombe Road	66	85	Heathcote, Kyneton Edgecombe Road
Kyneton Bourke Street Trio Road	68	83	no exit
Carlsruhe Springvale Road	73	78	Carlsruhe Springvale Road
no exit	77	74	Woodend Macedon-Woodend Road
Woodend, Lancefield Lancefield-Woodend Road	82	69	Lancefield, Woodend Lancefield-Woodend Road
BENDIGO RAIL LINE	85	66	BENDIGO RAIL LINE
Woodend, Macedon Macedon-Woodend Road	89	62	Macedon, Woodend Macedon-Woodend Road
Macedon Macedon-Woodend Road Mount Macedon Mount Macedon Road	95	56	no exit
Gisborne, Bacchus Marsh Station Road Riddells Creek Station Road	97	54	Riddells Creek Station Road Gisborne, Bacchus Marsh, Melton Station Road
Gisborne Melbourne Road Emmeline Drive	100	51	Emmeline Drive Gisborne Melbourne Road
Couangalt Road Mundy Road	106	45	Mundy Road Couangalt Road
Sunbury Gap Road	111	40	Sunbury Gap Road
Diggers Rest, Sunbury Vineyard Road	116	35	Sunbury, Diggers Rest Vineyard Road
BENDIGO RAIL LINE	118	33	BENDIGO RAIL LINE
Diggers Rest, Bulla Bulla-Diggers Rest Road	119.5	31.5	Bulla, Diggers Rest Bulla-Diggers Rest Road
Toolern Vale Holden Road	123	28	BP SERVICE CENTRE
BP SERVICE CENTRE
Calder Park Calder Park Drive	125.5	25.5	Calder Park Calder Park Drive
Taylors Lakes Robertsons Road Road closure expected mid 2012	126.7	24.3	no intersection
Taylors Lakes Kings Road Under construction Expected completion mid 2012	127.3	23.7	Taylors Lakes, Deer Park, Laverton Kings Road Under construction Expected completion mid 2012
St Albans, Sunshine Sunshine Avenue	129.1	21.9	St Albans, Sunshine Sunshine Avenue
Taylors Lakes, Melton Melton Highway	130.2	20.8	no exit
continues as	132.4	18.6	no exit
Keilor, St Albans Green Gully Road			continues as
no exit	134.1	16.9	Keilor Park, To Geelong Keilor Park Drive
Keilor, Keilor Park Keilor Park Drive	135.5	15.5	Seymour, Sydney Western Ring Road
Geelong, Ballarat, Adelaide Western Ring Road
Keilor East, Airport West Woorite Place	136.5	14.5	no exit
Niddrie Keilor Road	137.5	13.5	Niddrie McNamara Avenue Fullarton Road
Start Calder Freeway from Tullamarine Freeway	138	13	Essendon Bulla Road
			End Calder Freeway continues as Tullamarine Freeway to Melbourne

Source

Calder Freeway on Whereis.

See also

• Freeways in Australia
• Freeways in Victoria
• Road transport in Victoria