Frankston Freeway
Frankston Freeway | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Freeway |
| Length | 7 km (4.3 mi) |
| Route number(s) |
|
| Former route number |
|
| Major junctions | |
| North end | |
| for full list see exits and interchanges | |
| South end |
|
| Location(s) | |
| Major suburbs / towns | Seaford |
| Highway system | |
Frankston Freeway is a very short stretch of Melbourne freeway that was designed to upgrade Wells Road to freeway standard in the 1970s and provides a link from suburban Melbourne to Frankston. The freeway has previously been congested in holiday months due to missing section of the Mornington Peninsula Freeway (now known as Peninsula Link), which since the opening of Peninsula Link through traffic has reduced immensely on the Frankston Freeway.
The Frankston Freeway is now mostly used by local traffic (as through traffic now exit EastLink onto Peninsula Link and vice-versa). The freeway is a major express link - in and out of the largest city to the south of Melbourne or near the Mornington Peninsula, which is Frankston. It saves bumper-to-bumber congestion (seeing as traffic would have to come from alternate major highways with numerous traffic lights / intersections / roundabouts), with traffic coming from Melbourne wanting to enter Frankston and it's surroundings. The freeway connects with three other urban freeways: EastLink (Tollway), Mornington Peninsula Freeway (northern section) and Peninsula Link.
History
In the early 1960s the Frankston Freeway was known as the Wells Road Bypass, 
an undivided highway between Frankston-Cranbourne Road and Seaford Road. It then continued on to Mordialloc as Wells Road. The Wells Road Bypass was upgraded to freeway standard in the early 1970s and by around 1980 the rest of the freeway was constructed to Springvale Road alongside the existing Wells Road.
With the route numbering conversion of the freeway, it was initially going to be changed to 
after the completion of EastLink in 2008, although plans fell through and the route was retained as ). However with the completion of the Peninsula Link in early 2013, it was replaced with 
, with the Peninsula Link and Mornington Peninsula Freeway signed as .
Route
The Frankston Freeway was designed to accommodate Mornington Peninsula Freeway from the northern section, and it has had a missing Frankston Bypass for decades (Vicroads having decided that traffic on the route was not heavy enough to merit a Frankston Bypass, the middle section of the freeway), and at this stage the Frankston Freeway serves as the missing link between the two Mornington Peninsula Freeways.
The Frankston Freeway begins in Carrum Downs south until Cranbourne-Frankston Road, as the incomplete section of the actual Mornington Peninsula Freeway, which bypasses Frankston, swings off to the south east. The newly-completed Eastlink toll road is continuous with the Carrum Downs end of the Frankston Freeway, providing a freeway standard road north through the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne to the Eastern end of the Eastern Freeway, and beyond.
The freeway is generally parallel to Nepean Highway along the route including the Mornington Peninsula Freeway and Moorooduc Highway.
Exits and Interchanges
Frankston Freeway 
| |||
| Northbound exits | Distance to Melbourne (km) |
Distance to Frankston (km) |
Southbound exits |
| End Frankston Freeway continues as EastLink to Melbourne 
|
47 | 5 | Start Frankston Freeway from EastLink
|
| Springvale, Mordialloc Mornington Peninsula Freeway 
| |||
| Seaford, Skye Seaford Road |
49 | 3 | Skye, Seaford Seaford Road |
| Frankston, Dandenong Dandenong Valley Highway 
|
51 | 1 | Dandenong, Frankston Dandenong Valley Highway
|
| Beach Street | 54 | -- | no exit |
| Start Frankston Freeway
|
End Frankston Freeway
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 Traffic Lights (clockwise from freeway)Cranbourne-Frankston Road  to Cranbourne McMahons Road to Hastings and PortseaCranbourne-Frankston Road to Frankston City Centre
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See also
References
- ^ Metropolitan Route Overview, Main Roads Victoria. Retrieved on 4 September 2013.
