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Thought I'd showcase some Melbourne road infrastructure, not often seen but we do have freeways!
Melbourne has decent network of freeways connecting it to other Victorian regional cities and towns. The city itself has 330km of freeway (on a per capita basis thats similar to Los Angeles), with another 750km of rural freeway in Victoria connecting to smaller towns.
Melbourne's roads are deemed far bigger than those of other Australian cities, even Sydney. Sydney has only 190-200km of freeway and most of those are small and narrow.
M1
Length: ~250km
possibly the busiest highway in Australia. 160,000 vehicles per day on busiest section. Notorious for its traffic jams that stretch for miles during morning and afternoon peak. Currently undergoing upgrade with extra lanes and ramps being added.
Freeway to Airport
Length: 25km
5km section is elevated.
M3
Length: 60km
M31
Length: 300km
Melbourne-Sydney highway. Fully dual-carriageway on Victorian side. New South Wales needs to get their act together
M79
Length: 140km
Main road between Melbourne and Bendigo
M8
Length: 120km
Main road between Ballarat and Melbourne
Wow, looks just like american infrastructure. Thanks! I've always been interested in stuff like this... houses, transport, and everyday life in other countries but non-tourism pics seem difficult to come by even on the net.
Melbourne's roads are deemed far bigger than those of other Australian cities, even Sydney. Sydney has only 190-200km of freeway and most of those are small and narrow.
Ha ha, you don't want to get caught between a bus and a truck on the freeway in Sydney - it's terrifying!!You have about 2 inches either side.
That said, I was too scared to drive in Melbourne city because of the weird hook turns required for the trams. I didn't want to mess with a tram!
Ha ha, you don't want to get caught between a bus and a truck on the freeway in Sydney - it's terrifying!!You have about 2 inches either side.
lol I 've got some pics of Sydney freeway - you'll be shocked! I myself have drove on their freeways and I was perplexed at the narrow, small freeways they have there. Mostly 2 lanes each way with toll booths to boot! In Melbourne, our freeways are built wide, with electronic tolling, feature nice architecual features (on the new ones) and are a pleasure to drive on. Infact, there is a proposal for an 18km long freeway and rail tunnel under Melbourne, pending government approval in the next few months. lets hope they do approve it! We also have more multi-level junctions and elevated roads than any other city in Australia. Australia's longest stretch of elevated road is in Melbourne - a 5km stretch of the Tullamarine freeway (main road to the airport) is elevated. We also have another 2 or so km long section of elevated freeway plus the 2.67km long West Gate Bridge, the biggest bridge structure in Australia. Several other isolated sections of elevated freeway can also be found.
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That said, I was too scared to drive in Melbourne city because of the weird hook turns required for the trams. I didn't want to mess with a tram!
I myself haven't actually drove thru those intersections, but I'd be a bit worried too!!! I always take the train to the city
We also have an 18km long tunnel proposed plus a new elevated freeway from the city to the port pending government approval, decision will be made in November.
other current projects include widening of the M1 freeway, including a new 3km long elevated ramp to be built over an existing elevated road and a 3-level braided ramp to seperate existing weaving traffic.
Great shots! Thanks for posting them. So many familiar roads. It's nice to see them here.
Oh and just a tip for anyone afraid of the hook turn, just take yourself into the city around 3am on a week night, drive around and practice them.
That's what I did and I have no problems now, they're really quite simple once you get the hang of them.
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Thanks for posting them. 
