Roadwork headaches to descend on Melbourne as Tullamarine Freeway to close, West Gate Freeway to slow to a crawl

HOLIDAY hell will grip Melbourne motorists in one of the biggest roadwork headaches for drivers in recent years.

HOLIDAY hell will grip Melbourne motorists in one of the biggest roadwork headaches for drivers in recent years.

Carmageddon is tipped to hit the Tullamarine Freeway over three days with all its lanes shut in both directions, causing headaches for travellers to Melbourne Airport.

The West Gate Freeway is also tipped to become a carpark. Picture: Nicole Garmston

But despite the anticipated chaos, motorists won’t be spared paying CityLink tolls, with traffic expected to also clog that part of the road.

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The West Gate Freeway is also tipped to become a carpark, with key city exit Montague St shut for 20 days.

The Tullamarine Freeway will be shut for three days.

The biggest delays are predicted when two outbound lanes on the West Gate Bridge are closed, combining with the Montague St ramp closure to cause delays of up to an hour.

The summer construction blitz begins on Boxing Day and will continue until January 25.

Motorists should brace for yet another slow snarl as major roadworks combine with an increase in travellers to and from the airport, post-Christmas sales, the Boxing Day Test at the MCG and traffic to the Surf Coast.

Authorities fear the impact of this round of roadworks, part of the $1.3 billion CityLink Tulla Widening Project, will be worse than when the West Gate Bridge and the CityLink tunnels were closed for maintenance work at the same time over several days in 2014.

The expected delays around the Tullamarine and City Link Freeways.

Motorists are being asked to use the roads only if completely necessary, consider using public transport where they can and opt for the designated alternative routes.

In a bid to minimise disruption and congestion, VicRoads will monitor works, traffic on detours and surrounding roads and prioritise and adjust traffic signals to improve traffic flow.

Motorists driving to and from Melbourne Airport are being urged to brace for delays of up to 45 minutes.

The Tullamarine Freeway will be closed for 60 hours between the Ring Road and the Calder Freeway from January 5-8, with detours sending cars into suburbs.

Cars will also be booted off the English St bridge over the Tullamarine Freeway while it is demolished and new piers for the bridge are erected.

And in Footscray, Shepherd Bridge will be reduced to one lane in each direction and then closed completely for widening and strengthening work.

Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said the works would cause delays but they were being done during a time that was quieter than usual.

“While every effort is being made to minimise the impact on motorists, we encourage drivers to consider alternative routes or modes of transport, plan their journey and to allow extra time,” he said.

@AleksDevic