Premier of Victoria : Major Traffic Impacts As Hoddle Street Is Shutdown

Melbourne drivers are being urged to plan ahead, allow extra travel time and, if possible, avoid the area around Hoddle Street as Victoria's busiest arterial road shuts for an eight-day construction blitz.

Hoddle Street has been closed in both directions between the Eastern Freeway and Victoria Parade and will remain shut down until 11:30pm next Sunday 14 January 2018.

Several construction crews are now working around the clock to get the best start to the extensive early works as part of the Streamlining Hoddle Street project.

A dedicated traffic management team will monitor the network in real time and adjust traffic signals to improve traffic flow and minimise congestion.

VicRoads will balance extended green light time on some alternative roads through Collingwood and Abbotsford with the need to maintain north-south bus routes along Hoddle Street and local access for residents.

A range of other measures have been put in place to manage congestion across the road network while providing some additional capacity and allowing for better traffic flow along alternative roads.

Temporary tow-away zones will be implemented on some roads through Kew between 6:00am and 8:00pm to help keep traffic moving.

VicRoads will work with locals while these temporary tow-away zones are in place, opening its Kew head office carpark to provide some residents with further parking options, subject to availability.

More than 50 real time travel signs have been set up as far as Ringwood, St Kilda, Preston and the West Gate, providing drivers with real time travel information and encouraging the use of alternate routes.

The eight-day shutdown will fast-forward major strengthening and rebuilding work on parts of Hoddle Street and the bridge over the Eastern Freeway while sparing drivers from three months of ongoing, major rolling closures.

The road will be reopened in time for the Australian Open but drivers will notice some ongoing lane closures.

This early work is part of the Streamlining Hoddle Street project to add an extra outbound lane onto the Eastern Freeway onramp, deliver more green time at traffic lights, shorten queues and provide more reliable journeys.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan

'We know that this is going to cause massive disruption for motorists and we thank everyone for their patience while we get on with this vital early work.'

'Shutting down Hoddle Street will cause delays of up to an hour, so the message for drivers is simple - avoid the area so you can avoid the worst of the delays.'

'VicRoads will be monitoring traffic around Hoddle Street, and across the road network, and we're adding as much green light time as we can to keep Melbourne moving during this important work.'