2 months ago
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A delay in major roadworks to the Peninsula Link only 13 years after it first opened has left holidaymakers and locals heading to the Mornington region frustrated and facing longer travel times.
Initially promised to be completed before the busy summer period, the first phase of work by Southern Way and Service Stream, which manage the freeway, was due to finish in October. The date was pushed back to November, but “unseasonably cold and wet” weather caused further delays.
A 14km/h section of Peninsula Link will have reduced speed limits until February. Credit: Eddie Jim
Service Stream said it had postponed further work until February to avoid imposing delays of up to 20 minutes, and said the works had involved “rebuilding the freeway from the ground up … to make it stronger and better suited to road conditions”.
However, the delay has left sections of rough and bumpy road and temporary line-markings, requiring the speed limit to be reduced to 80km/h until it is fully resurfaced. The speed limit will return to 100km/h as each section of road is finished from February.
Service Stream said the temporary speed limit reduction would increase travel times by two minutes, but Mornington Liberal MP Chris Crewther said the move had “frustrated a lot of people”, with at least a hundred constituents contacting his office about the ongoing works and resulting speed restrictions.
“I understand they just need to do the top seal, and they need a dry and warm enough day to do it. But we’ve had a number of such days. In my view they should have just finished the first stage before Christmas”.
Crewther said that even before the delays, the works had been poorly run. Insufficient traffic management on diversion routes had caused “massive delays” and safety risks on local streets, he said.
Peninsula Link – formerly known as the Frankston Bypass – is a 27 kilometre road that connects EastLink at Carrum Downs to the Mornington Peninsula Freeway at Mount Martha.
The state Labor government awarded an $849 million contract to the Southern Way consortium in 2010 to build and operate the bypass, which opened to traffic in January 2013.
Southern Way has outsourced day-to-day operations and maintenance to the ASX-listed asset manager Service Stream.
The contract is an availability public private partnership (PPP), meaning the state makes quarterly payments to Southern Way over 25 years.
Victoria can reduce its payments if Southern Way fails to operate the road to a required standard. However, a Transport Victoria spokesperson said payment would not be reduced because of the delayed road works and extended period of reduced speed limits.
A spokesperson for Service Stream said there was no government contribution to the maintenance work, which was part of the long-term strategy for the Peninsula Link.
“The current works are designed to make sure the road is suitable to today’s conditions, including heavier vehicles and increased traffic,” they said.
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