FAQs

Is Peninsula Link a toll road?

No. Peninsula Link is delivered toll free as an Availability Public Private Partnership (PPP). Under this model, Southern Way will finance, build, design, operate and maintain the freeway for 25 years. The Government will make regular payments to Southern Way based on Key Performance Indicators for the operation and maintenance of the road.

Why is there traffic management in place and no one working?

When undertaking maintenance works, Service Stream crews follow a number of safety procedures to protect themselves and road users.

1.     Setting up lane closures

• A specialist vehicle called a truck mounted attenuator (or TMA) is deployed before maintenance works commence. A ‘caution’ sign on the back of the TMA warns approaching drivers that traffic management crews are working ahead.
• The TMA remains in place while the traffic management crew position speed reduction signs and bollards to close lanes.
• Signage is placed in advance of lane closures to give drivers ample notice of changed traffic conditions.
• Lane closures and speed restrictions create a safe environment for maintenance crews to carry out their work.
• Workers do not cross live lanes of traffic and therefore must loop-around to complete lane closure set-ups.

2.     Removing lane closures

• The TMA is deployed once the maintenance work is complete to protect traffic management crews while they pick-up bollards and signs.
• Speed restrictions remain in place until this task is complete.
• The TMA and the traffic management crew may need to loop-around to pick-up all signage.

If it appears that maintenance work has been completed, it is likely that the traffic management crew is in the process of setting out or picking up signage and bollards.

Emergency maintenance works may need to be undertaken at any time to ensure the road remains safe for drivers.

What does Peninsula Link look like at intersecting roads?

EastLink
The interchange is 12-13 metres above its former ground level and connects EastLink, Mornington Peninsula Freeway and Peninsula Link.

Lathams Road
Peninsula Link passes under Lathams Road at the former ground level. Lathams Road is six metres above its former ground level.

Frankston-Dandenong Road
Peninsula Link passes over Frankston-Dandenong Road at six metres above the former ground level. Frankston Dandenong Road has been lowered approximately two metres from its former position. There is an entry and exit ramp on the north and south bound carriageways.

Ballarto Road
Peninsula Link passes under Ballarto Road at the former ground level. Ballarto Road is now approximately ten metres above its former ground level.

Skye Road
Peninsula Link passes under Skye Road at one metre above former ground level. Skye Road is now approximately nine metres above its former ground level. There is an exit ramp off the south bound carriageway.

Cranbourne Road
Peninsula Link passes seven metres below Cranbourne Road which has been left in its original position. There are entry and exit ramps on the north and south bound carriageways.

Stony Point Railway
Peninsula Link passes nine metres below the former rail line ground level. The rail line is one metre below its former position.

Robinsons Road
Peninsula Link passes under Robinsons Road five metres below the former ground level. Robinsons Road is three metres above its former ground level.

Golf Links Road
Peninsula Link passes under Golf Links Road one metre below the former ground level. Golf Links Road is five metres above its former ground level. There are entry and exit ramps on the north and south bound carriageways.

Baxter Tooradin Road
Peninsula Link passes over Baxter-Tooradin Road at nine metres above the former ground level. Baxter-Tooradin Road has remained at its former ground level.

Frankston Flinders Road
Peninsula Link passes over Frankston-Flinders Road at nine metres above the former ground level. Frankston-Flinders Road has remained at its former ground level. There are entry and exit ramps on the north and south bound carriageways.

Eramosa Road
Peninsula Link passes under Eramosa Road two metres below the former ground level. Eramosa Road is six metres above its former ground level.

Bungower Road
Peninsula Link passes under Bungower Road two metres below the former ground level. Bungower Road is six metres above its former ground level. There are entry and exit ramps on the north and south bound carriageways.

Mornington-Tyabb Road
Peninsula Link passes under Mornington-Tyabb Road one metre below the former ground level. Mornington-Tyabb Road is seven metres above its former ground level. There is an entry ramp onto the north bound carriageway and an exit ramp off the south bound carriageway.

Loders Road
Peninsula Link travels seven metres below Loders Road, which has been left in its original position.

Derril Road
Peninsula Link travels six metres above Derril Road which has been left in its original position.

Old Moorooduc Road
Peninsula Link passes over Old Moorooduc Road five metres above its former ground level. Old Moorooduc Road is three metres above its former ground level and is part of an interchange that links Mornington Peninsula Freeway and Peninsula Link.

Does Peninsula Link have a bike path?

A 25 kilometre walking and cycling path has been built from Patterson Lakes to Moorooduc and is an important component of Peninsula Link. Taking in wetlands, parklands and natural bushland, the Peninsula Link Trail begins at Patterson River, connecting to the Dandenong Creek Trail and terminates in Moorooduc at the Mt Eliza Regional Park near the intersection of Moorooduc Highway and Eramosa Road West.

The path is a significant addition to the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula walking and cycling networks.

Who looks after the freeway now that it is open to traffic?

Southern Way has contracted Service Stream to maintain and operate the freeway from the day of opening throughout the 25 year Peninsula Link concession period. Southern Way and Service Stream will need to meet key performance indicators coverings areas including maintenance and environmental management. This will ensure the freeway is operated effectively and handed back to the Government in excellent condition after 25 years.

What about the walking and cycling path?

Service Stream is responsible for maintaining around 25 kilometres of path, generally the sections that run adjacent to Peninsula Link. Service Stream will pay particular attention to graffiti and vandalism and will aim to remove all graffiti as quickly as possible. This will be monitored through:

• A dedicated path maintenance crew
• Regular patrols of the path
• Removal of graffiti

The sections of the path that do not run adjacent to Peninsula Link, for instance in Patterson Lakes, will be maintained by the relevant local council. The Peninsula Link Trail spans across three municipalities, Kingston City Council, Frankston City Council and Mornington Peninsula Shire Council.

I share a fence line with Peninsula Link. Who is responsible for looking after this?

Prior to the opening of the Freeway, Abigroup undertook an extensive audit of the condition of all boundary fences on the alignment. Where the audit highlighted a fence in need of repair this work was scheduled and will be completed by Abigroup. All land owners with a fence assessed as being in need of repair will have been contacted by Abigroup directly. With the opening of Peninsula Link it has been designated and gazetted as a freeway. It is the responsibility of landowners adjacent to a freeway to maintain their boundary fences. For those fences built by Abigroup as part of the construction phase, Service Stream will maintain the fence free from graffiti (if it is visible from the shared use path or the freeway) in accordance with our Code of Maintenance Standards.

How did you determine where noise walls were installed and how high they should be?

Peninsula Link was designed to meet strict guidelines which aim to minimise adverse effects on the community. In particular, the high quality urban design on Peninsula Link addresses road traffic noise and has the benefit of contributing to local amenity.

The design needed to meet the noise standards for new freeways in Victoria, consistent with the VicRoads Traffic Noise Reduction Policy 2005.

Acoustic specialists, Arup, undertook extensive noise modelling and monitoring to determine the appropriate type of road traffic noise protection. The modelling considered a number of factors, including road design (height, width and depth of cutting), traffic volumes, distances to nearby buildings and the ground topography.

To meet the Policy requirements, the design incorporated a combination of noise walls, barriers on bridge parapets, open graded asphalt (a quieter road surface) and the cut/depth of the road.

Ten years from now when there are more cars on Peninsula Link, won’t noise levels be higher than they are now?

The noise walls and other noise attenuating features were designed on the basis of extensive noise modelling. The noise modelling was based on predicted traffic volumes in the year 2026.

After Peninsula Link opened, Southern Way carried out verification testing which included noise monitoring and traffic volume counts to validate that our acoustic model developed during design was appropriate.

This testing found that Peninsula Link meets the VicRoads noise requirements for new freeways.

Does the design include low-noise asphalt?

The freeway surface is open graded asphalt, sometimes referred to as low noise pavement. This type of asphalt reduces general road traffic noise in the order of three decibels and is the same surface material that was used on EastLink.

Will Peninsula Link make flooding and drainage in areas such as Baxter and Moorooduc worse?

The design of Peninsula Link is based on the 100-year flood design criteria and includes requirements that the design does not worsen existing drainage or water catchment conditions. In some cases, it is anticipated that the replacement of old drainage and waterway infrastructure with new infrastructure will lead to improvements in draining in areas on and around the alignment.

The design process considered the local hydrology and was submitted to Melbourne Water for approval. Once the drainage design was approved, the hydraulic design of drainage infrastructure (such as pipes and pits) went to Melbourne Water for approval.

Peninsula Link roadway runoff is collected and treated before being discharged into the appropriate waterway.

How will Service Stream minimise and manage the environmental impacts of Peninsula Link?

Before Peninsula Link received approval, there was a planning study that looked at all the environmental issues and identified ways to minimise the construction and operational footprint. The study recommended using retaining walls rather than sloping batters in sensitive areas and building a large fauna underpass in the Pines Flora and Fauna Reserve to allow animals to cross under the freeway safely. Visit the Linking Melbourne Authority website for more information on this planning study.

Environmental Management continues to be a big focus now that the freeway is operational. Service Stream undertakes monthly water quality monitoring for all waterways crossing Peninsula Link and for the freeway drainage system to ensure the design requirements are maintained.

What are poly panels?

In a first for Victoria, Peninsula Link features a new type of noise wall made from polyethylene, a heavy duty plastic that is commonly used for things like water tanks. The ‘poly walls’ have greater flexibility in design which means they can display patterns on both sides of the walls, offering visual relief for adjacent properties.

The advantages of using poly panels are:

• Poly panels have an overall lower carbon footprint during the manufacture and installation process compared with other materials such as concrete
• The poly panels can be recycled if they need to be replaced
• They are graffiti resistant and easier to maintain
• They are light weight, which reduces the time it takes to install new panels and makes them safer to install
• They do the same job as other materials like concrete, meeting our standards for dealing with noise
• Poly panels are manufactured locally at a factory in Carrum Downs. This means replacement panels can be delivered very quickly and it’s also good for the local economy

Where are the poly panels installed on Peninsula Link?

Extensive noise modelling was undertaken to determine where the noise walls needed to go in order to meet the Victorian standards for reducing road traffic noise. The poly panels feature along the freeway through Carrum Downs, Seaford, Frankston and Baxter. Some of these areas also feature oxidised steel noise wall panels which is the other material that is used for noise protection.

Why are the poly panels patterned?

The beauty of this product is that it can be moulded easily and distinctively into architectural relief patterns, letters, or whatever we want. During the design phase, local place names were chosen for some of the walls and patterns for others. The panel material supports a range of vibrant colours, adding visual interest to the freeway.

Will the colour of the poly panels fade over time?

The walls will start off more vibrant, but testing shows the colour will fade at the same rate as any other material that shows its’ age.

Has polyethylene been used for noise walls on other projects?

Polyethylene has been used internationally but this is the first time the product has been used for a road project in Victoria. We think Peninsula Link will be used as a benchmark for other projects.

Do the poly panels keep the noise out as well as other products such as timber or concrete?

They work in the same way – noise gets diffused as it travels through the material, a bit like double glazing in windows. So while the poly walls are made of a different material, they do the same job, and of course they had to meet Victorian standards no matter what they were made of.

Did the noise modelling take into account the polyethylene material used?

The plastic has been tested by the CSIRO and does meet our standards. Service Stream has committed to undertake a monitoring regime over the full 25 year concession period to ensure that the material performs to the required standards.

What happens if there is a traffic accident and something crashes into the wall?

Noise walls aren’t really designed to be crash barriers as they are there to reduce traffic noise for the adjacent properties. Guard rail and other barriers are installed to stop cars from running off the road.

Can poly panels be damaged or vandalised?

This is one of the advantages of this material – the poly walls have a clear coating on the surface which means graffiti is easy to wash off and the material itself (polyethylene) is naturally chemically resistant.

Are the poly noise walls resistant to weather impacts like strong winds, hail or drought conditions?

They are made from really strong material and our testing shows they will withstand these things.

Will the poly noise walls cause glare for motorists?

No.