The Victorian Government is building the road and rail Victorians need now, and for the future.
Our Big Build – including the Metro Tunnel, Level Crossing Removal Program, Suburban Rail Loop, West Gate Tunnel and North East Link – will transform the way Victorians travel. And through our Big Housing Build, we are making sure more Victorians have the security and stability of a home.
These investments will not only cut travel times and improve safety, they’re also creating thousands of jobs – ensuring more Victorians have the security and stability of steady work.
And as more of our projects come to completion, work on North East Link and Suburban Rail Loop will ramp up – providing the opportunity for skilled workers to use their talents on our next big transport projects, energy projects and housing.
Metro Tunnel and West Gate Tunnel: ready for day one
The Metro Tunnel will change the way we move around our city and state.
Opening next year, it will be the biggest and most transformational public transport project since the City Loop opened more than 40 years ago.
This year’s Budget provides $233 million for activities to get us ready for day one – recruiting and training drivers, timetabling, completing final testing, preparing customer information and education, and training a dedicated customer service team.
Getting Victorians familiar with how to use the Metro Tunnel from the get go, this Budget funds a dedicated team of people deployed across the project to improve customer experience and ensure things run smoothly.
We’re also getting ready for the West Gate Tunnel – also set to open in 2025.
New camera technology will enforce our legislated 24/7 truck bans on roads across our inner west communities – taking 9,000 trucks off local roads.
Transforming our transport network
We promised to remove 110 dangerous and congested level crossings by 2030. Since our last Budget, we have removed eight more level crossings, bringing our total to 76 – a year ahead of schedule.
This Budget invests $752 million to switch on the Big Build, funding the operation of our expanded network and new stations. It also funds additional network improvements, including:
- $214 million to maintain our Digital Train Radio System and plan for future upgrades.
- $133 million to support our regional rail network, including operating newly-delivered train stabling yards, stations and VLocity trains, and upgrading the 150-year-old historic rail tunnel between Geelong and South Geelong.
- $104 million for works to keep rail freight moving across Victoria, including encouraging operators to take up rail, reducing trucks on local roads.
- $30 million for better bus travel and continuation of ferry services. This includes improved links to new bus interchanges being built at Croydon, Pakenham and Greensborough Stations, improved weekend bus services to and around Chadstone Shopping Centre, continuation of the Melton South Flexiride, and more frequent services for Leongatha and Yarram. The West Gate Punt and Portarlington ferry services will also continue.
- $21 million for public and active transport upgrades, including construction of shared bike and pedestrian paths in Altona, Epping and South Morang and safety and accessibility upgrades at Essendon train station.
Making our roads safer
As part of a 10-year $6.6 billion investment, $964 million will be spent to maintain our state's road network this coming year alone – including extra funding to clean up the damage from flooding. This is nearly double the average spend of $493 million between 2010 and 2014.
Recent flooding and storms over summer significantly damaged our roads. To help communities in their recovery, we’re investing an extra $100 million to repair our roads, including pavements, infrastructure and fixing landslips, as well as immediate recovery works to roads within the Buchan Caves Reserve site.
The Budget also provides $17 million to improve metropolitan Melbourne roads and intersections, such as:
- Improvements to the intersection of Stud Road and McFees Road in Dandenong North, creating safer connections between Dandenong Sports Stadium, Dandenong Creek Trail, bus stops and homes.
- A new safer pedestrian crossing at Diamond Creek Road in Greensborough.
- Safety upgrades for Nicholson Street between Albion Street, Brunswick and Bell Street, Coburg.
Regional Victoria will also benefit, with $62 million for upgrades to make regional roads safer and improve freight routes, including:
- Upgrading the Princes Highway East between Melbourne and the Latrobe Valley in Gippsland.
- Upgrading the Sale Alternative Truck Route in Gippsland, creating better freight routes and reducing the number of trucks travelling through the town centre.
- Upgrading the Dimboola Bridge and the Dadswell Bridge on the Western Highway.
- Creating a pedestrian crossing on the Calder Highway at Wedderburn.
- Safety improvements to London Bridge at Talbot.
- Creating a safer crossing for pedestrians at Miners Rest.
To further improve road safety, the Budget provides $5.2 million for a closed circuit track trial to study the effects of medicinal cannabis on driver impairment.
Building more homes where people want to live
Not only are we building big in road and rail, we’re also helping to build thousands of new homes.
Our $5.3 billion Big Housing Build is helping make sure more Victorians have a roof over their head, with 9,200 homes already under construction or complete.
And as part of the landmark Housing Statement, we’re making good planning decisions faster and creating the conditions needed for 800,000 new homes to be built over the next decade, in the areas people want to live – close to jobs, education and great transport.
This Budget continues that record, with $107 million to progress our ambitious housing agenda.
That includes strengthening the Victorian Building Authority – giving it more teeth to deal with companies and individuals who do the wrong thing, funding more regulatory officers to increase building inspections, and investing in technology upgrades to improve intelligence gathering and enforcement.
We are also increasing access to domestic building insurance for Victorians building or renovating their homes.
And for residents in public housing, a further $19 million investment will improve response times for repairs and maintenance, through a modern and user-friendly system.
Funding will also promote more modern methods of construction, such as modular or prefabricated builds – helping unlock more options for Victorians building a home.
And ensuring we’re getting ready for the communities of the future – an investment of $20 million will build roads and unlock government-owned land in East Werribee, paving the way for future infrastructure such as schools.
This Budget also provides $700 million to extend the Victorian Homebuyer Fund to accelerate more Victorians into home ownership.
The Budget also invests a further $5 million to help local councils across Melbourne’s outer suburbs continue to improve local infrastructure such as libraries, playgrounds and community spaces.
Updated