Published on 08 September 2026
Melton City Council has welcomed the announcement by the Victorian Government to invest a further $550 million to upgrade the Western Highway, between Melton and Caroline Springs.
The announcement also confirmed key details of the upgrade, which would include 30 kilometres of new lanes and upgrades to key interchanges at Ferris Road, Leakes Road and Hopkins Road, as well as a new half interchange at Mount Cottrell Road to boost traffic flow and safety.
The Western Highway has been a long-standing advocacy priority for Council and the community. The combined investment from the Australian and Victorian Governments will deliver key capacity and safety upgrades that are critical for our residents to access work, education and services.
Since the Australian Government announced $1 billion in funding for the upgrade in March 2025, Council has been awaiting the scope of works and this additional funding by the Victorian Government will deliver a significant boost to the much-needed upgrade works.
Council is now calling on the Opposition and all major parties contesting the state election to commit to this additional investment to complete the required upgrades to this nationally critical transport route.
Over 86,000 vehicles, including more than 5400 trucks are estimated to travel along the Western Highway between Melton and Caroline Springs each day and traffic modelling projects that this will increase to over 110,000 vehicles.
“This announcement is good news for our community and Council welcomes this additional investment to the Western Highway upgrade.
“This additional funding from the Victorian Government is critical to securing the upgrades the highway needs to keep pace with growth, ease congestion, improve safety and help residents get to work, school and home sooner and safer.
“We now call on the Opposition and all major parties to match this announcement and give communities in Melbourne’s west certainty that the Western Highway upgrade will have the required funding to complete the improvements it needs.
"More than anything we look forward to seeing the upgrades underway with construction work commencing.
We want to hear about the impacts and challenges you face as a result of congested and unsafe highways and major connecting roads in the City of Melton. Your stories will add to Council's message as we call for greater investment in critical road improvements across our municipality.