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| end_b = | est = 1992-1999 | through = Sunshine West, Ardeer, Cairnlea, St. Albans, Keilor East, Keilor Park, Tullamarine, Airport West, Gowanbrae, Campbellfield, Thomastown, Bundoora | route = | former = | exits = }} The M80 Ring Road, more formally known as the Western Ring Road and Metropolitan Ring Road, is an urban freeway corridor in Melbourne, Australia. It connects the northern suburbs and western suburbs to other Victorian urban and rural freeways: * Hume Freeway * Tullamarine Freeway * Calder Freeway * Western Freeway * West Gate Freeway and Princes Freeway It is linked to the eastern suburbs by the shorter Metropolitan Ring Road; the two are collectively called 'the Ring Road', and are generally considered together on traffic reports. It is signed as route M80 for its entire length. The road relieves freight traffic from Sydney Road, Pascoe Vale Road and Geelong Road and funnels them to the freeways. With connections to every major interstate and regional freeways, it has encouraged both industrial and residential growth in Melbourne's western suburbs. Over the past few years there have been discussions about extending the Metropolitan Ring Road from Greensborough Road and tunnelling it under Greensborough and going through the Banyule Flats and connecting to the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen. A study has been initiated by VicRoads to supplement the Western Ring Road with an Outer Metropolitan Ring Road. A major upgrade of the entire route commenced in 2009 and was completed in 2014, and includes widening and a Freeway Management System. ==History== The Ring Road project was proposed as part of the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan (F3, F5 & F7 Freeway corridors) and has documented in almost every edition of the Melway Street Directory since that time. Construction of the Western Ring Road began in 1989 with work on the Broadmeadows section, and was completed with the final link between the Calder and Tullamarine Freeways. Under the Keating Commonwealth government, a total $555 million was provided by the Federal Government for the Western Ring Road, with a $76 million contribution from the Victorian Government. Completed in stages, the freeway opened to traffic as follows: *1992 - Broadmeadows section – Tullamarine Freeway to Pascoe Vale Road opened to traffic on 20 September 1992.〔Vicroads. ''Vicroads Annual Report 1992-93'', Kew, Victoria: Vicroads, 1993, p. 39〕 *1993 - Broadmeadows section – The second stage of the Broadmeadows section, between Pascoe Vale Road and Sydney Road was opened to traffic on 7 July 1993. This section includes the Jacana Tunnel, which won an Excellence Award in the Public Works category awards by the Institution of Engineers Australia.〔Vicroads. ''Vicroads Annual Report 1992-93'', Kew, Victoria: Vicroads, 1993, p. 39〕 *1994 - Greenborough Bypass to Plenty Road. This 2.5 km section opened April 1994, at a cost of $A15.5m.〔Vicroads. ''Vicroads Annual Report 1993-94'', Kew, Victoria: Vicroads, 1994, p. 11〕 *1995 - Ballarat Road to Keilor Park Drive opened July 1995. The official opening of the E J Whitten Bridge by the Premier of Victoria occurred on the 18th August 1995.〔Vicroads. ''Vicroads Annual Report 1995-96'', Kew, Victoria: Vicroads, 1996, p. 14〕 *1996 - Boundary Road to Ballarat Road opened 6 March 1996.〔Vicroads. ''Vicroads Annual Report 1995-96'', Kew, Victoria: Vicroads, 1996, p. 14〕 *1997 - Calder Freeway to Tullamarine Freeway. This final section of the Western Ring Road was opened on 5 June 1997. The ‘Western Ring Road’ refers to the M80 Ring Road between Sydney Road, Campbellfield and the West Gate/Princes Freeway interchange at Altona.〔Vicroads. ''Vicroads Annual Report 1996-97'', Kew, Victoria: Vicroads, 1997, p. 14〕 *1999 - Sydney Road to Dalton Road. This 6 km final section of the Metropolitan Ring Road opened to traffic on 20 August 1999, at a cost of $A140m. The ‘Metropolitan Ring Road’ refers to the section of the M80 Ring Road between Sydney Road and the Greensborough Highway.〔Vicroads. ''Vicroads Annual Report 2000-01'', Kew, Victoria: Vicroads, 2000, p. 27〕 The project is generally divided into 3 sections: * Western Ring Road: This is the section between the West Gate Freeway and the Hume Freeway. It is currently named and signed as M80 - "Western Ring Road" for its entire length. This section was previously a 'National Highway' until 2013 and was signed with a National Highway M80 shield from Western Highway (Ballarat Road) to Hume Highway (Sydney Road). It was changed to 'state route' M80, for continuity with the rest of the freeway and to complement all infrastructure and signage with the 2009-2014 upgrade (the 'national highway' function and its shields are slowly being phased-out across Victoria following newer federal government initiatives and programs such as AusLink or the Nation Building Program, though some routes will retain its former sinage until an update is necessary). * Northern Ring Road: This section is currently named and signed as M80 - ''Metropolitan Ring Road'' although many people do not know that is its current official title. It is located between the Hume Freeway and the Greensborough Highway. *Non-Official "M80 Ring Road" Road/Route: Eastern Ring Road (M3): This 39 km section, officially named EastLink and opened to the public on 29 June 2008, connects the Eastern Freeway to the Frankston Freeway. Originally planned to be free from tolls and partially funded by the Federal Government, the Victorian Government under Steve Bracks broke its election promise and pushed for the road to be tolled. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「M80 Ring Road, Melbourne」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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