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| end_b = | est = | through = Geelong, Little River, Werribee, Warragul, Trafalgar, Moe, Morwell, Traralgon | route = | former = | exits = | show_links = yes }} The Princes Freeway is a , 2 section freeway, which links Melbourne to Geelong on the west () and Traralgon on the east (). It continues beyond these extremities as the Princes Highway towards Adelaide to the west and Sydney to the east. The freeway bears the designation M1. The western section linking Geelong and Melbourne is an important commuter and freight route between the two cities; the eastern section links Melbourne with the Latrobe Valley. The entire freeway is one of the busiest sections of rural highway in Victoria, used by large numbers of freight and commercial vehicles and provides access to tourist attractions in central and east Gippsland. It supports Victoria's rural industries and tourism. ==Current route== The western section (also known as Princes Freeway West or Geelong Road) starts from Altona at the West Gate Interchange, where the Western Ring Road and the old Geelong Road can be accessed by off ramps, and ends at Geelong. This section ranges from six lanes (three in each direction) between Geelong and Werribee, to ten lanes near the Ring Road interchange. Between 1999 and 2003 the section from Hoppers Crossing to Geelong was progressively widened to provide a third lane in each direction, in addition to a number of other safety upgrades being completed. Following this upgrade the speed limit was lowered from 110 km/h to 100 km/h in response to the freeway's poor safety record. 〔http://mrv.ozroads.com.au/〕 The eastern section (also known as Princes Freeway East) starts from Berwick, a four lane (two lanes in each direction) divided freeway. There are also several highway standard at-grade intersections, most notably between Nar Nar Goon and Longwarry. These intersections are speed limited to 100 km/h, with the only 110 km/h section on the freeway from Longwarry to Morwell. However, traffic still travel through the towns of Yarragon and Trafalgar, therefore urban speed limits apply to these towns (between 60 and 80 km/h) where the road reverts to the Princes Highway (though planning for bypasses of these towns are underway). The western and eastern sections are connected together through the Melbourne suburbs by the West Gate Freeway, CityLink Tollway and the Monash Freeway. These five sections of road together constitute the route M1 which is part of National Highway 1. The Princes Freeway subsumes and bypasses most sections of the older Princes Highway. Former bypassed sections of the Princes Highway are generally signed with a National Route Alt 1 shield (within eastern Melbourne) or designated from C101 to C104 and C109. In March 2010 it was announced by the State Government that trucks would be banned from the right-hand lane along a 38-kilometre section of freeway between Geelong and Melbourne. Suggestions of a ban began in 2005 but increased after the fatal 2007 Burnley Tunnel fire that killed three people. The ban was put into place from 1 July 2010 between Kororoit Creek Road, Altona, and Avalon Road, Lara and covers all heavy vehicles weighing more than 4.5 tonnes, except buses and caravans.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Truck lane restrictions : VicRoads )〕 A fine of $358 applies to those breaking the rules, the ban being a trial before a full roll-out on the other major roads in the state. On the urban section of the Princes Freeway (between Laverton North and Werribee), the standard travel time, is 9 minutes. (6 minutes between the Western Ring Road and Forsyth Road and 3 minutes between Forsyth Road and Duncans Road). The usual peak period travel time, is between 12–18 minutes. However, in times of extreme congestion, including being residual from an incident, the travel time can well exceed 20 minutes. 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「Princes Freeway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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