Exemplar communication drives success

The M1 corridor, serving half of Melbourne’s workforce and a third of its residents, is critical to supporting Victoria's growth. This meant that the upgrade to the Monash, the section of the M1 which connects the CBD to the south-eastern suburbs, would be vitally important to the 200,000+ motorists who travel on it each day.

When Transurban appointed Arup as Technical Advisor on Melbourne’s Monash Freeway Upgrade Stage 1 (MFU), both parties knew that open communication was going to be key throughout their 2+ years collaboration.

The MFU was an ambitious project that saw much-needed enhancements to 44km of freeway. It provided extra traffic lanes, the widening of multiple bridge structures, the introduction of smart technology and major improvements to the managed motorway system.

To undertake the project, Arup pooled the expertise of 56 staff members from nine offices across six countries (Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and Thailand). Collectively, we reviewed all design proposals and other deliverables for compliance with statutory and contractual requirements – a gold-standard demonstration in multimodal communications.

The result is a freeway of outstanding quality, delivered ahead of schedule and substantially under budget. Aside from the economic uplift expected for the State, the increased road capacity is reducing travel times and is expected to make journeys safer. The introduction of smart technology allows the remote management of lanes, keeping traffic moving more efficiently, as well as faster responses to incidents.