Yeah, the volume of trucks definitely threw me off; wasn't expecting that at all. Thrown in with the mix of other vehicles, this was one hectic ride, all the way into the CBD. Thanks for watching!
It's funny how on the same road in the SAME STATE, the beginning part (up to the Junction with M3) looks EXACTLY like a UK motorway (except with American signs), but the rest of the road is simply just an EXACT mirror of a California freeway (except with hatched gore points and no yellow line by the median). Even the overhead signs have the same truss structure. In the Mid West and East Coast of America, a more tubular truss is used.
The M-1 reminds me of the i-10 I must say that traffic in Victoria and Queensland are much smoother then Sydney traffic or LA traffic. As I've seen on the net since I don't live in the U.S.A
The truss gantry was a Country Roads Board Victoria standard used in the 1970's ad 80's which was replaced by a tubular steel beam design in the 1990's. The M3 was built as a toll road opening in 2008 (was originally to be a free road called the 'Scoresby Freeway') and the freeway in from Warrigal Road has fairly new overhead signage from an upgrade project.
As scana1979 clarified, the 4th lane is not a HOV lane. They're actually referred to as T2 or T3 lanes in Australia (HOV 2 or 3+). T2/T3 lanes seem to be more prevalent on city streets than freeways.
You have absolutely no idea how much I was facepalming when I saw that; let alone the semi's moving to the inside IMMEDIATELY after merging! lol where's the "how's my driving???" phone # for that???
That really did throw me off a bit, seeing how trucks could utilize the right lane at free-will on a wide, busy urban freeway like that. Is this allowed all over Australia? Glad you enjoyed! I still have a few more Melbourne-area videos to work on.
+GoJoMedia Geoff here in 'Merica, a truck restriction for the inside lane(s) is pretty much standard at this point except for a couple select areas! My home state of Illinois currently has NO left lane restrictions for semi's on 6+ lane interstates except for Chicago despite there being a couple busy areas throughout the state...
+FreewayBrent there are a couple of Melbourne freeways with the Centre lane restriction (eastern & princes west m1- maybe others), BUT the Monash is the corridor for these beasts inc b doubles. When you see these things side by side completely blocking traffic - just wow.
Since this video was shot the section beyond from Eastlink has been widened to 5 lanes each way with the Hallam bypass section widened from 2 to 3 lanes as far as Clyde Road, Berwick. The second stage will see the section shown here from Eastlink to Warrigal Road widened to 5 lanes each way using the centre median - the wire rope barrier will be replaced with a concrete New Jersey barrier and the 1970's truss sign gantries will be replaced with modern counterparts. The 3 lane section will extend out to Cardinia Road Pakenham.
So I've noticed! I follow VicRoads on Facebook and see their videos on current and future projects along the Monash, and am excited about all the recent projects. That freeway definitely needs all the lanes it can get.
Ultimately the Dingley Freeway will likely take some of the traffic load - most of it is built between Dandenong South and Moorabbin but to an arterial road standard with at-grade intersections. Western Port Highway is also set to be upgraded to freeway standard down the track with acquisition overlays now in place for interchanges at the current intersections and roundabouts which will put more pressure on the Monash corridor.
Thank you very much, sir! Still catching up on some comments, as I've been all over the place since releasing this video. I have a few more videos from Melbourne, before I shift my focus back to Sydney.
Indeed. VERY American-like. Think of the differences as being more like what you might between California vs. Nevada, or Texas vs. Florida. In other words, you could pick up a rental car and immediately figure out how to drive in Australia. The road design, signage...it's pretty much all the same.
You picked up on why I chose the song that I did...thought it complemented both the pace of traffic...and the curves of the freeway...especially in the last minute.
This freeway is about to be upgraded from 4 lanes to 5 in each direction between Eastlink and Warrigal Rd. Oh and no trucks are allowed in the right lane now either. As someone who lives in Berwick, studies at Monash Uni and works in the city, I feel like I live on this road lol
Awesome video Brent, as usual! And hey, you used a song that I actually had in mind for future productions. I hope you don't mind if I use it as well. ;)
Awesome video! It just looked like an American freeway. I have never been to Australia and I know there are differences between the US and Australia, but the country as a whole is very similar to America, isn't it? I have also read that all the major cities population in Australia are just its metropolitan population as counted to its cities population unlike in America. I like that, instead of having so many separate cities.
It definitely looks *very* US-like. Dare I even say it looks similar to what Caltrans would construct. On the surface, the US and Australia look and feel very similar...only by spending some time there, do you start to pick up on some of the cultural differences between the 2 countries, but assimilating from one country to the other isn't difficult.
Tat Hui Generally yes but varies by state - in Victoria the road authority VicRoads (formerly Road Construction Authority and before that Country Roads Board) kept consistent with American standards hence what you see - particularly the 1970s sections before Warrigal Road
Damn, I've missed so many comments on this video. Too busy for my own good, lol. Yeah, I got the hang of it, right as soon as I made my first turn out of the car rental lot. It's a lot easier than it looks from pictures or videos.
lol you sure you didn't mirror one of your suburban California vids??? The scenery looks equally as pretty as over there aside from the obvious Aussie touches...
It was actually quite comfortable in Melbourne. Daytime highs were about 70-75, although it can certainly swell to 100+ during a heat wave. Sydney, on the other hand was either way too rainy (3 straight days where it was raining buckets), or far too hot. One day, in particular...it got up to 114 in the western suburbs were I was staying, with high humidity...would have preferred Vegas heat over that!
I didn't get a chance to drive it in January. Might return to Melbourne sometime in 2017. For now, I'm flying back to Sydney in September and driving up north for a road trip and vacation around Brisbane!
on google maps i travel the road trip from melbourne to sydney sydney to canberra from canberra to cann river then on the highway from cann river to my friend trish"s house in 107 Victoria street briagolong vic 3860 then briagolong to wurruk bennison drive wurruk drive around wurruk bennison drive wurruk vic 3850
I still reside just outside of San Francisco. I recorded this, and a bunch of other videos from around Sydney and Melbourne, back in January of this year.
In an Australian context “motorways” refer to either freeways or tollways. In Victoria they make the difference in the name while New South Wales and Queensland refer to the lot as motorways.
