Grampians

Western Freeway realignment at Pykes Creek

The Western Freeway (Ballarat-bound) at Pykes Creek will be realigned to improve road safety for the 13,000 drivers who use this section of the freeway each day.

Project status:

Underway

What we’re doing

We're delivering the Western Freeway Realignment at Pykes Creek to improve safety and provide smoother and more reliable journeys for drivers.

As part of the upgrade, we’ll:

realign and straighten the Western Freeway Ballarat-bound lanes at Pykes Creek
widen lane widths and road shoulders
install new safety barriers
lay new asphalt and line marking.

Image of map showing the Western Freeway realignment at Pykes Creek

Click to enlarge

Update – October 2026

From October 2026, crews will start work along the Western Freeway between Pykes Creek Reservoir and Monteville Lane, Ballan.

These works include:

site set up and establishment at the Ballarat-bound truck parking bay
installation of safety barriers to enable safe work areas
construction of temporary pavement
removal of some trees
excavation of rock
laying new asphalt
drainage works
new line marking.

Please look out for changed traffic conditions, plan ahead and allow extra time for your journey. We recommend allowing up to 10 minutes additional travel time.

Weather conditions may affect our progress. Please visit bigbuild.vic.gov.au or refer to roadside messaging for the most up-to-date information.

Overview

The Western Freeway is a key connection between Melbourne and Adelaide, carrying more than 13,000 vehicles per day, which includes supporting freight movements.

We’re improving safety on the Western Freeway near Pykes Creek by realigning and straightening more than 1km of the Ballarat-bound lanes.

The Ballarat-bound lanes will be realigned to two lanes, with wider lanes to allow for smoother and safer travel. This will improve visibility and create safer, smoother and more predictable driving conditions, enabling traffic to flow more efficiently.

The upgrade will also include wider road shoulders to provide more space and better access for incident management.

The realigned lanes will provide more suitable road conditions to support a 110km/h speed limit, lowering the need for reduced speeds in this section and further contributing to improved traffic flow.

Benefits

Drivers travelling on this section of the freeway will benefit from:

improved visibility and safety
reduced risk of collisions
a more predictable and reliable journey
enhanced driving conditions
smoother journeys and improved traffic flow
better access and space for incident management

Funding

This project is jointly funded by the Australian Government, Victorian Government and the Transport Accident Commission as part of the Targeted Road Safety Works Package.