New Bell Street Bridge opens in Victoria, Australia

The Government of Victoria in Australia has opened the new Bell Street Bridge to ease traffic congestion between Strathmore and CityLink Tullamarine Freeway. 

The new bridge is part of the government's A$1.3bn ($96m) CityLink Tulla Widening Project.

Bell Bridge provides a smoother and dedicated connectivity to the Pascoe Vale Road and removes dangerous blindside merge.

The existing bridge will be transformed into an outbound entry ramp to the CityLink Tullamarine Freeway. A new lane will be built over the next few months to reduce traffic congestion on Bell Street.

Ramp signals will be installed on the upgraded entry ramp to ease traffic flow and make it safer to merge onto the freeway. 

Victoria Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan said: "These upgrades will reduce congestion on Bell Street and improve traffic flow on the Tulla, getting people to where they want to go sooner and safer.

"The new bridge gives locals a safer connection from Bell Street to Pascoe Vale Road, removing a dangerous blindside merge."

The new 275m bridge also includes a shared-use path, thereby providing a safer connection to pedestrians and cyclists to Pascoe Vale Road and the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail.

Meanwhile, works at the Bell Street interchange will continue to be undertaken until late-2017.