TRAFFIC on Peninsula Link will be severely disrupted for the next two months with the northbound lane closed between Moorooduc Highway and Bungower Road.
During that time, work will be undertaken to “rebuild the pavement structure” but Service Stream, which manages maintenance of Peninsula Link, has said the road will reopen on 8 June without the final surface layer due to “expected low temperatures over winter”.
It is expected the same stretch of road will be closed again in December to complete the final surface layer.
The roadworks have created traffic chaos over the last few months with thousands of motorists forced off the freeway and onto clogged local roads.
The mayhem paused briefly over the summer tourist season, with a halt in works, but the speed limit remained at a reduced 80kmh.
At the time, Service Stream told The News “While the resurfacing works carried out to date have largely been completed, the final layer of specialised asphalt has not yet been applied”.
“This type of asphalt requires both warmer temperatures and dry conditions to set correctly and achieve maximum durability. The weather in November has not been consistently warm or dry enough to undertake this work within an appropriate timeframe.”
Roadworks commenced again at the beginning of February with works southbound between Frankston-Flinders Road and Bungower Road. After that came the closure of southbound between Bungower Road and Old Moorooduc Road which has now been completed.
Attention then moved onto the northbound lanes with only one lane operating between Bungower Road and Frankston-Flinders Road between 10 and 21 March and then only one lane open northbound between the Nepean Highway and Old Moorooduc Road between 22 March and 27 March.
During this time works were undertaken to install traffic counting devices, bridge waterproofing, final surfacing and line marking.
Mornington MP Chris Crewther addressed parliament to voice his concerns with the drawn-out and disruptive resurfacing asking “Will the minister update me and the Mornington electorate community on the completion, eventually, of the Peninsula Link resurfacing works, including giving a firm timetable for completion of current stages as well as stronger oversight for the contractor doing the works?”
“This is a project that has been going on for over five months now in the Mornington electorate. When is this project going to be completed, and when will this government do something to ensure that their contracts are properly managed?”
Crewther’s questions followed Flinders MP Zoe McKenzie addressing federal parliament on 9 February, where she stated Peninsula Link, which “connects the Mornington Peninsula community to work, services and the city every day,” had been mismanaged over the past year.
“Over the last year the incompetent Allan Labor government has turned Pen Link into an obstacle course, with inexplicable speed limits, phantom roadworks, unpredictable lane closures and enough orange cones to be visible from outer space,” she said.
Peninsula Link was built under a 25-year public private partnership (PPP) contract, also known as a DBFOM (design, build, finance, operate, maintain), where the government makes fixed quarterly payments to freeway consortium Southern Way regardless of actual traffic volume (Peninsula Link finally up and running, The News 22/1/13).
Southern Way appointed Service Stream Limited to operate and maintain Peninsula Link under another 25-year agreement.
First published in the Mornington News – 14 April 2026
