of the safest in Melbourne, with minimal changes of elevation, a flowing route, ample shoulder space and well-maintained safety barriers. Long sections of the freeway suffer from low lighting levels due to its route and proximity to residential areas. In the seven years preceding and including 2009, six people died in a section of the freeway known as the Bulleen Bend. This is the tightest bend in the freeway's length, between the Bulleen and Doncaster Road interchanges. Despite the relatively tight bend and limit, there were few safety barriers on the extremities of the road surface, leaving nothing between the cars and the trees on the road shoulder. Flexible barriers were installed along lengths of the freeway in an attempt to improve safety. These measures reduced the relative risk of casualty crashes by approximately 75 percent. Future Upgrades (North East Link) The Eastern Freeway is one of the primary freeways feeding into the CBD. Despite decades of road widenings and infrastructure investment, it experiences periods of traffic congestion. In 2016, Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews announced the construction of a new tolled freeway to connect to the Eastern Freeway. Termed the North East Link, the main component of the project is two tunnels connecting the M80 Ring Road in the north-eastern suburb of Greensborough to the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen Road in Balwyn North. It is anticipated to add up to 135,000 extra vehicles to the Eastern Freeway and surrounding suburbs every day. One component of the project is to extensively widen the entire Eastern Freeway from Hoddle Street to Springvale Road. 45 kilometres of new lanes will be added, including six 'express' lanes between Middleborough Road and the Chandler Highway. In some locations east of Bulleen Road, it will be more than doubled in width from nine lanes to 20 lanes, making it one of the widest roads in the world. Construction on the first section to be upgraded between Burke Road and Tram Road will begin in 2024 with the other stages to follow in 2025. The upgrade is anticipated to be completed by 2028 to coincide with the opening of the tunnels. Western extension (East West Link) The Eastern Freeway has no connecting freeways at its western end in Clifton Hill. As a result, traffic from the Eastern Freeway is released westward along Alexandra Parade and north–south along Hoddle Street. There have been proposals to extend the