in the 1999/2000 financial year, and was completed after 3 years of construction to open in July 2003, 17 months ahead of schedule and $10 million under budget for a total cost $165 million. This was due to the omission of one key interchange that should have linked the South Gippsland Freeway with the Hallam Bypass at Eummemmering. This omission causes unnecessary congestion on neighbouring roads as northbound South Gippsland Freeway traffic must exit the freeway at Princes Highway only to join the same freeway again from Belgrave-Hallam Road eastbound. The Monash Freeway allows travel from Morwell in the central Latrobe Valley, to Colac south-west of Geelong - via CityLink, the West Gate, the Geelong Ring Road and Princes Freeways. Motorists can cover over and only encounter traffic lights at Yarragon and Trafalgar, which are yet to be bypassed. The construction of the bypass also included the Hallam Bypass Trail shared path. Road classification The passing of the Road Management Act 2004 granted the responsibility of overall management and development of Victoria's major arterial roads to VicRoads: in 2004, VicRoads re-declared Monash Freeway (Freeway #1000) from the "Southern Link Tollway" (CityLink's Southern Link) at Kooyong to Princes Highway in Narre Warren. The freeway was originally shown in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as part of the F9 and F14 Freeway corridors. Upgrades 2007-10 In 2007, the state government announced a major upgrade widening the lanes from Glenferrie Road through to Heatherton Road. Prior to this, over 160,000 vehicles per day used this freeway resulting in congestion during peak hours. The upgrade started in late 2007 and was completed in 2010. The entire project was known as the Monash-CityLink-West Gate upgrade, and was carried out by VicRoads and Transurban. 2016-22 The Monash Freeway (and parts of the Princes Freeway continuing eastward) are to be upgraded to accommodate an extra lane in each direction between Warrigal Road in Chadstone and Cardinia Road in Officer. Stage 1, completed between 2016-18, added extra lanes between EastLink and Clyde Road in Berwick. Stage 2, under construction from 2020, will add extra lanes in the remaining segments, re-connect Police Road with its own outbound ramp and add dedicated ramps to Eastlink from Jacksons Road, upgrade the entire section to use VicRoads' traffic management system, and upgrade and extend O'Shea Road to join the Beaconsfield Interchange. Completion is expected to be at the end of 2022. Route