Springvale Junction, better known as Spaghetti Junction, is a particularly notorious road intersection in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. It is situated on the boundary of the suburbs of Mulgrave

Mulgrave, Victoria

Mulgrave is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 21 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Monash. At the 2006 Census, Mulgrave had a population of 16,280....

 and Springvale

Springvale, Victoria

Springvale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, approximately 20 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Greater Dandenong...

.

Intersection

Springvale junction forms the intersection of four major roads, two of which terminate:

• Springvale Road : along with Stud Road
  Dandenong Valley Highway
  The Dandenong Valley Highway stretches almost 30 kilometres from Wantirna South in Melbourne's eastern suburbs to Frankston in the south. For its entire length, its main name is not actually Dandenong Valley Highway, and very few locals use it...
  
   eight kilometres to the east, Springvale Road is the busiest north-south thoroughfare in the eastern suburbs, with speed limits of 70 km/h and 80 km/h, and a six-lane dual carriageway.
• Princes Highway
  Princes Highway
  The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....
  
   : along with the Monash Freeway
  Monash Freeway
  Monash Freeway is an urban freeway in Victoria, Australia linking Melbourne's CBD to its southeastern suburbs and the Gippsland region. The entire stretch of the Monash Freeway bears the designation...
  
  , the major thoroughfare from the south-eastern suburbs into the city, running northwest-southeast. Like Springvale road, a six-lane dual carriageway.
• Police Rd/Centre Rd : two-lane single carriageway running east-west. These roads are slightly off-set from the main intersection.

Each of the six main corners of the intersection has shops or shopping centres on it.

Problems

Springvale Junction is notorious for three reasons:

• It is extremely slow during peak times. The combination of outbound traffic on Princes Highway, outbound traffic from Centre Road, and traffic going both directions on Springvale Road means that traffic jams are frequent, and waiting times on Princes Highway in particular are fifteen minutes or more. This can cause many Bus Routes such as the Smart Bus Route 902 to run behind timetable as there are no Bus Lanes
• It is particularly confusing. With Police/Centre Rds slightly offset from the other two, Springvale Junction acts as three separate sets of traffic lights, with each road requiring two sets of right-turn lanes. In particular, south-bound Springvale Road traffic turning right into Princes Highway use the right-hand lane and turn on a right arrow; those turning right into Centre Road use the second lane from the right, advance on a green light, rather than a right arrow, and wait for a green arrow at the mid-intersection waiting point.
• It is by far the worst blackspot intersection in Melbournehttp://www.ptua.org.au/myths/safer.shtml. With the improvements to St Kilda Junction
  St Kilda Junction
  St Kilda Junction is one of the most notorious intersections in Melbourne, Australia. It is located in the suburb of St Kilda, and bordering Windsor, Melbourne and St Kilda East, and is the meeting point of the major roads Punt Road, St Kilda Road, Dandenong Road/Queens Way/Princes Highway and...
  
   and Flemington Junction, Springvale Junction now has the most accidents of any intersection in Melbourne. It is also a nightmare for both traffic and safety if the traffic lights at the intersection fails.

Improvements

The shopping centres make upgrades to Springvale Junction impossible. However, alternative thoroughfares are constantly built to ease the congestion:

• The Monash Freeway
  Monash Freeway
  Monash Freeway is an urban freeway in Victoria, Australia linking Melbourne's CBD to its southeastern suburbs and the Gippsland region. The entire stretch of the Monash Freeway bears the designation...
  
   takes much of the city traffic off Princes Highway
  Princes Highway
  The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....
  
  .
• The upgrade of Westall Road
  Westall Road
  Westall Road is a major north to south thoroughfare west of Springvale, Victoria, Australia.Starting at the intersection with Princes Highway in Clayton, the road travels in a southerly direction, intersecting with Centre Road, an overpass of the Cranbourne and Pakenham railway lines and an...
  
   directs south-bound traffic from the west around Springvale Junction, and the slowest part of Springvale Road.
• EastLink
  EastLink, Melbourne
  EastLink is a A$2.5 billion tolled freeway linking a large area through the eastern and south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. It is a part of Melbourne's Metropolitan Ring Road project....
  
   should take traffic off Springvale Road.
• The proposed Dingley Freeway
  Dingley Freeway
  The Dingley Arterial is a partially completed arterial standard road which runs east to west through the southern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia....
  
  , which connects with the existing Westall Road Extension would attract Dandenong traffic away from the junction.