Drivers in the growing south east will get a faster, less congested commute with major upgrades to Pound Road West in Dandenong South.

The works will be part of the biggest investment in suburban roads in Victoria’s history – the $4 billion Suburban Roads Upgrade package – to fix 22 key suburban arterials and create more than 4,200 jobs.

A two-kilometre section of Pound Road West and Remington Drive will be duplicated from two to four lanes between Abbotts Road and South Gippsland Highway, including a new bridge over the Cranbourne rail line.

New traffic lights will be installed at Remington Drive and Hydrive Close and safety upgrades will be installed at the Pound Road and South Gippsland Highway intersection, and the Abbotts Road and Remington Drive intersection.

The upgrade will reduce congestion, slash travel times and improve safety for more than 40,000 vehicles that rely on Pound Road West and Remington Drive each day.

The Victorian Budget 2018/19 includes a $2.2 billion Suburban Roads Upgrade package to upgrade 13 key arterial routes across the northern and south-eastern suburbs including Pound Road West.

This builds on the $1.8 billion Western Roads Upgrade currently underway including Tarneit, Point Cook and Werribee – to ease traffic congestion across Melbourne’s west, north and south-eastern suburbs.

The Suburban Roads Upgrade will fix more than 50 kilometres of roads across Melbourne.

As part of the package, several other key routes through Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs will be upgraded, including Golf Links Road, Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road and Thompsons Road.