Despite the fact most Victorian Freeways converted to the alphanumeric system by 1998, this section retained the Metropolitan Route 11 designation.

Finally in 2013, with the opening of Peninsula Link, this section was reassigned M11 (although a number of Metropolitan Route 11 shields remain visible to this day).

[6] It was built in small successive sections, starting at Nepean Highway at Dromana in late 1971[7] eventually to Jetty Road at Rosebud South in 1975.

The 'Frankston Bypass', connecting the northern and southern sections, has been proposed numerous times over the years, appearing in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan.

[16] In October 2006, $6.5 million was allocated by the Bracks Government towards extra ramps at the Frankston end of EastLink to cater for a future bypass.

[17] For the 2006 State Election Liberal opposition leader Ted Baillieu promised $250 million to build a 22 kilometre long road toll free.

[20] The construction of EastLink and its interchange with the northern section led to speculation of possible congestion on the Frankston Freeway, especially at the southern terminus at McMahons Road on the Moorooduc Highway.

This possible congestion was expected to be alleviated by the construction of a Frankston Bypass to fill a missing section of the Mornington Peninsula Freeway.

[21][22] The Victorian Transport Minister Peter Batchelor stated that simply because the freeway's projected path appeared on a map (referring to the route shown in the Melway street directory), that it did not mean that the road was intended to, or would ever actually be built.

On 28 October 2007, the Federal Liberal Party pledged a maximum of $150 million towards constructing the road toll-free if elected, to be matched by Victorian Government.

A group of Moorooduc residents claimed they were not consulted in the first phase of the project, and the figures had been skewed to show public support for the selected preferred option.

A high standard, continuous, duplicated road from the southern end of Eastlink to the Mornington Peninsula Freeway at Mount Martha would reduce travel time in 2031 to around 20 minutes.

These projected traffic conditions would arise, even with planned upgrades to roads such as the widening of Western Port Highway.

84% of people who provided feedback during Phase 1 supported a bypass.The Frankston Bypass would be a 25 km freeway standard road with two lanes in each direction with a speed limit of 100 km/h.

In September 2008, ConnectEast held talks with Roads Minister Tim Pallas, but the State Government refused to discuss the issue with the media, or promise to build it without tolls.

[25] Throughout 2008 and early 2009, the State Government examined a number of Public Private Partnership (PPP) models for the delivery of the project, selecting the Partnerships Victoria 'Availability' model, where the private sector company designs, builds, finances and operates the project for an agreed period of time, with the State Government making regular payments to the company based on performance against a set of key performance indicators, which avoided any charges being imposed on road users.

[26] The PPP was managed by the Linking Melbourne Authority (formerly SEITA) and delivered by private sector partner Southern Way, with the State Government providing quarterly payments for delivery under an availability model,[26] with no charges to motorists.

An invitation for Expressions of Interest was issued in March 2009 followed by a Request for Proposals, with two bidders short listed by November 2009.

Final bids were received a month later, with the Southern Way consortium (made up of construction companies Abigroup and Bilfinger Berger, along with financier Royal Bank of Scotland) being awarded the contract to design, build and operate the freeway on 20 January 2010.

Failure to meet key performance indicators for emergency contact points, incident response, compliance with operational plans, maintenance inspections and works, reporting and environmental management will also results in the government deductions being applied to the service payments.

On 9 April 2018, the state Labor government announced an extra $75 million in funding and that the road would instead be built as a freeway with four lanes and grade separations along the entire length.

[32] The state government claimed that the freeway would "improve travel times and ease congestion in Melbourne's south east" and provide "safer, more reliable journeys".

In July 2018 the Rye Internal Bypass was another project proposed to reduce traffic congestion in the area in the medium term at a cost of $5 million.