The entire freeway is one of the busiest sections of rural highway in Victoria, used by large numbers of freight and commercial vehicles and provides access to tourist attractions in central and east Gippsland.

Between 1999 and 2003 the section from Hoppers Crossing to Geelong was progressively widened to provide a third lane in each direction, in addition to a number of other safety upgrades being completed.

[7] In March 2010 it was announced by the State Government that trucks would be banned from the right-hand lane along a 38-kilometre (24 mi) section of freeway between Geelong and Melbourne.

[10] A fine of $358 applies to those breaking the rules, the ban being a trial before a full roll-out on the other major roads in the state.

The Pakenham Bypass was the final missing link of a continuous freeway from Melbourne to Gippsland in the East of Victoria (excluding the single sets of traffic lights in the small rural towns of Yarragon and Trafalgar).

Federal and State Governments jointly funded construction of the bypass at a cost of $242 million which commenced in April 2005 and was completed on 1 December 2007.

[20] The interchange between Princes Link Highway and the freeway was reconfigured as part of the O'Shea Road extension project, and was completed in 2022.

West of Geelong, duplication of the Princes Highway between Waurn Ponds and Winchelsea commenced in 2011 and was to be completed by late 2014, though opened in May 2016 after substantially being delayed.

Construction for the Winchelsea - Colac section is now underway (which began in early 2016), with both the Victorian and Australian governments contributing $515 million for this project.

The ten sections of the duplication project now complete are: The remaining section of Stage 3, which started construction in July 2021 and expected completion in 2024 is: Proposed safety and grade separation improvements, Princes Freeway East – Nar Nar Goon to Longwarry North, to be funded in future.