Work has started on the $350 million upgrade of Great Eastern Highway between Kooyong Road and Tonkin Highway, heralding the start of major works to increase capacity, safety and efficiency on one of Perth's principal transport routes.

Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese and WA Transport Minister Troy Buswell today participated in a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start of the project, for which the contract was awarded to City East Alliance in November 2010.

Minister Albanese said the project would ultimately see the construction of a six-lane configuration over the 4.2km stretch of the Highway between Rivervale and Redcliffe.

"Great Eastern Highway is a major arterial route for the east metropolitan region, servicing around 55,000 vehicles per day, so it is vital that this section of the highway is upgraded to improve the capacity and reliability of the corridor," Mr Albanese said

"It is being delivered by an Alliance contract, in recognition of the project's complexities, and will involve all major intersections being upgraded to include bus priority lanes and dedicated turning movements."

Minister Buswell said the work to widen and upgrade the highway would be conducted using a progressive construction methodology to minimise the extent of disruption to the travelling public.

"This project will trial new traffic management products and methods to provide a safer working environment and give greater clarity for road users travelling through road works," Mr Buswell said.

"The Alliance has invested significant effort to understand the needs of the adjacent businesses and residents, and consideration of these needs have been a major influence in the programming and staging of the works.

"Priority has been given to preserving travel time, maintaining access to properties and public transport, and ensuring the safe passage of pedestrians and cyclists."

Major construction is expected to begin in the first section of the upgrade, between Kooyong Road and Belmont Avenue, in September 2011 and will occur on the new eastbound (river side) carriageway.

Mr Buswell said every effort would be taken to minimise the impact of construction, and that Main Roads WA and the Alliance were liaising with the Commonwealth to minimise any disruptions to the arrival of delegates to the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in October 2011.

The Great Eastern Highway upgrade is jointly funded by the Commonwealth's Nation Building Program and the WA Government, with the project expected to be complete by December 2013.

City East Alliance is a partnership of Leighton Contractors, NRW and GHD. Further information about the project is available on the project website www.cityeastalliance.com.au