Builders for Victoria's $16 billion North East Link toll road are being sought as the first order of business for the re-elected Andrews Labor government.
A tender has been issued for the $200 million early works to upgrade electricity and other utilities.
Those contracts will be signed in late 2019, at which point property owners will also be told if their land will be acquired.
A builder for the $7 billion to $9 billion tunnel construction is also wanted.
It's expected that process will take 18 months.
"With growth to the north, with growth across our city, we can't pretend that funnelling all the traffic through Melbourne is the answer, it just isn't," Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters on Monday
"This road, this project is all about giving local roads back to local families."
The government says once complete, the North East Link, between the Eastern Freeway and M80 Ring Road, will take 15,000 trucks off local roads and cut 30 minutes off travel times.
