60 of Melbourne’s dangerous and congested level crossings are now gone for good, with Glenroy Road re-opening to traffic in the early hours of this morning, connecting the community and improving safety for locals and commuters in the city’s north.
Since 2015, the Level Crossing Removal Project has transformed suburbs and communities across Melbourne and on every train line – from Werribee to Frankston, and Lilydale to Mernda.
Removing 60 level crossings since 2015 has saved 42 hours of boom gate down time in the morning peak each weekday, delivered 35 new and upgraded stations and unlocked more than 20 MCGs worth of open space, improving communities all over the city.
This milestone has been achieved more than a year ahead of schedule, exceeding the original timeline to get rid of 50 level crossings by the end of 2022.
More than 68 million hours have been worked across this city-changing project, with around 6000 people currently working on level crossing removals, supporting secure jobs in many industries including manufacturing and traffic management, landscaping and cleaning.
Since saying goodbye to the 50th set of boom gates at Bonbeach in November last year, the project has removed level crossings at Edithvale, Chelsea, Hoppers Crossing, Williamstown, Dandenong South, Berwick, Hallam and now at Glenroy.
Work is not slowing down anytime soon – with the project well on track to remove 85 level crossings from Melbourne by 2025, including 4 level crossing at Preston by the end of the month and at Fitzgerald Road in Ardeer, Robinsons Road in Deer Park and Gap Road in Sunbury by the end of the year, boosting safety and easing congestion for these suburbs.
The boom gates at Glenroy Road previously held up traffic for around 43% of the morning peak, with 19,000 vehicles using the road every day.
A new state-of-the-art station opened at Glenroy over the weekend, with trains on the Craigieburn Line now running in a 1.2-kilometre rail trench underneath Glenroy Road.
