- Minister for Transport Infrastructure
The Andrews Labor Government is improving safety and the movement of vehicles in the manufacturing heart of Victoria by removing the level crossing on South Gippsland Highway in Dandenong and building a new intersection where it meets the Princes Highway.
This dangerous and congested level crossing impedes the flow of 31,000 cars and trucks each weekday, and was the site of four collisions and more than 40 near misses in the decade to 2015.
Nearby at the intersection of the South Gippsland Highway and the Princes Highway there were four incidents resulting in serious injury and one fatal incident during the past ten years.
About 40 per cent of Victoria’s manufacturing happens in Melbourne’s south east. It supports more than 92,000 local jobs and contributes $12 billion to the region’s economy.
With the boom gates down for a third of the two-hour morning peak, it is critical to improve the flow of traffic on the South Gippsland Highway, and on and off the Princes Highway.
The road bridge design will minimise closures of the Pakenham line during construction, and reduce impacts on manufacturers and the transport and freight industry – with other designs taking up to a year longer to construct.
The new intersection at the Princes Highway and the South Gippsland Highway will be safer for cyclists, pedestrians and drivers, who will no longer merge into fast flowing traffic.
Removing the level crossing will allow more train services to run in the future and improve access to facilities and services either side of the rail line. The design features a new shared path that will benefit pedestrians and cyclists.
The project will create hundreds of jobs during construction as well as providing skills and opportunities to apprentices, trainees or cadets through the Major Projects Skills Guarantee.
The Andrews Labor Government is removing 75 level crossings by 2025, with 29 already gone for good. The South Gippsland Highway level crossing is one of 17 being removed on the Pakenham line.
Work to remove the South Gippsland Highway level crossing will start in 2020 and level crossing will be gone by 2022.
As noted by Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan
“Removing the level crossing and building a new intersection will improve safety and the flow of traffic on the South Gippsland Highway, and on and off the Princes Highway.”
“This project will save local transport operators and business in the manufacturing heartland of Victoria time and money – and we’re getting on with it.”
As noted by Member for Dandenong Gabrielle Williams
“This dangerous and congested level crossing needs to go – it will improve traffic flow for workers who move in and out of the industrial precinct every day and improve safety.”
