The Victorian Government plans to remove 70 dangerous and congested level crossings across Melbourne by the first half of 2023 as a part of their commitment to remove 110 crossings by 2030.
Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews, and Victorian Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Jacinta Allan, visited the Mt Derrimut Road level crossing removal in Deer Park, which will be removed a year ahead of schedule, in July 2023.
“We’re getting more Victorians home safer and sooner by removing level crossings, as well as freeing up roads and helping us run more trains, thousands of Victorians now have a pipeline of work on a Big Build project,” Mr Andrews said.
The Mt Derrimut Road project will see a 1.2km elevated rail bridge replace the level crossing, alongside a new transport hub that will give commuters access to buses, trains and car parking, with safer connections for pedestrians and cyclists all in one precinct in Melbourne’s growing outer western suburbs.
Combined with the recent removal of level crossings at Fitzgerald Road and Robinsons Road, the project will make the Geelong and Ballarat lines level crossing free between Deer Park and the city.
The removal of the level crossing at Mt Derrimut Road will ease delays for the 23,000 vehicles that pass through each day, when boom gates were previously down for up to 60 per cent of the morning peak traffic, causing significant delays and saw 15 boom gate collisions and 15 near misses recorded since 2017.
Ms Allan said the dangerous level crossing at Mt Derrimut Rd has affected people, trains and traffic with collisions, near misses and congestion.
“We’re also delivering a brand new station – with all the amenities that will make catching a train quick and easy for commuters in our growing west, while connecting the communities on both sides of the rail line,” Ms Allen said.
The transport hub will feature a new train station, a multi-bay bus interchange, two spacious landscaped forecourts, rooftop gardens, a secure Parkiteer bike cage and bike hoops, as well as 150 new and upgraded car parking spaces.
The new Deer Park Station will make taking public transport easy, with pick-up and drop-off zones on both sides of the rail line, two accessible elevated platforms with lifts, ramps and stairs, a new air-conditioned waiting room, as well as pathways, lighting and security cameras throughout the precinct.
A new pedestrian connection will link suburbs on both sides of the rail line, making the new residential areas in Derrimut more accessible and better connected to the community, as well as providing key links to schools, parks and healthcare services.
Member for Kororoit, Luba Grigorovitch, said, “We’re getting on with making sure the local community can get to where they need to go to safely, by creating a transport hub with a brand new Deer Park train station that will make taking public transport easier.”
Elsewhere across Melbourne, the Cranbourne, Pakenham, Frankston, Lilydale, Sunbury and Werribee lines will all be level crossing free by 2030.
The “big dig” at Mont Albert and Surrey Hills is due to start 17 February 2023 which will see crews remove more than 80 Olympic swimming pools worth of soil in the 1.3km rail trench, removing the deadly level crossings at Mont Albert Road, Mont Albert and Union Road, Surrey Hills by mid-year and building a brand new Union Station.
At Glen Huntly, construction is well underway to remove two level crossings at Neerim Road and Glen Huntly Road by lowering the rail line into a trench and building a new Glenhuntly Station, with crews working around the clock until 24 January 2023 in Glen Huntly and Caulfield, and further major construction works planned from June 2023.
Early works to remove the level crossings at Parkers Road, Parkdale and Warrigal Road, Mentone will begin February 2023 to build a new rail bridge, creating new open space and a new walking and cycling path for the community to enjoy alongside a new Parkdale Station.
Works on the crossing removals at Main Street, McGregor Road and Racecourse Road in Pakenham ramp up in 2023 with major construction to begin on a new rail bridge, the extension of the metropolitan rail line by two kilometres and a new Pakenham East station, built to service one of Victoria’s fastest-growing communities.
After beginning works in December 2022, major construction on the Webb Street, Narre Warren level crossing removal will be progressing throughout 2023, including construction of a new elevated rail bridge over Webb Street and a new Narre Warren Station.
Since 2015, the Victorian Government has removed 67 level crossings, built 37 new and upgraded stations, created 50 kilometres of walking and cycling paths, and unlocked 20 MCGs of open space to deliver massive improvements for communities across Melbourne, all ahead of schedule.
