The removal of the Skye/Overton Road level crossing in Frankston has been fast-tracked by the Andrews Labor Government.
Minister for Public Transport, Jacinta Allan, said work to remove the dangerous crossing will start in 2017 and be completed by the end of 2018.
“We’re fast tracking this crossing to reduce congestion and make Frankston safer, sooner,” said Ms Allan.
It’s a huge acceleration of construction timeline for the project, which wasn’t expected to start until next year.
The Skye/Overton Road level crossing is one of Victoria’s worst, with boom gates down for more than a quarter of the morning peak and three collisions at the crossing in the past ten years.
The Labor Government will remove this congested death-trap by building a rail bridge over Skye/Overton Road – the only feasible option identified for the site presented to the community during consultation last year.
The design includes improvements to the Skye/Overton Road and Dandenong Road West junction, to improve traffic flow between the Frankston Freeway, central Frankston and the surrounding industrial and retail precincts.
After extensive technical investigations in 2016, the Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA) in consultation with Melbourne Water determined that lowering the rail line into a trench was not feasible because it would create a barrier across the existing floodplain and interrupt overland water flows.
The design is the product of those expert planning, engineering, and hydrological studies, and was made in consultation with the community throughout 2016.
A preferred contractor will be announced by mid-2017, along with the detailed final design of the project.