Engineering, Passenger Rail, Safety, Standards & Regulation, Signalling & Communications

Construction blitz to tackle three level crossings

Burke Road level crossing boom gate removal. Photo: Level Crossing Removal Authority

Work to remove three level crossings in south-east Melbourne is being targeted through an eight-day “construction blitz,” acting premier James Merlino has said.

A concentrated period of work began on January 24 at the McKinnon Road, North Road and Centre Road level crossings, as part of the Victorian Government’s plan to remove 50 of the state’s worst road/rail crossings over an eight year term.

Merlino and acting public transport minister Luke Donnellan visited McKinnon Road to inspect the crossing removal works, as well as the rebuilding of the nearby McKinnon Station to suit the new rail alignment.

“This eight-day construction blitz will lay the ground work for construction of the train tracks underneath North, Centre and McKinnon Roads, safely separating trains from cars, trucks and pedestrians,” Merlino said.

Merlino said the three crossings were “nestled in the heart of busy shopping strips, and are some of Victoria’s most dangerous”.

The government attributes three deaths and “dozens” of near-misses to the three crossings in just over a decade. Statistics show boom gates at the crossings down 30 to 48 minutes during the two-hour morning peak, disrupting more than 60,000 cars and trucks, and three public bus routes.

During the concentrated construction period, new signalling will be installed at McKinnon Road, and the road surface will be reinforced. Centre Road will also be reinforced.

Seventeen 40-ton beams will be laid across North Road to form a bridge, which will allow the construction team to dig out the train line underneath, the government explained.

Platform works will be undertaken at Ormond Station, which is also being completely rebuilt as part of the North Road level crossing removal.

Local member for Bentleigh, Nick Staikos, was pleased with the work.

“These dangerous crossings are nestled in the heart of busy community shops, putting local lives at risk every single day,” he said. “That’s why we’re not wasting a moment removing them.”