Design choices have been made for a pair of major level crossing removals in Melbourne’s southeast.
The Victorian Government’s Level Crossing Removal Authority on March 14 said both the South Gippsland Highway level crossing in Dandenong South, and the Evans Road crossing in Lyndhurst, would be removed by building road bridges over the railway.
The crossing of the South Gippsland Highway and the Pakenham line is one of Melbourne’s busiest, with over 31,000 cars and trucks travelling across it every day.
Further down the line, in Lyndhurst, the crossing at Evans Road has actually been closed to traffic since 2005. “Despite this,” the Level Crossing Removal Authority says, “there are reports of road users taking huge risks to access the other side of the rail line.”
With several design options available in any crossing removal, the Authority said last week it had settled on road over rail for both the South Gippsland Highway and Evans Road crossings.
Reopening Evans Road to traffic through the crossing removal will save locals the 12 minute round trip its closure has created. The Authority said the crossing will be gone by 2020.
Meanwhile, the South Gippsland Highway crossing removal will take until 2022.
“Throughout the design and development of the South Gippsland Highway Level Crossing Removal Project, we looked a range of benefits to the local community and wider transport networks,” the Authority said. “An elevated road design will provide significant benefits to the community, including improving pedestrian connections and access to important services.”