By Brendan Rees
Months of frustration for south east motorists has ended with major construction on the Hallam Road upgrade complete.
The $53.5 million project, which builds on the previous Hallam Road duplication that was completed in 2014 from Pound to Ormond Road, has realigned Hallam Road and Evans Road, and installed traffic lights to improve safety for drivers and pedestrians.
A key part of the project includes the upgraded intersection of South Gippsland Highway, Hallam Road and Evans Road by removing the ‘dog leg’ by aligning Evans Road with Hallam Road and installing traffic lights.
The intersection has seen 22 crashes including south of Ormond Road since 2012.
Traffic lights have also been added outside the Resource Recovery Precinct to improve access for pedestrians as well as help manage trucks entering and exiting.
A new shared walking and cycling path has also been completed on both sides of Hallam Road and Evans Road.
The project has also built new bus stops along Hallam Road and Evans Road, and installed new bus queue jump lanes at the Hallam Road, South Gippsland Highway and Evans Road intersection to give buses priority.
Meanwhile, an extra lane has been added in direction on Hallam Road between Ormond Road and South Gippsland Highway.
Traffic flow and safety has also been improved by changing Livingstone Rise and Aylmer Road to left-in and out only.
Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan said the road would be safer and smoother for the 10,000 motorists that use Hallam Road each day.
“We’re keeping our promises and delivering projects that create jobs, keep traffic moving and deliver more trains more often,” Ms Allan said.
In the coming weeks, the State Government will release new designs for Hallam Station, based on community feedback.
The new Hallam station will be built as part of the Hallam Road Level Crossing Removal Project, which will begin at the end of the year and be finished in 2022.
Meanwhile, works is continuing with the $1 billion Cranbourne Line Upgrade, which will duplicate the line, build a new Merinda Park Station and remove the last level crossings left on the line – including the Evans Road level crossing by the end of the year. Eleven crossings have so far been removed on the line.
The new station, level crossing removals, Metro Tunnel and high-capacity trains will together create capacity for 121,000 extra passengers in the peak, each week on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines – a 45 per cent increase.
