By Danielle Kutchel
The State Government has announced the removal of a further ten level crossings, with three more to go on the Pakenham line.
Speaking from the Frankston line on Thursday 29 July, Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan announced another three crossings would be removed on the Pakenham line by 2025.
The crossings at Brunt Road and Station Street in Beaconsfield have been slated for removal, along with Webb Street in Narre Warren where a new station will also be constructed.
Station Street and Brunt Road are expected to be road over rail, while Webb Street will be a rail over hybrid.
The removal of the crossings will allow for the Station Street, Officer and Progress Street, South Dandenong level crossings to be closed and once complete, the Pakenham line will be level crossing free.
Early works at the sites are expected to begin by 2022.
Preferred design solutions have been selected for each location however engineers will continue to make assessments at each site ahead of final designs being confirmed.
According to the State Government, the level crossing removal program across the state is ahead of schedule, meaning they can add extra crossings to the list to bring the total number of level crossings removed by 2025 to 85.
In 2014, the Government promised to remove 50 level crossings by 2022 – an election commitment built on in 2018 when they committed to removing 75 by 2025.
More than 4000 new jobs will be created as part of these extra crossing removals – 2100 direct and 1900 indirect jobs like manufacturing workers, mechanics, software programmers and cleaners.
Opportunities will also be created for small businesses across a variety of industries including construction, manufacturing, catering and hospitality, accommodation, software, administration, mechanics and cleaners.
The removals will cost up to $2.5 billion, providing a significant boost to Victoria’s economy and local communities as our pandemic recovery continues.
More information about the new level crossing removal locations and their preferred design solutions is available at levelcrossings.vic.gov.au
