2023 has been a huge year for Major Road Projects Victoria in Cranbourne with the Hall Road Upgrade and Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road Upgrade both making significant progress.
The Hall Road Upgrade ticked off multiple construction milestones, completing three major intersection upgrades throughout 2023, removing a pair of roundabouts (McCormicks Road and Western Port Highway) as well as overhauling the dog-legged intersection at Hall, Evans, and Cranbourne-Frankston roads.
Completely overhauling the prior intersection alignment, the Hall Road Upgrade completed the new-look signalised intersection at Hall, Evans, and Cranbourne-Frankston roads in late June. From multiple dog-legged intersections to one easy-to-navigate intersection, the intersection also has increased pedestrian access for everyone accessing this part of Cranbourne West.
The crew worked throughout a six-week construction blitz to install new drainage, complete earthworks, relocate utilities, install traffic signals and public lighting and lay fresh asphalt to bring the streamlined and safer intersection to life.
The upgraded McCormicks Road intersection was opened in August as the project removed the old, congested roundabout and installed traffic signals. These works were also significant for the project to help overhaul the area’s drainage system and help mitigate local flooding in the area.
The project installed 225 concrete drainage culverts, which will help capture and store excess floodwater before releasing it slowly over time.
The ongoing works under the roadway ensure that rainfall can pass under the road, and any run-off from the new lanes on Hall Road is gradually released.
These culverts work in tandem with existing stormwater drainage systems in the region as well as the seven retention basins installed across the project.
Finally, the crew reopened the Western Port Highway intersection for Christmas on 20 December, having successfully removed the Western Port Highway roundabout – the fourth roundabout removed from the Western Port Highway in Cranbourne and Carrum Downs in the last five years.
This upgrade marked some of the last major works on the Hall Road Upgrade, with the project set to complete major works nine months ahead of schedule in February 2024.
In other major achievements for the project, construction was completed on the new westbound lanes, which will help double traffic capacity between McCormicks Road and the Western Port Highway once both sections are open.
The eastbound lanes, currently being upgraded, once completed in early 2024 will mark an improvement for east-west traffic flow throughout Cranbourne West and Carrum.
The Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road Upgrade is surging ahead with building extra lanes and upgrading intersections to make it quicker, easier, and safer for people.
The new intersections at Linsell, Majestic, Hunt Club and Spirit boulevards, Thompsons Road, and Kingdom and New Holland drives are open and are providing safer journeys for motorists with the introduction of traffic lights and lane and road widening.
In late 2023 the team moved traffic onto the newly built southbound lanes of Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road. This allows construction to continue building the new northbound lanes and upgrading key intersections between South Gippsland Highway and Thompsons Road.
The project also dug deep to begin works to replace the congested roundabout at Berwick-Cranbourne Road and Cameron Street with a new signalised intersection.
Once complete, this upgrade will make it safer for the 35,000 motorists who travel through this area each day.
To reduce travel times across the network, Stage 2 works on the Berwick-Cranbourne Road intersection upgrade have been rescheduled to February.
In February, when major works are complete on the Hall Road Upgrade, Cameron Street will reopen while Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road will be closed at Berwick-Cranbourne Road as the crew finishes building the new intersection.
