Faster and safer journeys are closer for thousands of people in Melbourne’s south east with a contract set to be awarded to remove the Hallam Road level crossing and build a new Hallam Station.
The Hallam Road level crossing has been the site of 14 near misses in the past 10 years and the boom gates are down for nearly a third of the two-hour morning peak, delaying around 20,000 vehicles each day.
Building a rail bridge to remove the level crossing will improve safety, traffic flow and pedestrian connections between Cranbourne, Spring Square and Hampton Park Town Centre.
In direct response to community feedback, a dual entrance will now be built as part of the new elevated station at Hallam. The project will provide modern facilities for the 2,200 passengers who use the station each day and improve pedestrian and cycling connections around the station precinct.
Removing the Hallam level crossing is vital for Melbourne’s growing south east. Hallam Road provides a key pathway between the South Gippsland Highway, Princes Highway and the Monash Freeway.
The $248 million project will be delivered by an alliance of Laing O’Rourke, Jacobs, Metro Trains Melbourne and the Level Crossing Removal and will create 900 local full-time jobs at peak construction.
Major construction will begin in January with the Hallam Road level crossing removal set to be achieved in 2022.
The project is complemented by the Hallam Road upgrade completed in June and the removal of the Evans Road level crossing and reopening of the road in October, reconnecting the communities from Lyndhurst, Lynbrook and Cranbourne West for the first time in 15 years.
These level crossing works are part of a $15 billion investment to improve the Pakenham line. Together with the Metro Tunnel and new bigger, better trains, it will create capacity for 121,000 extra passengers every week on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines during peak periods, which is a 45 per cent boost.
With 44 level crossings already gone for good, the Victorian Government is well on track to accomplish its commitment to remove 50 crossings by 2022, and 75 by 2025.
