Seaford locals won’t have to wait at the Seaford Road level crossing as the road reopens to traffic in time for Grand Final weekend.
Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan and Member for Carrum Sonya Kilkenny today visited the Seaford Road where the level crossing has been removed ahead of schedule after a six-week construction blitz.
With the level crossing gone for good, the 28th removed by the Andrews Labor Government, drivers of the 17,000 vehicles which use Seaford Road every day will be able to get onto the Nepean and Frankston highways without getting stuck at the dreaded boom gates, which could be down for 32 minutes each AM peak.
To improve safety and reduce congestion at Seaford Road, the level crossing was removed by lowering the road by 1.5 metres to build a road underpass and raising the rail by 5 metres.
Sixteen L-shaped concrete segments up to 30 metres long and weighing 60 tonnes were craned into place and joined together in pairs to form the U-shaped viaducts trains now run through.
More than two kilometres of new track have been laid, 35 kilometres of signal cabling and 25,000 tonnes of ballast have been put down. The earth embankments either side of Seaford Road are constructed from 45,000 tonnes of engineered fill, and will be covered with a landscape batter, and planted with more than 100,000 trees, plants, and shrubs.
In addition to removing the level crossing, the community will benefit from a $10 million revitalisation. This includes upgrades to RF Miles Reserve, six kilometres of new walking and cycling paths from Eel Race Road in Carrum through Seaford and on to Frankston, and new community facilities as well as landscaping and streetscaping and urban design treatments on and around the rail bridge.
Works at Seaford are part of a massive $2 billion investment on the Frankston line which includes the removal of 13 level crossings and building 10 new stations.
There are now 28 dangerous and congested level crossings gone for good – exceeding the Labor Government’s commitment to remove 20 by the end of 2018.
As noted by the Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan
"I’d like to thank Seaford residents for their patience as these important works were undertaken – this level crossing removal will mean a safer, less congested Seaford."
"The previous Liberal Government didn’t get rid of a single level crossing on the Frankston line, we’ve removed 5 with work underway on another 8."
As noted by the Member for Carrum Sonya Kilkenny
"This is such a huge project for the local area and the $10 million revitalisation of Seaford will build on what people already love about Seaford and improve access and safety of the area."
"With the Seaford level crossing gone, attention now turns to removing the crossings at Carrum which will be gone next year."
