By Mitchell Clarke
The once dangerous and congested Cardinia Road level crossing is now a thing of the past, with the new road over rail bridge opened to traffic.
The road bridge was officially opened by Bass MP Jordan Crugnale on Sunday 6 December, who was joined at the site by project director Andrew Pepplinkhouse, Cardinia Shire Council mayor Brett Owen and excited locals.
MP Jordan Crugnale officially opens the new Cardinia Road bridge, marking the official removal of the level crossing. @PakenhamGazette pic.twitter.com/9SsMcyuFUp
— Mitch Clarke (@24mitchclarke) December 6, 2020
“This project is all about community. This is for Pakenham and I’m just so excited about it being opened,” Ms Crugnale said.
A convoy of vehicles from the Cardinia Car Club were the first cars to be granted access to drive over the bridge, but now thousands of motorists will use the road everyday. Prior to its removal, more than 23,000 motorists travelled through the level crossing each day, where the boom gates held up traffic for a third of the morning peak.
With the crossing gone months ahead of schedule, the Level Crossing Removal Project team can now turn their attention towards removing the crossings at McGregor Road, Racecourse Road and Main Street.
Unlike Cardinia Road, those three sites will be replaced by a rail over road design, and will be completed in one go.
“Cardinia Road was fast tracked and then further fast tracked, so this will mean it can take the capacity of traffic as we start on the other three,” Ms Crugnale added.
“Pakenham is growing so the sooner we get these (level crossings) done and gone, the better it is for our local community.”
Ms Crugnale said works further down the line were “more complicated”, when asked why Cardinia Road, which many locals argued was a low-priority task, was removed first.“The other three are really technical and they’re a lot closer together. The train line is going up, so we thought ‘let’s get this one done’ as it was the easier solution,” she explained.
This man was one of the first to test out the new Cardinia Road bridge – but he was quickly told to get off and move to the footpath. ? pic.twitter.com/6qOfgjMfOA
— Mitch Clarke (@24mitchclarke) December 6, 2020
Andrew Pepplinkhouse, who has led the project team during construction, said it was “fantastic” to open the road back up to traffic.
“Finally we have another level crossing gone. There’ll be no more delays and 20,000 plus motorists won’t have to stop at the boom gates anymore,” he said.
Cardinia Shire mayor Brett Owen said the council welcomed the opening of the rail overpass.
“This road bridge built over the railway line will reduce congestion, slash travel times and improve safety for our growing community,” he said.
“Thanks to our community for their patience during these works. As you can see, it is well worth the wait. This is a great win for our community.”
A new community space, the size of four tennis courts, will be built under the road bridge at the start of 2021.
