Having those four crossings eliminated will make a huge difference.

I hope so. Not only at Bell street but especially Murray Road which is very messy. The road layout issues though at Murray impeded future improvement, Bell street is still also problematic with 3 intersections (one major) nearby but that is one for VicRoads to sort out at some stage. I'd go a road flyover of St Georges road for through traffic along Bell or a smaller 2 lane flyover on St Georges road but that's less than ideal. I live in hope

John Philips video of Mooroolbark's changes.
Only two spans are missing from completing the elevated down line. The platforms have gone completely with the original up building removed for donation to the YVR. The other buildings have been demolished.

Mooroolbark July


Neil

John Philips video of Mooroolbark's changes.
Only two spans are missing from completing the elevated down line. The platforms have gone completely with the original up building removed for donation to the YVR. The other buildings have been demolished.

Mooroolbark July


Neil

That link isn't work for me.
The video is at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NO474cGtHc
It's amazing how much work they've done in a month.

https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/ten-more-level-crossings-go-2025

"29 July 2021


The Andrews Labor Government will remove 10 more level crossings by 2025, meaning 85 dangerous and congested crossings gone for good"

Mike.

And there an additional four that are to be closed without any replacement.

Neil

And there an additional four that are to be closed without any replacement.

Neil

I'm wondering how exactly are they going to close Progress St without some sort of replacement?  It's a dead end road, with many businesses who would be trapped on the "wrong" side of a closed level crossing.

Just wondering about the Parkdale level crossing removals, how will the line go from underground at Mentone to elevated rail at Warrigal Rd in such a short distance?

The spans forming the down elevated line through Mooroolbark are all in place now. All they need to do is finish off the retaining walls to enable track to be laid.

Neil

Good to see Keon Park going at last. I think that was an original on an old plan before the Andrews government. It really is a hassle and I'm surprised it took this long. Nice new apartment blocks though are built right alongside it but hey what's sensible planning anyway.

Good to see Keon Park going at last. I think that was an original on an old plan before the Andrews government. It really is a hassle and I'm surprised it took this long. Nice new apartment blocks though are built right alongside it but hey what's sensible planning anyway.

Das ist verboten!

I'm wondering how exactly are they going to close Progress St without some sort of replacement?  It's a dead end road, with many businesses who would be trapped on the "wrong" side of a closed level crossing.

Extend Round Tower rd North over the creek surely.

I'm wondering how exactly are they going to close Progress St without some sort of replacement?  It's a dead end road, with many businesses who would be trapped on the "wrong" side of a closed level crossing.

Extend Round Tower rd North over the creek surely.

That would be my thought, but it was the way they announced "The removal of these 10 crossings will allow for four other level crossings to be closed"  None of the 10 have anything remotely to do with the Progress St crossing!  TBH I'm now wondering what any of them have to do with Cave Hill.

And it's probably the cheapest solution by a country mile, as well as the least disruptive.  I'm sure someone will get worked up over the crappy bit of Eumemmerring Creek that will be affected though.

Plenty of demolition happening between Aspendale and Bonbeach this week, throughout the day & night.
Trains aren't running with the demolition works on, but are back on next Monday 2/8 expressing thru from Mordy to Carrum.
Edithvale, Chelsea & Bonbeach station buildings have been demolished, working on the removal of platforms the last few days.
Aspendale station has been left up and theres been little prep work along that area compared to south of Lochiel crossing.
All 4 crossings at Bondi, Chelsea x2 and Edithvale are now closed to traffic.
They have traffic management at the smaller, unmanaged Swanpool crossing.
Traffic will be a nightmare once restrictions ease but leaving an hour early to and from work & coming home in the back way via Wells Rd has so far been ok, though a lot busier trying to get to Boundary Rd from Mordy.
Think they mentioned there is no pedestrian access from Swanpool Ave all the way down to Carrum, so that pretty much cuts off Chelsea & Bonbeach pedestrians getting to their local shops/beach & will increase ambulance times.
Can't imagine how bad the noise is at night for nearyby residents with the works, I'm over 500m away and we can hear them working away.

I'm wondering how exactly are they going to close Progress St without some sort of replacement?  It's a dead end road, with many businesses who would be trapped on the "wrong" side of a closed level crossing.

Extend Round Tower rd North over the creek surely.

That would be my thought, but it was the way they announced "The removal of these 10 crossings will allow for four other level crossings to be closed"  None of the 10 have anything remotely to do with the Progress St crossing!  TBH I'm now wondering what any of them have to do with Cave Hill.

And it's probably the cheapest solution by a country mile, as well as the least disruptive.  I'm sure someone will get worked up over the crappy bit of Eumemmerring Creek that will be affected though.

On Cave Hill, I assume they'd just shift over once the current Lilydale works are near completion.

And for Progress St, crews are already in place at South Gippsland Hwy and Hallam Rd.

An alternate solution to avoid Eumemmerring Creek would be to extent the east end of Hallam Valley Rd to Nathan Rd along the dirt track that is already there.

I'm wondering how exactly are they going to close Progress St without some sort of replacement?  It's a dead end road, with many businesses who would be trapped on the "wrong" side of a closed level crossing.

Extend Round Tower rd North over the creek surely.

That would be my thought, but it was the way they announced "The removal of these 10 crossings will allow for four other level crossings to be closed"  None of the 10 have anything remotely to do with the Progress St crossing!  TBH I'm now wondering what any of them have to do with Cave Hill.

And it's probably the cheapest solution by a country mile, as well as the least disruptive.  I'm sure someone will get worked up over the crappy bit of Eumemmerring Creek that will be affected though.

On Cave Hill, I assume they'd just shift over once the current Lilydale works are near completion.

And for Progress St, crews are already in place at South Gippsland Hwy and Hallam Rd.

An alternate solution to avoid Eumemmerring Creek would be to extent the east end of Hallam Valley Rd to Nathan Rd along the dirt track that is already there.

I agree it's readily doable; just the announcement was a bit unclear what it meant.  Progress St is really another LX removal, just an unusual one.  Normally a LX closure means, "Bad luck, go another way."  In this case, there isn't another way to go, so it has to be built first. And it must be able to take b-doubles and oversize (long) loads at a minimum.

As for the dirt track, that goes through Melbourne Water wetlands, and into the middle of Australia Post.  Also, it may soon have a building blocking it.

I'm so glad Calder Park Drive is on the list. Traffic can back right up to (and down) the freeway in the PM peak (pre-COVID).

Also if the are going to close Holden Road, why not close Watsons Road as well and leave the Old Calder Highway as the only crossing?

Good to see Keon Park going at last. I think that was an original on an old plan before the Andrews government. It really is a hassle and I'm surprised it took this long. Nice new apartment blocks though are built right alongside it but hey what's sensible planning anyway.

Das ist verboten!

Ja stimmt.

I'm so glad Calder Park Drive is on the list. Traffic can back right up to (and down) the freeway in the PM peak (pre-COVID).

Also if the are going to close Holden Road, why not close Watsons Road as well and leave the Old Calder Highway as the only crossing?

It's a wonder that Old Calder Highway crossing at Diggers Rest hasn't been put on the hit list, as the crossing and nearby Intersection Is a bit of a mismatch of the historic (now redundant) highway layout and new traffic flows from developing housing estates.

Watsons Road wouldn't be closed, but could be replaced by a simple road overpass and earth ramp either side.

The reason for the closure of Holden Road level crossing would be beca use of the limited access to and from the Calder Freeway (that whole section of highway past the old raceway needs a decent upgrade to rid the at grade Intersections, Holden Road then may get a proper Interchange)

Low traffic levels could be the reason be the reason behind the Old Calder Highway being left behind, along with complications arising from the nearby freeway bridge.

I'm so glad Calder Park Drive is on the list. Traffic can back right up to (and down) the freeway in the PM peak (pre-COVID).

Also if the are going to close Holden Road, why not close Watsons Road as well and leave the Old Calder Highway as the only crossing?

Watsons Road will not be closed, this is soon to be a major link to the Jacksons Hill Estate and the housing north of the rail line, with Buckland Way being extended to Yirranga Road. Hume City Council and the State Gov have finally put up the cash to have it built. The locals in Sunbury have only been asking for a third crossing for 20 years, and even more so now that the Gap Road crossing will be closed for a period of months to remove it; leaving a 100 year old bluestone bridge to only way to cross the rail line.

Old Calder at Diggers Rest is complicated by the Freeway, tight housing around the station and the heritage listed station buildings. The Diggers Rest activity centre is be built in the new estate, there won't be much development around the exisiting level crossing.

The plans for the estates have Bula-Diggers Rest road being extended to Plumpton Road, this may allow Old Calder to be closed and replaced in a similar fashion to Cherry Street.

Lockie

Summary of future level crossing removals:

PAKENHAM Line:
- Station St, Officer = Closure
- Brunt Rd, Beaconsfield = Road Over rail
- Station St, Beaconsfield = Road Over rail
- Webb St, Narre Warren = Rail Over Hybrid
- Progress St, Dandenong South = Closure

LILYDALE Line:
- Coolstore Rd, Croydon = Rail Over road
- Dublin Rd, Ringwood East = Rail Under road
- Cave Hill Rd, Lilydale = Closure

FRANKSTON Line:
- Warrigal Rd, Mentone = Rail Over road
- Parkers Rd, Parkdale = Rail Over road

MERNDA Line:
- Keon Parade, Thomastown (Keon Park) = Rail Over road

SUNBURY Line:
- Calder Park Dr, Calder Park = Road Over rail
- Holden Rd, Calder Park = Closure

BELGRAVE Line:
- Bedford Rd, Ringwood = Rail Under road

Also just recently uploaded a video too on the LXRP YouTube channel.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFFhYp2VOZs

By having a more in-depth look at these 10 grade separations and 4 road closures, they all correlate on existing major works being done already at the moment on existing lines, which suggests the LXRP have taken the opportunity to remove them in one go for bonus efficiency.

Unlike the extra 25 crossings focussed on more doing the missed busiest crossings, these ones are focussed more on removing the rest while they are at it.

Gap road will be co-ordinated with Calder Park Dr and Holden Rd

Preston crossings will be co-ordinated with Keon Park

Mont Albert/Surrey Hills will be co-ordinated with Bedford Road, Coolstore Road, Dublin Road, and Cave Hill road.

Pakenham crossings + Webster Street will be co-ordinated with Station Street Officer, Brunt road, Station street Beaconsfield, Webb Street, Progress street

Glenhuntly crossings with Parkdale and Warrigal roads.

That's actually very smart efficiency there if I ever saw it, plus you get another 2 more rail line fully grade separated.

By having a more in-depth look at these 10 grade separations and 4 road closures, they all correlate on existing major works being done already at the moment on existing lines, which suggests the LXRP have taken the opportunity to remove them in one go for bonus efficiency.

Unlike the extra 25 crossings focussed on more doing the missed busiest crossings, these ones are focussed more on removing the rest while they are at it.

Gap road will be co-ordinated with Calder Park Dr and Holden Rd

Preston crossings will be co-ordinated with Keon Park

Mont Albert/Surrey Hills will be co-ordinated with Bedford Road, Coolstore Road, Dublin Road, and Cave Hill road.

Pakenham crossings + Webster Street will be co-ordinated with Station Street Officer, Brunt road, Station street Beaconsfield, Webb Street, Progress street

Glenhuntly crossings with Parkdale and Warrigal roads.

That's actually very smart efficiency there if I ever saw it, plus you get another 2 more rail line fully grade separated.

It is smart work by LXRA and the government and all seem pretty well targeted around the busiest lines and those benefit from the Metro Tunnel. i.e A 2 minute peak frequency between Watergardens & Pakenham/Cranbourne will not gridlock the eastern suburbs.

Belgrave & Lilydale are also good outcomes, but the timetable still needs a clean up to simplify operations.

With these additional crossing to be wrapped up by 2022 along with the many 'fast tracked' (Thanks COVID) I can see 100 becoming part of 2022 election to by wrapped up by 2025 another election year. Coincidence I think not.

Would be nice to see a package of works between Footscray & Newport, removing Anderson, Hudson, Champion and Maddox LXs making City to Newport and effectively Laverton LX Free.

Upfield Package to knock off LX City between Park Street/Jewell and Anstey. (8 LX over 2kms there alone)

And the obvious ones, Kensington, Puckle Street, Macaulay Road, Madden Grove and the last tram square at Glenferrie Road.

I doubt this aligns with votes and marginal seats labor will won't to hold on too.

Lockie