Major milestones reached at Progress Street, Dandenong South

Major works on the Progress Street, Dandenong South level crossing removal project are nearly complete, following the opening of the upgraded South Gippsland Highway and Fowler Road intersection in July 2025.

The new intersection has been designed to safely accommodate oversized and overmass vehicles travelling through the Dandenong South industrial precinct, with traffic lights improving access for vehicles turning from Fowler Road onto South Gippsland Highway.

We completed a two-week construction blitz to demolish and upgrade the intersection, install and commission a set of traffic signals and provide finishing touches like landscaping and line marking.

New indented parking bays have recently opened on Fowler Road, with works on either side of the rail line at Progress Street to be completed next month.

In October, Greater Dandenong City Council will start construction on a new footpath on Fowler Road, to be completed by the end of the year.

Thank you to the local community for your patience throughout the recent road disruptions.

Why the level crossing needs to go

• Will allow more trains to run more often
• Boom gates down for 21% of the morning peak
• 24 trains through the level crossing during the morning peak
• 5 near misses from 2012 to 2020
• 5200 vehicles pass through the level crossing each day.

New road bridge open in Dandenong South

In June 2025, we opened the new road bridge to connect Progress Street with Fowler Road..

The new Fowler Road bridge provides a safer way for traffic to travel through the busy Dandenong South industrial precinct and for many local businesses, a more direct way to access the South Gippsland Highway.

The opening of the new road bridge follows the permanent closure of Progress Street at the level crossing with the boom gate removal completed, earlier in June.

Getting rid of the dangerous Progress Street level crossing boosts safety by removing the risk of any further incidents at the level crossing, particularly between trains and heavy vehicles.

Closing the crossing has also eliminated frustrating delays for drivers, with the boom gate down time of 25 minutes in the morning peak set to become even longer when more services start running on the Pakenham Line in future.

Progress Street is one of 22 sets of boom gates going on the Pakenham Line, which will be level crossing free in 2025, improving safety and easing congestion.

Passengers on the Pakenham Line will also have access to five new state-of-the-art underground stations when the Metro Tunnel opens later this year.

New shared use path announced

We're partnering with Greater Dandenong City Council to deliver improved pedestrian and cycling connections on South Gippsland Highway between Fowler Road, Dandenong Bypass and Hallam Valley Road.

We'll extend the existing shared use path on South Gippsland Highway to Hallam Valley Road, improving connections for local businesses to bus stops and promoting active transport.

The Dandenong South industrial precinct is a key manufacturing and logistics hub in Melbourne’s south east.

As previously announced in 2024, the Level Crossing Removal Project is also partnering with Greater Dandenong City Council to deliver a pedestrian path along Fowler Road later this year.

With additional growth occurring in Hallam Valley Road, the project has seen an additional opportunity to further extend the existing path network on South Gippsland Highway.

Local businesses will benefit most from the changes, with more workers being able to safely access their workplace by walking, cycling or public transport.

The shared use path is expected to be open by mid 2026.

New shared path wayfinder map

Project completion

Over the next few months the team will complete final landscaping, finishing works and demobilise from site..

Thank you to the local community for your patience throughout this project.

Project timeline

Mid 2021

• Early site investigations

Late 2022

• Community consultation

Mid 2023

• Contract award
• Community consultation

Late 2023

• Final design announcement
• Consultation report

2024

• Major construction

2025

• Major construction
• Level crossing removed
• New bridge opened
• Upgraded intersection opened

Late 2025

• New footpath (delivered by Greater Dandenong City Council)
• Project completion

Mid 2026

• New SUP (delivered by Greater Dandenong City Council)

*Timeline subject to change