The dangerous level crossings at Old Calder Highway and Watsons Road, Diggers Rest are set to be removed from the Sunbury Line and locals are now invited to share their insights into what they enjoy about their suburb and how they move around the area.
Community feedback will help inform aspects of the design and provide information about the flow of vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians in the area.
Engineering assessments have determined that the best way to remove the level crossings at Old Calder Highway and Watsons Road is by building road bridges.
To share feedback and to find out about the community consultation sessions in the Diggers Rest area, visit the Engage Vic website.
Improving travel times for Diggers Rest
Getting rid of the 2 level crossings will improve traffic flow for the 6,300 vehicles that travel through the 2 level crossings daily and will make the Sunbury Line boom gate free in 2025, changing the way people live, work and travel.
Up to 27 trains travel through these crossings during the morning peak, creating around 36 minutes of boom gate down time.
Removing the last level crossings on the line will allow more trains to run more often once the Metro Tunnel opens in 2025, and clears the path for future development in this growth area.
Level crossing free Sunbury Line
This work complements the recent level crossing removal at Gap Road, Sunbury, where a new road underpass and rail bridge separating trains and cars has unclogged a major bottleneck, and at Calder Park Drive and Holden Road, Calder Park, where work to remove the level crossings will get underway this year.
Major works are forging ahead on the Sunbury Road Upgrade, with beams lifted into place to form the foundation of the new bridge at Jacksons Creek in February.
This additional creek crossing will take Sunbury Road from 2 to 4 lanes, improving the flow of traffic to emerging communities in Sunbury’s south-east. The project will reduce congestion, providing safer journeys for more than 25,000 drivers who use the road every day.
These projects build on the Victorian Government’s $27 billion investment in transport improvements in Melbourne’s west, including the Sunbury Line Upgrade, which will make room for 113,000 extra peak hour passengers and high-capacity trains on the line.
Combined with the Metro Tunnel it will give Sunbury Line passengers direct access to five new CBD stations, including connections to the City Loop and will allow trains to travel 100kms from Sunbury to Cranbourne/Pakenham without a single level crossing.
Across Melbourne, 70 level crossings have been removed, with 110 to go by 2030, boosting safety and easing congestion.