Road and rail users will never again have to endure the dreaded sound of Seaford Road’s level crossing bells as major works continue along the Frankston line.
Last Sunday marked the permanent removal of the crossing’s boom gates, which are no longer necessary thanks to the new road underpass. When the road reopens later in September, it will be the 28th crossing removed by the Level Crossing Removal Project.
Around 17,000 vehicles cross the Seaford Road level crossing every day with the boom gates down for over 30 minutes during the morning peak hours.
In addition to the safety benefits that come from removing a level crossing, the road underpass will also reduce congestion in the area and pave the way for the $10 million revitalisation of Seaford.
To complete the road underpass 16 L-shaped concrete segments up to 31m long and weighing 125 tonnes each were transported to the site over several nights, then craned into place and joined together in pairs to form the U-shaped trough that trains will eventually run inside.
Seaford Road will be lowered by 1.5m, more than 2km of new track will be laid, 35km of signal cabling rolled out and 25,000 tonnes of ballast will be put down.
The earth embankments either side of Seaford Road are constructed from 45,000 tonnes of engineered fill, and when completed will be covered with a landscaped batter, and planted with seeds and plants harvested from the local region.
Earlier in the year we took the boom gates down for a little bit while we laid 1.3km of temporary track. We put them back up again to help minimise the disruption to road and rail users.
A temporary shutdown of Frankston Line services began on Saturday night and will continue until Sunday 16 September, with crews working around the clock to finish laying new track, signalling cable, and ballast.
Buses will replace trains on the Frankston and Stony Point lines between Carrum and Stony Point from 8.30pm Saturday 8 September to 6.00am Sunday 16 September 2018. Seaford Road and Railway Parade will remain closed until Friday 28 September.
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.