Gap Road in Sunbury reopened to traffic today, exactly 4 months after it closed to traffic on 30 May 2022.
Over the last 4 months, crews worked around the clock to remove the dangerous and congested level crossing, replacing it with a new rail bridge and road underpass.
Before we removed the notorious Gap Road boom gates, they were down for more than a quarter of the morning peak with 19,000 vehicles crossing the rail line at Gap Road daily.
Gap Road is the fourth level crossing on the Sunbury Line to be removed, with another 2 to go in Calder Park – easing congestion and reducing travel times. The Gap Road level crossing was initially slated to be removed in 2025, but was brought forward by 3 years – freeing up Sunbury’s worst traffic bottleneck well ahead of schedule.
Now that Gap Road has reopened, we're working on the final touches in the Sunbury Station precinct until early 2023. This includes completing the cycling and walking paths on either side of the new road underpass, and landscaping works.
Over the course of the project, our construction crews worked a total of 271,364 hours to remove this level crossing.
We thank the Sunbury community for their patience while we delivered the Gap Road level crossing removal.
Gap Road has reopened to traffic
Project milestones
June 2022
In June, we removed the boom gates, old track and overheads during a 26-day shutdown of the Sunbury Line. During this time we lifted in 20 concrete rail bridge beams, weighing in at 20 to 40 tonnes per piece. By the end of June, the level crossing was gone for good, with trains returning to service on the brand new rail bridge.
Building the new rail bridge
July 2022
In July we began excavating the new road underpass, removing 25,000 cubic metres of soil from site to pave the way for the lowered road. We installed the stunning First Nations artwork ‘Koorakoorakup’ onto the rail bridge. The piece is made up of 160 aluminium panels and finished in ochre, designed to emulate the nearby Organ Pipe geological formations.
Sunbury local, Teena Moffatt, in front of her newly installed bridge artwork
August 2022
In August we continued excavating down to the new lowered road level, installing drainage infrastructure below the road surface to prevent flooding. We progressed works on the walking and cycling paths on either side of the road.
September 2022
In September, work on the road and paths continued, with asphalting, line marking, signs and lighting installed to prepare the road for opening on 30 September. We held the Gap Road Community Day, where locals took a walk along the new road underpass and enjoyed a day of music, free food, entertainment and giveaways.
Construction of the road underpass nears completion