Major Road Projects Victoria is fast-tracking work on the largest road project on Melbourne’s booming northern edge, as Craigieburn Road Upgrade crews gear up for a massive seven-week construction blitz at the turn of the new year.
As the project powers towards the half-way mark, the spine of the north’s fastest growing community will be receiving vital capacity and improvements in 2023 – and it means locals will start seeing the finished product at both ends of Craigieburn Road.
The road to completion begins at the eastern end of the project between Hanson Road and Hume Highway. From late February residents will enjoy upgraded intersections at Hume Highway and at Hardy Avenue/Walter Street which allows for better and safer access to key locations such as the Craigieburn Train Station, Craigieburn Plaza and surrounding businesses, as well as improved access to the Hume Highway.
This will be followed by the opening of the Mickleham Road intersection at the western end of the project to its final arrangement in March.
Much of the summer’s work will forge ahead around Craigieburn Plaza – which itself will remain accessible at all times - with a 24/7 closure between the Hume Highway and Hanson Road intersections from Tuesday 10 January to Tuesday 28 February.
During the massive construction blitz, workers will be working around-the lock to add extra lanes through this section to keep the more than 28,000 vehicles who use Craigieburn Road each day moving.
When this intensive major works period wraps up, drivers can look forward to better access to the Hume Highway from Craigieburn Road.
Motorists heading towards the city during the peak will benefit from three, instead of two, turning lanes – increasing capacity to reduce queuing at the intersection.
Adding more through and turning lanes at Hume Highway-Craigieburn Road will help clear congestion at the suburb’s busiest intersection, with approximately 50,000 motorists moving through this critical juncture every day.
Traffic lights are also replacing the roundabout at Hardy Avenue to allow traffic to flow more smoothly to and from an improved Hume Highway-Craigieburn Road intersection.
Drivers are being warned of up to 20-minute delays and are urged to heed the detour signs.
Across the seven weeks’ of works, drivers will only be able to get onto the Hume Highway by using Mt Ridley Road to the north and Somerton Road to the south.
As Craigieburn Road will be closed between Hanson Road and Hume Highway, intersections at Hardy Avenue, Benston Street and Healey Street will also be closed, with one-way local access maintained for businesses and residents.
Craigieburn Plaza will remain open and will be accessible via Hanson Road and Hamilton Street. With school holidays underway in January, crews will take advantage of reduced traffic volumes to upgrade the Bridgewater Road intersection. Bridgewater Road will be closed between Craigieburn Road and Clovelly Drive from Wednesday 11 January to Wednesday 25 January.
During summer, we’ll also fast-track the construction of new lanes along Aitken Boulevard which will be closed from Wednesday 11 January, for several weeks.
During this time, key local roads which are vital connections into residential areas will reopen, beginning with Vantage Boulevard, Waterview Boulevard and Bridgewater Road. These are important north-south connectors that people rely on to move around the area.
This accelerated summer program will result in this important upgrade reaching the half-way point sooner.
The Hume Highway intersection is one of seven to be upgraded on Craigieburn Road between Mickleham Road and Hume Highway – with traffic lights to be added to Balyang Way, Dorchester Street and Cimberwood Drive, while roundabouts will be replaced with traffic lights at Waterview Boulevard and Hardy Avenue.
Craigieburn Road connects growing residential areas in the north to key routes, nearby freeways and the Melbourne Airport.
Its upgrade will improve journey times, slash congestion, improve public transport connections and keep cyclists and pedestrians safe from busy traffic.
The Craigieburn Road Upgrade is scheduled to be fully completed in 2025.
Find out more about the Craigieburn Road Upgrade and stay up to date with the latest works.
For more information about the planned disruptions over summer visit our Disruptions page.