Craigieburn SES volunteers have swapped their permanent base for a temporary operational hub during this winter’s works to fast-track new lanes on the Craigieburn Road Upgrade.
Members of the Craigieburn unit joined the road project team recently to say thank you for coordinating their temporary relocation to the project’s Lygon Drive HQ.
Along with our construction partner Fulton Hogan we've secured the site to become a temporary hub for the Craigieburn SES until the middle of August, while works are carried out this winter on Craigieburn Road between Hanson Road and Bridgewater Road. During this time, access to a number of local community facilities is being maintained - including the local VICSES base.
The temporary relocation ensures the unit can respond to the most urgent and time-critical emergency cases without being impacted by the winter works. The Craigieburn SES unit services the local government area of Hume City Council and attends an average of 300 requests for assistance each year, including road rescue response.
VICSES Craigieburn Unit is also one of 104 VICSES units across the state accredited to provide lifesaving road crash rescue assistance. Volunteers at the unit responded to 54 road rescue incidents over the last year throughout Craigieburn, Roxburgh Park, Greenvale, Mickleham, Kalkallo, Oaklands Junction, Beveridge, Wollert, and Donnybrook.
Situated next to Craigieburn Central around 2 kilometres from the unit’s existing site, the temporary hub became operational at the end of June, so local VICSES volunteers can continue to serve the community each and every day, without having to travel through the works zone.
The move comes as works to widen Craigieburn Road continue, to bring local motorists another step closer to safer journeys and a less congested commute.
To enable these works to be undertaken safely, Craigieburn Road closed to all traffic in both directions for around 700 metres between Hanson and Bridgewater Roads on Friday 23 June, with the closure to be in place until Saturday 19 August. Motorists should allow up to 15 minutes extra travel time if they travel around this stretch of Craigieburn Road using designated detour routes. Pedestrian access will be maintained through Craigieburn Road with some diversions for cyclists.
This section will reopen to 2 lanes in each direction in late August, and we’ll continue building extra lanes behind barriers.
Whether driving, using public transport or cycling, locals are asked to allow extra time and plan their journey by checking the PTV or VicTraffic apps before they travel.
The Craigieburn Road Upgrade is scheduled to be fully completed in 2025.
For project updates, please visit Craigieburn Road Upgrade.