Project update

Current and upcoming disruptions

Information regarding current and upcoming disruptions is detailed in the clickable sections below:

Jacksons Creek Bridge - pedestrian paths nearby closed

The pedestrian path along Sunbury Road between Francis Boulevard and Powlett Street, as well as the path which runs under the Jacksons Creek bridge to Apex Park, is closed until we complete work on the crossings over the creek.

Path along Sunbury Road from Powlett Street to Francis Boulevard: closed until July 2023.
Path under Jacksons Creek Bridge: closed until March 2024.

Please use the alternate route provided through the Nook or use Bus 479 to travel to Sunbury town centre and return.

Until early 2023, the 479 Bus route along Sunbury Road will be temporarily diverted to pick up and drop off passengers from the bus stops in front of the Goonawarra Golf Course on Francis Boulevard. Please visit the PTV website for further information and bus timetable.

Francis-Blvd-Powlett-St-SUP-Detour-Map

Macedon Street, Aitken Street, Powlett Street changed traffic conditions

From late February we’ll start building the new lanes that will connect with the new bridge being built over Jacksons Creek. To deliver these works safely, there will be temporary road closures and changed traffic conditions.

From late February until mid-2023:

Macedon Street between Jacksons Creek and Aitken Street - traffic will be temporarily switched to a single lane in each direction.
Powlett Street, north of Macedon Street will be closed - please use Aitken and Eadie Streets.
Access to the southern end of Aitken Street will be restricted to left turn in and out only – drivers will not be able to turn right into Aitken Street from Macedon Street.
The speed limit will be reduced through the work area.

These temporary traffic changes mean drivers will need to either make a U-turn at dedicated locations or turn right at an alternate local street to access Powlett and Aitken streets.

Please refer to the following maps and allow up to 2 minutes additional travel time.

Powlett St to Aitken St Traffic Switch Map

To access the northern end of Aitken Street:

Travel towards Sunbury town centre along Macedon Street
Continue past Aitken Street
Complete a U-turn at Vaughan Street
Turn left into Aitken Street

Aitken St Traffic Diagram North Land Vehicles will need to make a U-turn to access Aitken Street.

To access the southern end of Aitken Street when travelling Melbourne bound:

Travel towards Melbourne on Macedon Street
Turn right one street earlier, onto Vaughan Street
Turn left onto Brook Street
Turn left onto Aitken Street

To travel towards Melbourne/airport:

Head south along Aitken Street
Turn right onto Brook Street
Turn right onto Vaughan Street
Turn right onto Macedon Street

Aitken St Traffic Diagram South Vehicles will need to detour via Brook and Vaughan Streets to enter and exit the southern end of Aitken Street.

Road pavement and maintenance

There is a significant amount of work happening in the area such as the Sunbury Road Upgrade, Sunbury Line Upgrade, soil movement from the West Gate Tunnel Project, as well as new housing and commercial developments.

We’re working together to ensure impacts are minimised and projects are completed as soon as possible, so you can enjoy the benefits of a better transport network that will support your thriving community.

Safety is a key consideration when planning and delivering large scale infrastructure upgrades. We’re committed to increasing cleaning and improving traffic safety on Sunbury Road whilst we complete the upgrade. Already we are sweeping the road daily, cleaning the roadside bollards, have refreshed the line marking and placed crushed rock to help absorb any additional residual debris.

We’re aware there are some areas of Sunbury Road that require ongoing attention have implemented additional controls to ensure the road remains safe for all road users.

In mid 2022, in addition to road sweepers, we also added a heavy duty power broom to the cleaning schedule to deep clean the surface of the road. We’ll continue to monitor the road and implement measures as required.

We have several measures in place to limit the impact of our works on Sunbury Road, including:

sweeping the road daily and cleaning bollards twice weekly
reducing the number of entry and exit points at each construction site
ensuring exit points have measures in place to remove mud from vehicles
made a path for our trucks to travel behind the barriers when transporting materials for the project so that they don’t need to use Sunbury Road (city bound)
daily inspections of work sites and roads
ensuring our construction vehicles are well maintained.

Sunbury Road - other works

We’re working closely with other Big Build projects, and businesses operating in the area to coordinate activities and minimise disruptions wherever possible. We recognise that there are a number of new residential and commercial sites in development along Sunbury Road and Lancefield Road.

These developers are also working on sections of Sunbury Road independent of the Sunbury Road Upgrade project to build new entrances and install new underground utility services. These works are being supported by traffic barriers and speed reductions to enable these works to be completed safely. We’ll continue to work closely with these developers to minimise the impact to traffic flow where possible with safety being our highest priority.

Francis Boulevard reopened early

The Sunbury Road and Francis Boulevard intersection upgrade has finished ahead of schedule. Crews worked round the clock to:

remove the temporary roundabout
install new drainage and a new watermain
install underground equipment and connections for new traffic lights
build new lanes
install new lighting and guard fencing
install new kerbs, concrete pavements, signs and line marking.

The intersection has reopened with a mix of permanent and temporary traffic lights. Traffic will continue to use 1 lane in each direction while we finish building the Sunbury bound lanes. Once the new lanes are complete, the intersection will be fully opened, providing safer and more reliable travel, especially during peak hours.

Francis Boulevard intersection – reopened after a 5-week construction blitz

Francis Boulevard intersection before upgrade works - August 2022

Works completed over summer

After starting major construction in May 2022, we’ve completed nearly 5kms of the Melbourne bound lanes between Bulla- Diggers Rest/Loemans Road and Lancefield Road.

Motorists are now using these new lanes as we start rebuilding the Sunbury bound lanes in this section.

The construction blitz to upgrade the intersection of Sunbury and Lancefield roads has been a success with works completed ahead of schedule and the intersection open early.

Bridge beams are now in place and the concrete deck poured to form the major structures on the new bridge over Jacksons Creek.

Current works

As we move into Winter, we’ll finish the new Melbourne bound lanes from Francis Boulevard to Powlett Street and rehabilitate the existing Sunbury bound lanes.

Bulla-Diggers Rest/Loemans Road to Shepherds Lane

Earthworks to rebuild the Sunbury bound lanes.

Shepherds Lane to Lancefield Road Rebuilding Sunbury bound lanes.

Sunbury Road and Lancefield Road intersection

Construction of Sunbury bound lanes until mid-2023.

The intersection has reopened with temporary traffic lights while the new lanes along Sunbury Road are built.

Lancefield Road to Powlett Street

Rebuilding the Sunbury bound lanes.

Macedon Street (Powlett Street to Aitken Street)

Extension of work area along Macedon Street up to Aitken Street.

Traffic has been shifted to 1 lane in each direction while we build the road that connects to the new bridge.

How our works may affect you

Access to homes and businesses

We’ll work hard to maintain access to homes and businesses at all times. If access needs to be temporarily restricted, we’ll notify impacted residents and businesses ahead of time.

We’ll have our sweepers and power broom traveling along Sunbury Road seven days a week. These vehicles need to travel at slow speeds, so there may be a slight delay when these vehicles are cleaning the road.

Construction activities

Our initial construction activities will involve:

installing temporary traffic barriers to separate traffic from the worksite and create a safe work area
locating essential underground services such as power, gas, communications and water
establishing environmental protection zones and controls
tree and vegetation removal
performing earthworks to excavate and build the foundation of the two new traffic lanes.

We’ll need to remove some trees and vegetation in advance of each stage of construction. We’ve undertaken careful planning with qualified arborists, ecologists and environmental specialists to minimise the impacts to local flora and fauna. See our Environment page for more information.

Noise and vibration

There will be some noise and vibration during construction. This may be generated from moving vehicles, machinery, rock breaking, reversing beepers or generators used to power equipment.

We’ll do our best to minimise our construction impacts and will continue to monitor noise and vibration levels during the works.

Safe completion of works

To complete works safely, we may:

lower the speed limit
install temporary traffic barriers and signage
temporarily close lanes
provide signed detours for pedestrians and cyclists
have traffic controllers and portable traffic lights in place to safely guide you through the works zone
move or temporarily close bus stops.

If you travel through the area, allow extra travel time and drive safely.

Traffic changes

The installation of the temporary traffic barriers will provide 1 traffic lane in each direction open for motorists, while we construct the new lanes safely behind the barriers.

We’ll also be working on other sections of Sunbury Road at times with lane closures and with reduced speeds in place, generally between 9.30am and 3.30pm to avoid impacting peak traffic times and to keep our workers and the community safe whilst we build this important project.

Working hours

We’ll work behind barriers between 7am and 6pm, Mondays to Fridays and at times between 7am and 5pm on Saturdays.

When we’re working on sections of Sunbury Road without traffic safety barriers on weekdays, we’ll generally work between 9.30am and 3.30pm to avoid lane closures impacting peak traffic times.