Upgrading O’Shea Road

The City of Casey is one of Australia’s fastest growing municipalities. On a typical weekday, close to 50,000 vehicles use O’Shea, Clyde and Greaves roads in Berwick, and numbers are expected to increase. The current road infrastructure will be unable to cope with increased demand. To keep the City of Casey moving we’re upgrading O’Shea Road and improving connections to the Princes Freeway, to support the development and growth of this booming area.

When we complete the upgrade, it will:

• reduce congestion
• improve traffic flow and travel times
• make it easier to travel around your local area and join the freeway
• give you better access to residential developments and employment hubs in the south-east
• allow for future public transport routes.

Modelling

Traffic flow on O’Shea Road during peak periods in 2031 – less than 10 years away.

Two lanes

Traffic modelling for retaining O’Shea Road as 2 lanes (1 lane in each direction) showed that the road will not be able to handle the increased traffic demand due to the projected growth in the local area, resulting in increased congestion and travel times.

View a larger version of the 2 lane model (PDF, 6.8 MB)

Four lanes

Traffic modelling was undertaken for upgrading O’Shea Road to 4 lanes (2 lanes in each direction) without dedicated turning lanes. This showed that the road will not be able to handle the increased traffic demand due to the projected growth in the local area, resulting in increased congestion and travel times.

View a larger version of the 4 lane model (PDF, 6.8 MB)

Four lanes (option 2)

Traffic modelling was also undertaken for upgrading O’Shea Road to 4 lanes (2 lanes in each direction) with a wider centre median and dedicated turning lanes. This showed there would be inefficient flow of traffic and safety concerns due to required merging within short distances at multiple points on the road, due to the proximity of the intersections.

View a larger version of the 4 lanes and dedicated turning lanes model (PDF, 6.8 MB)

Six lanes

Traffic modelling was undertaken for upgrading O’Shea Road to 6 lanes (3 lanes in each direction) with dedicated turning lanes. This showed that congestion would be reduced, traffic flow would be improved, and travel times reduced.

View a larger version of the 6 lanes model (PDF, 6.8 MB)

Road safety

The O’Shea Road Upgrade is being delivered in accordance with the Safe Systems Approach, which aims to improve road safety and achieve the strategic goal of no road deaths and serious injuries. A Safe Systems Assessment and independent Road Safety Audit was conducted on the final design to check for potential hazards, ensure the design was acceptable and that all road users had been considered.

Methodology

Comprehensive independent traffic modelling has been undertaken using the latest software to understand existing conditions on O’Shea Road and to identify the impacts the project would have on traffic travelling along O’Shea Road by the year 2031.

The assessment methodology included:

• conducting traffic surveys and reviewing baseline existing conditions within the area
• assessing design, key adjacent intersections and project impacts based on traffic forecasts for the year 2031
• using the Victorian Integrated Transport Model (VITM) to model transport movements to determine the need to upgrade O’Shea Road
• using tools such as the SIDRA Network Modelling with VISSM microsimulation to assess the different options for O’Shea Road and the impact on the wider network including future developments such as the new arterial road through Minta Farm.

Traffic modelling plays one part of the decision-making process to determine the final design of the O’Shea Road Upgrade. Other considerations include available space, constructability and safety. By taking all these elements into account, the six-lane design for O’Shea Road is considered the safest and the most suitable.