We’re upgrading Racecourse Road, McGregor Road and the Princes Freeway in Pakenham relieving bottlenecks, improving traffic flow, and making your journeys safer and more reliable.

What's been happening

Since our last update we’ve:

• opened the new Gippsland-bound Princes Freeway entry ramp at McGregor Road, completing the full diamond interchange at McGregor Road
• continued building the new McGregor Road northbound lanes and started works to upgrade Henry Road at the McGregor Road intersection
• installed the permanent barriers along the sides of the new Healesville-Koo Wee Rup bridge
• demolished half of the existing freeway roundabout on Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road north of the freeway
• laid new foundations along the Healesville-Koo Wee Rup freeway interchange to upgrade from roundabouts to traffic light intersections.

We’re starting our final stage of works on McGregor Road

To upgrade McGregor Road as quickly as possible, we’ve been completing work in sections. Our first stage of work started in late January to widen the Princes Freeway exit ramp and northern roundabout. In March, we started building the new northbound lanes and since May we’ve been upgrading Henry Road at the McGregor Road intersection. By working in stages, we’ve been able to focus on different parts of the project and open upgraded parts of the road for use as quickly as possible.

We’re making great progress, and on Monday 1 July we’ll open the new northbound lanes on McGregor Road and the upgraded Henry Road intersection. The new lanes on McGregor Road between the Princes Freeway and Henry Road will make it quicker and easier to travel into Pakenham from the Princes Freeway, and the right turn lane along Henry Road has been extended to make it easier to travel towards the freeway.

We’ll then start our final stage of works along McGregor Road, closing the southbound lanes between Webster Way and the Princes Freeway to rebuild the road and closing Webster Way at the intersection to build a dedicated left turn lane. Read on for more details.

Upcoming works

Over the coming weeks we’ll:

• finish asphalting works on Henry Road and reopen the road to traffic
• complete works to build the new northbound lanes on McGregor Road and open two new lanes between the Princes Freeway and Henry Road
• begin works on the southbound lanes of McGregor Road and Webster Way
• install bridge rails and screens on the new Healesville-Koo Wee Rup bridge over the Princes Freeway
• move traffic on Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road to the newly built lanes between Southeast Boulevard and the Princes Freeway.

From late June to September, you’ll start to see some short and long-term traffic changes along McGregor Road, Webster Way, and Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road as we move into our next stage of works. Detours will be in place.

Please visit the our Disruptions page or our Project update page to stay up to date.

McGregor Road, Henry Road and Webster Way intersection closure

We’ll close the intersection of McGregor Road, Henry Road and Webster Way from 7am Sunday 30 June to 5am Monday 1 July to set up safety barriers and traffic management for our final stage of works to upgrade McGregor Road.

Detours will be in place via Cardinia Road, Henry Road, Henry Lawson Drive, Livingstone Boulevard, Park Boulevard, Webster Way and Bald Hill Road, with delays of up to 10 minutes expected.

Once these works are complete, Henry Road and two northbound lanes on McGregor Road will reopen to traffic.

McGregor Road southbound and Webster Way closure

To complete our final stage of works on McGregor Road, we’ll have some long-term closures from 5am Monday 1 July to late September.

We’ll close the southbound lanes of McGregor Road heading towards the freeway, between Webster Way and the Princes Freeway. We’ll also close Webster Way in both directions at the McGregor Road intersection.

During this time, you’ll still be able to:

• travel towards Pakenham from the freeway
• turn left from McGregor Road into Henry Road, The Heritage Shopping Centre, and Livingstone Boulevard
• turn right into Henry Road, and Livingstone Boulevard from McGregor Road.

Detours will be in place via Park Boulevard, Honeyeater Way, Webster Way, Bald Hill Road and Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road to access the Princes Freeway. Delays are expected. Please plan your journeys and allow for an extra 20 minutes of travel time during peak hours.

Pedestrian and bus stop impacts

We’ll also need to close the pedestrian crossings at the McGregor Road and Webster Way intersection while these closures are in place. A pedestrian detour will be in place via Webster Way, Kingfisher Court, Freeman Drive and Park Boulevard to access McGregor Road.

Some bus stops on Henry Road and Webster Way will also be closed from the last service on Saturday 29 June until late September. Customers using route 928 can use the bus stops at Livingstone Boulevard/Heritage Boulevard, Sandalwood Drive/Webster Way and Pakenham Regional Tennis Centre/Webster Way instead.

McGregor Road LXRP closure

Between mid-July and mid-August, the Level Crossing Removal Project will close McGregor Road at the rail bridge for roadworks. We’ll share further details on these works in the coming weeks. Sign up for project updates to stay up to date or look for on-road signage.

While the level crossing closure is in place, we’ll temporarily extend the southbound closure of McGregor Road to Livingstone Boulevard and close the right turn from McGregor Road to Henry Road. Access to The Heritage Shopping Centre will still be available via left turn from McGregor Road, from Livingstone Boulevard, and from Heritage Boulevard.

Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road

In mid-July we'll move traffic onto the newly built lanes on Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road between Southeast Boulevard and the Princes Freeway. Once traffic is running on the new lanes, we’ll continue works to build the new southbound lanes on Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road.

To switch traffic to the new lanes and complete key works to upgrade the freeway intersections, we’ll need to close Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road between Southeast Boulevard and the Princes Freeway, including the city-bound freeway ramps, over a weekend. Stay tuned for more information on these works in the coming weeks.

Other projects in the area

The Level Crossing Removal Project has closed Main Street at the new rail bridge until 7am Wednesday 17 July. Henty Street is also closed at the intersection of Bald Hill Road.

Detours are in place. See our Works notice for more information.

Works are ongoing to create a more efficient transport network for Pakenham, reducing bottlenecks, improving connectivity and safety for all road users. Visit the Pakenham projects page on Big Build to find out more about the projects and disruptions in your area.

Mother’s Day at The Heritage Shopping Centre

In May, the Pakenham Roads Upgrade team ran another exciting Spin & Win pop up at The Heritage Shopping Centre to celebrate Mother’s Day.

Local shoppers enjoyed prizes from every spin and got the chance to speak directly with our team to learn more about the project and upcoming works.

A huge thank you to everyone who came for a chat, supported their local traders, and celebrated Mother’s Day with us. Congratulations to all the lucky winners! Please continue to support your local traders at the Heritage Shopping Centre.

Building bridges with local school students

This month, the Pakenham Roads Upgrade team had the privilege of visiting ECG College and Pakenham Library’s after-school STEAM Club to teach young engineers about how we build bridges.

The team showed the students at the sessions what it takes to build a bridge on a road project, also talking about their roles on the project and their career paths to encourage the budding engineers.

Taking inspiration from our project’s new Princes Freeway bridge, Pakenham’s newest apprentices brought out their hidden talent for construction and had no problems creating their own model bridges from household materials.