What’s been happening
Now that barriers and fencing are in place marking out our work areas, we’ve started stripping top soil and moving dirt around to build the upgraded intersection of Yan Yean, Bridge Inn and Doctors Gully roads.
Last November, we selected McConnell Dowell as our preferred delivery partner to build the upgrade between Orchard Road and Kurrak Road. We’re now working together to refine the design of this section of the project to deliver the best possible outcomes for the community.
Through this process, we’ll identify where we can protect more trees, include new safety features for residents and drivers, and reduce the amount of land needed to build all the new lanes and paths. While we do this, we make sure that we’re considering all our Environmental Performance Requirements along the way.
Safety first
We’ve reduced speed limits around our current works area to 40km/h to keep you and our workers safe while we build the upgrade.
This reduced speed limit will be in place even when we’re not actively working. While we build the upgrade there will be long-term changes to road conditions, including reduced lane widths, concrete safety barriers and deep excavation behind barriers. Slower speeds in these conditions allows drivers more time to see and react to any hazards, keeping you and the community safer.
These changes to the speed limits during construction incorporate nearby school zones to ensure consistency for drivers, parents and students on:
- Yan Yean Road between Cookes Road and Jorgenson Avenue
- Doctors Gully Road between Yan Yean Road and Government Road.
What’s coming up
Now we’ve removed most of the trees we need to for the upgrade near the roundabout, we’ll start to install new drainage for the intersection, remove trees, and move both underground and above ground utilities like power, water and telecommunications out of the way of the new lanes and paths.
We’re looking forward to sharing our design between Orchard Road and Kurrak Road early in the coming months. Stay tuned for opportunities to meet the team when we’re out and about by signing up for email updates.
How we’ll build the new upgrade
When we build new roads, we dig down deep below the finished surface of the road and build back up with layers of different types of crushed rock that won’t sink or swell in different weather conditions. Then, we place layers of asphalt over these rock layers to build the road surface that will bear the vehicles that drive through the area every day.
Many of the pipes and cables that deliver essential services such as water, power and gas to your home are found next to the road and need to be moved before we start building the layers of the road. We work with service providers to plan their new location and move them in a way that minimises disruptions to you.
In some cases, like for telecommunications that provide internet and phone services to your home, we can install new tubes underground, and run new cables through the tubing before we connect them up at either end to the existing systems. If we need services to cross existing roads, or pass under the root zones of valued trees, we’ll use trenchless technology such as miniature boring machines.
When we work close to trees, we can also use techniques to ensure that root systems are not damaged, such as hydroexcavation.
This involves using high-pressure streams of water to expose tree roots and soften the soil, allowing it to be sucked up into a vacuum truck and creating the space needed to install new pipes.
