By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
DUPLICATION works to remove the level crossing at Thompsons Road in Cranbourne North are set to start later this year.
Stage one of the vital east-west corridor upgrade is estimated to cost $79.4 million, with a contract to be awarded in September.
Cranbourne MP Jude Perera announced the upgrade in early April, saying: “Labor started the much needed duplication of Thompsons Road Project and Labor will finish it”.
The first stage of construction will see three lanes built from Marriott Boulevard to the South Gippsland Highway in each direction and removal of the level crossing.
VicRoads has called Thompsons Road an “essential freight and transport route”, which carries around 26,000 vehicles each day.
The upgrade is set to significantly improve traffic flow and improve connectivity.
VicRoads has conducted traffic data collection, strategic traffic modelling, field feature surveys, site geotechnical investigations and environmental investigations.
And design refinement and micro simulation traffic modelling are underway to inform the project options for the remaining sections of the upgrade.
Mr Perera has advised a business case for the remaining sections has been submitted to the government, and the scope for the second stage will be announced in May 2016.
