Taking field trips to the next level, Pakenham MP Emma Vulin met with a group of ECG Secondary College students to tour the new bridge over the Princes Freeway, which opened as part of the Pakenham Roads Upgrade.
On Tuesday 20 August, Vulin and Major Road Projects Victoria invited the eager students from the college out to the site of the new Healesville-Kooweerup Road bridge, which opened to traffic on Monday 26 August.
Seeing Pakenham’s next big bridge take shape, the students were given an exclusive behind-the-barriers opportunity to visit and experience a real working construction site, learn from the project engineers, and get a taste of life in construction.
“It was great to meet with ECG Secondary College students on the new Healesville-Kooweerup Road bridge. We all learnt lots about the project,” Vulin said.
“We’ve seen the Big Build not only transform Pakenham’s road and rail infrastructure and the way we get around, but also to help provide Victorians with career pathways in construction.
“For these young men and women, field trips like this help give them a sneak peek into life in major construction and hopefully inspire their career ambitions into the future.”
Project engineers demonstrated the methods used to construct the new bridge, including building the new entry and exit ramps to the freeway, in a bid to increase career awareness by helping students understand more about engineering and construction on large-scale infrastructure projects.
Vulin and project members discussed the importance of the upgrade to the local community and career paths in infrastructure, with many apprentices, trainees and cadets employed on the project as part of the Victorian Government’s Major Projects Skills Guarantee (MPSG).
The MPSG policy helps create opportunities for Victorian apprentices, trainees and cadets to work on some of Victoria’s biggest building and infrastructure projects. The Pakenham Roads Upgrade has seen 86 cadets, apprentices and trainees employed on the project so far, gaining valuable industry experience on this major road upgrade.
The Pakenham Roads Upgrade is steaming ahead on major upgrades to Healesville-Kooweerup Road and McGregor Road.
Once the new bridge opens, traffic will run on the newly built lanes on Healesville-Kooweerup Road as crews move to upgrade the remaining half of the freeway interchange. In the coming months, the freeway roundabouts on Healesville-Kooweerup Road will be transformed into traffic light intersections making it easier and quicker for the growing Pakenham population to enter and exit the Princes Freeway.
While works to finish building the new intersections are in progress, there will be ongoing closures of the eastern freeway ramps on Healesville-Kooweerup Road.
Elsewhere on the project, works to upgrade the southbound lanes on McGregor Road and the Webster Way intersection are on track to be completed by late September.
Crews will then begin works to upgrade the city-bound freeway entry ramp on McGregor Road. The Pakenham Roads Upgrade will widen the ramp to add an extra lane and restore the ramp traffic signals, making it easier for drivers to enter the Princes Freeway.
