The Pakenham Roads Upgrade has delivered an early Christmas present to motorists, with new lanes opening on the Princes Freeway and new traffic light intersections in place on Healesville-Kooweerup Road, replacing the old roundabouts on each side of the Princes Freeway.
Removing the old roundabouts and building signalised intersections has improved traffic flow, increased safety, and made it easier for motorists to get on and off the freeway.
With the top layer of asphalt now down on Princes Freeway, the new lanes between McGregor Road and Healesville-Kooweerup Road will open this week, with speed limits increasing to their permanent limit of 100km/h.
It comes as speed limits on Healesville-Kooweerup Road between Greenhills Road and Manks Road have been increased to the permanent limit of 100km/h.
It follows the opening of the new bridge over the Princes Freeway earlier this year, which has created greater capacity for motorists coming in and out of Pakenham’s employment and business precinct.
It’s been a big year on the Pakenham Roads Upgrade, with crews laying almost 30,000 tonnes of asphalt; placing over 212,000 tonnes of dirt, rock and clay; and installing over 14km of new drainage.
Crews have also clocked over 600,000 work hours on the Pakenham Roads Upgrade to date – the equivalent of nearly 16,000 working weeks.
Looking forward to 2025, works are set to wrap up on McGregor Road, with the upgraded McGregor Road citybound freeway entry ramp complete with an additional lane and ramp signals set to open to traffic in March 2025.
The ramp will be closed from Tuesday 14 January until early March to allow crews to safely build the third lane on the ramp.
Drivers travelling to the city can detour via Southeast Boulevard and Healesville-Kooweerup Road to use the recently upgraded freeway interchange, or via Henry Road to enter the freeway from Cardinia Road.
Major construction is also set to start on Racecourse Road in 2025. Work areas have been established along Racecourse and Bald Hill roads and crews continue to relocate utility services ahead of major works kicking off in early 2025.
From February, there will be some changes to the way motorists move around Bald Hill Road to allow work to start on the new lanes that will form part of the new traffic light intersection.
Bald Hill Road will be closed to westbound traffic between O’Sullivan Street and Healesville-Kooweerup Road, while on the other side of the roundabout, traffic will run on a temporary lane with through traffic encouraged to use Henry Street. To keep traffic moving, right turns will temporarily be allowed out of Peet Street onto Healesville-Kooweerup Road.
For more information on works happening in Pakenham, visit bigbuild.vic.gov.au/projects/roads/pakenham-roads-upgrade
The Pakenham Roads Upgrade is an Australian government-funded project being delivered by Major Road Projects Victoria, and will see reduced bottlenecks and improved traffic flow; safer outcomes for all road users; better connections to and from the Princes Freeway and the rapidly expanding Pakenham Employment Corridor, as well as to the town centre.
It is part of a wider investment in improving transport infrastructure in Pakenham including level crossing removals at Racecourse Road, McGregor Road and Main Street, 2 new train stations in Pakenham and upgrades to Healesville-Kooweerup Road.
