As one of four additional level crossing removal projects for the Lilydale line, the Bedford Road design has just been released to Ringwood residents.
A 380 metre rail trench will be built, taking trains underneath Bedford Road and replacing the existing level crossing where boom gates are down for 23 minutes during morning peak for the 13,500 vehicles using the road each day.
Announced by the Victorian government in 2021, the Bedford Road project joins Coolstore Road in Croydon, Dublin Road in Ringwood East and Cave Hill Road in Lilydale.
In total, 12 level crossings will be removed on the Lilydale and Belgrave lines, with six already gone for good and two underway at Union Road in Surrey Hills and Mont Albert Road in Mont Albert.
This will make the Lilydale line level crossing free by 2025 and the Belgrave Line level crossing free between Ferntree Gully and the city.
“We are getting on with the job of removing 85 of Melbourne’s most dangerous and congested level crossings to improve safety and reduce travel time in our suburbs,” Transport infrastructure minister Jacinta Allan said.
“The Bedford Road level crossing causes traffic chaos during peak hour and removing it will not only make our roads safer but also pave the way for more trains, more often on the Belgrave and Lilydale Lines.”
Local residents have also been given the chance to provide feedback on designs for screens that will be installed where the road crosses the trench and landscaping at a revitalised Bedford Park entry.
Although the team has worked hard to minimise the impact of works on nearby land and every effort has been made to ensure residents and businesses won’t be impacted, four properties will be acquired.
These properties must be acquired to allow us to safely build the rail trench, and it is the only solution that minimises the impact on essential infrastructure nearby, including the rail junction at Ringwood Station and the Ringwood train stabling yards.
Property acquisitions are never easy. The Level Crossing Removal Project has attempted to contact affected owners and residents, who will be supported by the project throughout the process.
Other design solutions, such as elevating the rail line, would have impacted more properties and required more road and rail disruptions during construction.
The project team will continue site investigations and community engagement at Bedford Road throughout 2022, with major construction to start in 2023 and the boom gates gone for good by 2025.
