By CASEY NEILL
A DEADLY Dandenong South level crossing will be among five in Greater Dandenong to go if the Labor Party wins next year’s state election.
Opposition leader Daniel Andrews last week said the Abbotts Road crossing, where two people have died in the past five years following vehicle-train collisions, would be gone by 2022 under Project 10,000.
Those on Noble Park’s Heatherton, Chandler and Corrigan roads and the South Gippsland Highway in Dandenong are also among the top 50 in Victoria earmarked for removal.
Cash for the plan would come from a long-term lease of the Port of Melbourne.
Greater Dandenong Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Scott Roberts said the project underway to move the rail line under the road at Springvale Road, Springvale, would have enormous benefits for motorists and reduce emergency services’ response times.
Sen Sgt Roberts and his crew attend “the occasional train versus car” collision.
“And they’re usually pretty bad,” he said.
“Separating vehicles from trains has to be a positive.
“When you can remove that risk, it will benefit commuters on the train and also the motorists.
“When car and train don’t collide, it means commuters get to where they’re going on time.”
Sen Sgt Roberts said grade separation could also alleviate congestion in central Noble Park, particularly at the Heatherton Road and Douglas Street junction.
“It’s a bit of a black spot for us for collisions with cars,” he said.
Opposition roads spokesman and Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan said congestion caused by boom gates being down at level crossings created major traffic delays and cost businesses millions of dollars in lost travel time.
Premier Denis Napthine agreed but said removing level crossings could not happen without significant disruption.
“It is in no-one’s interest to grid-lock the city and grind Melbourne’s trains to a halt,” he said.
“Labor’s claim that it could remove 50 crossings at once is a cruel hoax on Victorians.
“This ill-conceived proposal would see multiple train lines shut down for months, level crossings closed, alternative road routes hard to find and small businesses suffering.”
