Frankston station rebuild and Skye Road level crossing removal to be complete by mid June

In the merry-go-round of construction blitzes produced by the ongoing level crossing removal project, it's the Frankston line's turn with multiple rail line shutdowns to occur within May and June.

Spring Street announced that between the 4th and 27th of May buses will replace trains between Frankston & Carrum as well as the entire Stony Point railway line.

Between the 28th of May and the 17th of June, buses will replace trains between Frankston and Kananook station and between Leawarra and Frankston on the Stony Point line.

The shutdowns in May and June are linked to works required to complete the new Frankston Station and the Skye/Overton Road level crossing removal project.

Minister for Public Transport, Jacinta Allan, referred to the 'out-of-the-box thinking' which is going into the Skye/Overton Road removal project - viaduct components will be built and transported to site from Kilmore outside of peak times.

"It's exciting to see the project team thinking outside the box with this unique bridge design, which will be part of delivering more trains more often for Frankston line passengers".

According to a Spring Street media release, the new rail bridge will comprise "24 u-shaped viaducts - each bigger than a blue whale and weighing 280 tonnes each - will be transported on a 72 metre-long truck from a Kilmore factory to the work site in Frankston."

The segments of the viaduct will then be prepared on site and specialist heavy-lifting machinery will jack them into place.

Frankston station is being overhauled as we reported back in February when construction commenced.  The Genton Architecture-designed proposal was selected as part of an architectural competition which was overseen by the Office of Victorian Government Architect.

The May-June shutdowns also co-ordinate all the level crossing removal and station removal projects at the southern end of the line and focus then shifts northwards.

The Premier and Minister for Public Transport on the same day as announcing the May-June construction blitz also visited Carrum where works have begun on the extension of the new Station Street bridge across the Patterson River.

Carrum will see a new elevated station and its existing train stabling facilities are being moved to a site right near Kananook & the Skye Road/Overton Road level crossing removal project.

At Carrum, Macleod Road will be extended directly under the new elevated track and connect with the Nepean Highway which allows the existing 'dog's leg' level crossing connecting Station Street and the Nepean Highway to be removed and according to the Level Crossing Removal Authority, the traffic research done to inform the design will negate the need to replace the Eel Race Road level crossing.

The Eel Race Road level crossing will simply be closed and a new pedestrian connection under the rail line will be built.