Frequently Asked Questions
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Frequently Asked Questions Dingley Bypass Updated August 2014 Created by: Rayna Mishra QD#2495212 What is the Dingley Bypass project? The Dingley Bypass will be a 6.4km arterial road, three lanes each way between Warrigal Road, Moorabbin and Westall Road, Dingley Village. The Bypass forms part of the Dingley Corridor, which was earmarked for road works approximately 50 years ago. Several sections along the 19km road reservation have already been built. The bypass will complement current works from Springvale Road to Perry Road in Keysborough. When will construction start and when will the project be completed? Construction is expected to start in mid 2014 and is expected to be complete by late 2016. How much will the project cost? The State Government has committed a total of $155.7 million for the construction of the project. What are the main benefits of this project? When completed, the Dingley Bypass will reduce congestion and improve travel times and safety by separating local traffic from through traffic and creating better connections and access. The Dingley Bypass is vital to accommodate the rapidly growing industrial and commercial areas in south east Melbourne. Dandenong is one of the fastest growing industrial areas in Melbourne, so it’s important that we plan for this future development. How much of the Dingley Corridor is already complete? Westall Road Extension - 2.8km section from Heatherton Road to Springvale Road South Road Extension – 1km section from Warrigal Road to Old Dandenong Road (single carriageway) Dandenong Bypass (part of Eastlink) – 4.7km section between South Gippsland Highway and Perry Road Who owns the land you are planning to build the road on? Will you need to buy my property? The Bypass forms part of the Dingley Corridor, which was earmarked for road works approximately 50 years ago. VicRoads owned around 70 per cent of the reservation with some land acquisition required in addition to this. VicRoads has already liaised with any affected property owners regarding the construction of the bypass. If you have any further enquiries regarding your property, please contact the project team. Why isn’t the entire route completed in one go? VicRoads needs to balance the needs of this project against other road priorities around the state. Each section of the Dingley Corridor has been carefully planned and budgeted before construction starts. Why isn’t the road built to a freeway standard now? The Dingley Corridor has been built progressively in different sections so that the new arterial roads could provide improved local access to the new roads. The new arterial standard sections of the Dingley Corridor are constructed in a practical way for the present, but do not rule out upgrading the entire route to a freeway-standard road in the future. Will there be any changes to access? The Dingley Bypass will largely be constructed away from live roads. There will be access available to the bypass from selected intersecting streets to provide a connection for the local community. The access to the South Road service road to Kings Way will be modified to be accessed via the slip lane from Warrigal Road onto South Road. To allow for a better flow of traffic, some roads will need to be closed where they intersect with the Dingley Bypass. These include: Old Dandenong Road near Burke Road, with access to this area available via Clarinda Road Old Boundary Road near Kingston Road, with access available via Boundary Road Grange Road just south of Kingston Road, with access available via Heatherton and Junction Roads. Elder Street South was previously identified to be closed, however the Dingley Bypass will now be built approximately four metres over the street as an overpass, and Elder Street South will become an underpass to allow an ongoing connection to Old Dandenong Road. Will the project construction impact pedestrian and cyclist access? All new paths will be constructed and connected to existing paths, VicRoads expects minimal, if any, disruptions to pedestrian and cyclist access. There may be a temporary closure of the Barkers Street underpass, however any changes or restrictions to access will be minimised as much as possible, and if required, alternative arrangements for pedestrians and cyclists will be in place. What facilities will there be for cyclists and pedestrians? A new shared path will run alongside the Dingley Bypass to provide pedestrians and cyclists with a connection to existing cycle and pedestrian paths in the area. The path will be approximately three wide and will have safe signalised crossings available at each intersection with the bypass, and will also connect Warrigal Road in Moorabbin to Westall Road in Dingley Village. Will the project construction impact on property access? There should be minimal, if any, impact to property access due to the upgrade works. Any affected residents will be notified before work start if unexpected work may impact on their property access. Close communication with affected residents and businesses will be ongoing throughout the project. Have you consulted the community? Community consultation was undertaken in 2011 to provide an opportunity for local residents to ask questions and gain an understanding of the proposed plans, with survey results showing support for the project to go ahead. Consultation with land owners and businesses in the area continued through 2012 and 2013 regarding updates into the project design and the additional detail around noise wall locations, local road closures and vegetation removal. The scope of the project is now approved and funded, and the community will be kept updated with the progress of works. What has VicRoads done with the feedback from the community? VicRoads collected feedback from the community during the consultation process. This has been used to help the project team understand the communities concerns and needs for the Dingley Bypass project and has fed this information into the current design of the road. Examples of incorporating feedback into our design include: Inclusion of noise attenuation where applicable in the project scope. Minimising impact on native vegetation by refining the intersection design at Westall Road intersection Not truncating Rowan Road and Spring Road, though some access restrictions at these intersections are still likely. Use of underpasses, which has been included at Elder Street South Designing the Dingley Bypass to not preclude future upgrade to a freeway. Will the road be noisy? VicRoads appreciates that the bypass will be a change particularly to residents living directly next to the new road. Traffic and noise modelling has been undertaken for the project and areas where the noise levels will exceed noise level objective limits detailed in the VicRoads Noise Policy will have noise attenuation provided. Noise is an environmental factor which affects everyone differently. If you would like to know more about the impact of the bypass on your property, please contact the project team. How will you determine where noise walls are required? During the preconstruction stage of the project, independent noise monitoring, modelling and analysis was undertaken to determine the current noise levels as well as the predicted noise levels after the road is built. Detailed noise modelling has been undertaken to predict noise levels along the bypass up to 2026, calculated as an 18 hour average between the hours of 6am- 12am and factoring in traffic growth during this time. For areas where noise levels are predicted to exceed noise level objective limits detailed in the VicRoads Noise Policy near residences, noise walls will be constructed to mitigate against this noise. Noise walls are expected to be built on the north side of the alignment from Old Dandenong Road to Elder Street, as well as from Tootal Road to Westall Road, using durable steel panels. An approximately one kilometre section of noise wall along the South Road extension will also be upgraded, and will complement the noise walls along the Dingley Bypass. How high will the noise walls be outside my property? Detailed noise modelling has been undertaken to predict noise levels along the bypass up to 2026. For areas where noise levels are predicted to exceed noise level objective limits detailed in the VicRoads Noise Policy near residences and businesses, noise walls will be constructed to mitigate against this noise. Noise walls are likely to vary in height between two and four metres, depending on the level of noise attenuation required. What colour will they be? Do we have a say in the colour of the noise walls? The colours will be Colorbond ‘Jasper’ on the road side and ‘Woodland Grey’ on the residential side. What impacts can I expect during construction? During the construction period, there will be some changes required to existing traffic conditions to facilitate the construction of the bypass. VicRoads will work closely with all stakeholders to ensure commuters are aware of the construction works and alternative arrangements well in advance. Due to the nature of construction and the machinery used, some dust and noise is expected. VicRoads and its contractor will aim to minimise the effects of noise and dust on local businesses and residents level as much as practicable. Will I be able to see the road? The project will incorporate a landscape and urban design which will include vegetation and barriers. If you would like to know what may be visible to you once construction is complete, please contact the project team to discuss. Trees will be planted as part of the project landscaping, however these will take time to grow. Will people be able to see into my house? As sections of the new road will be raised, there may be some line of sight into private properties, however this will be addressed though the use of plantings to screen properties from view as required.