Craigieburn Bypass

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The Craigieburn Bypass is a 17 kilometre four lane freeway bypass of the traffic-clogged Hume Highway between Campbellfield and Craigieburn in Melbourne's northern suburbs. The bypass starts at the Metropolitan Ring Road, Thomastown and merges with the Hume Highway north of Craigieburn. The Bypass is intended to replace the frequently gridlocked Hume Highway as the main entry road into Melbourne for rural or interstate visitors. The bypass is officially signed as a section of the Hume Freeway, and carries the National Route M31 shield.

The road attracted some opposition by several local governments in the northern suburbs, including the City of Darebin and the City of Moreland, as well as local environmental groups. Their objections were not accepted by the state government [1] and the project went ahead.

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[edit] Benefits

Compared with driving down the Hume Highway through Craigieburn, Somerton and Campbellfield, the Craigieburn Bypass has the following benefits to motorists:

  • Vehicles avoid 12 sets of traffic lights along the new section of road, which reduces the travel time from Craigieburn to Campbellfield.
  • Travel times dropped by around thirty minutes during peak times by using the freeway.
  • Improved road safety for motorists accessing businesses and homes along and near the Hume Highway.
  • Improved access for the freight industry - it will be possible for trucks to leave the industrial area of Sydney and travel non-stop to the southern tip of Melbourne. The new location for the Melbourne Wholesale Markets will be located within close proximity with the Craigieburn Bypass.

[edit] Features

Along with the standard four lane freeway with interchanges, the freeway features a number of notable items which were included with the construction of the freeway.

Noise Walls: More than four kilometres of noise barriers have been installed between the roadway and surrounding residential areas.

The Northern Lights: A high-tech display lighting system that has been installed along an acrylic wall. The wall uses a combination of red, green and blue Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) mounted on transparent Acryllic to deliver an array of blended colours at nightfall. The feature wall is believed to be the first installation of this type anywhere in the world.

Barry Road Pedestrian Bridge: A pedestrian bridge has been built over the bypass and links the City of Whittlesea Public Gardens with the proposed Merri Creek linear park.

Shared Pathways: There is a shared pathway which runs along the length of the bypass, which is split into two lanes for pedestrian and cyclist usage. The pathway is around three metres East of the main roadway until Craigieburn Road East, whereupon it switches to the West side until the Amaroo Road bridge. The path crosses roads at three places:

  • Cooper Street (flat approach, traffic lights)
  • O'Herns Road (flat approach, underpass)
  • Craigieburn Road East (steep incline, traffic lights)

The path connects with the existing Metropolitan Ring Road path, from where it is possible to connect to the Merri Creek Trail, Western Ring Road Trail, the City of Whittlesea Public Gardens and Edgars Road.

[edit] Interchanges

Interchanges include:

It then flows into the existing Hume Freeway (M31) at Mt. Ridley Road.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links