The 17km Craigieburn Bypass, linking the Hume Freeway near Mt. Ridley Road at Craigieburn, to the Metropolitan Ring Road at Thomastown, opened to traffic on Tuesday 20th December 2005.
The Federal Minister for Local Government, Territories, and Roads, Mr Jim Lloyd and the Victorian Minister for Transport, Mr Peter Batchelor officially opened the fully completed $306m Craigieburn Bypass at a community event held on the Bypass.
The Craigieburn Bypass is now the premier gateway to Melbourne from the north. It will reduce travel times, provide fuel savings to motorists and the freight industry, reduce traffic congestion, enhance road safety on the Hume Highway, and remove traffic from local roads such as High Street, Thomastown and Epping.
Construction started on the bypass in May 2002. The first four kilometres of the bypass from the Metropolitan Ring Road, at Thomastown to Cooper Street, Epping were opened to traffic in December 2004.
Start Date: May 2002
Completion Date: 20 December 2005
Cost: $306 million, funded by the Australian Government
Contractor: Abigroup Contractors Pty Ltd
Motorists can access the bypass at five interchanges.
- Enter the bypass to head north coming from either Greensborough or Tullamarine.
- Exit the bypass to head towards either Greensborough or Tullamarine.
- Enter the bypass coming from either Epping or Somerton to head south towards the Metropolitan Ring Road or north towards Sydney.
- Exit the bypass from either the south or the north to head towards either Epping or Somerton.
- Enter the bypass coming from either Mernda or Craigieburn to head south towards the Metropolitan Ring Road.
- Exit the bypass coming from the south to head towards Mernda or Craigieburn.
- Motorists cannot enter the bypass at Craigieburn Road East to head north or exit here when heading south.
- Enter the bypass to head south from either Grand Boulevard or Amaroo Road.
- Exit the bypass coming from the south to head towards Craigieburn or Donnybrook.
- Motorists cannot enter the bypass at Amaroo Road to head north or exit here when heading south.
- When travelling south from Sydney the Hume Freeway will automatically take motorists onto the bypass. To travel along the Hume Highway, motorists will need to take the first exit.
- Travelling north the bypass will join with the Hume Highway north of Mt. Ridley Road.
- Motorists can use the opening on Mt. Ridley Road to travel north on the Hume Highway.
- Motorists can use the lights at Grand Boulevard and the Hume Highway to travel south on the Hume Highway.
Please refer to the locality map of the bypass included for further detail.
Features of the project
Benefits of the project
Managing the environment
Involving the community
Protecting our cultural heritage
Contact information
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Noise barriers have been built alongside existing residential areas. Three distinct types of noise wall (shown below) have been designed to ensure traffic noise levels from the freeway are kept to an acceptable level in accordance with the VicRoads Traffic Noise Reduction Policy.
Situated alongside the Acrylic (Scrim) Wall and Concrete Wall are repeated concrete columns called Blue Louvres. Each louvre is rotated slightly to create the effect that the louvres are constantly moving as motorists travel by.
A major attraction of the bypass is the high-tech display lighting system that has been installed along the acrylic (Scrim) wall. The wall uses a combination of red, green and blue Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) 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.
A pedestrian bridge has been built over the bypass and links the City of Whittlesea Public Gardens with the proposed Merri Creek linear park. The pedestrian bridge also links to the shared pathway which runs along the length of the bypass. The bridge provides pedestrians and cyclists with a spectacular view of the city skyline and surrounding area.
A shared path has been built along the full length of the bypass for pedestrian and cyclist use. The path connects with the existing Metropolitan Ring Road path, the City of Whittlesea Public Gardens and the pedestrian bridge over the bypass.
The plant species used in the landscaping of the bypass were chosen to complement the surrounding native and indigenous landscape and to satisfy the preference of the local community and key stakeholders. More than 750,000 trees and shrubs have been planted along the bypass and shared path.
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The Craigieburn Bypass will deliver $1 billion worth of safety and economic benefits to Victoria, including:
- Reduced traffic congestion - motorists will avoid 13 sets of traffic lights along the Hume Highway between the Metropolitan Ring Road, Campbellfield and Mt. Ridley Road, Craigieburn
- Reduced travel times between Craigieburn and the Metropolitan Ring Road - it will now take approximately 10 minutes, not the usual 40 minutes it took along the Hume Highway in the average peak hour
- Improved road safety for motorists accessing businesses and homes along, and near, the Hume Highway
- Encouraging traffic to use the main road network rather than local roads
- Improved access for the freight industry transporting goods to markets
- Reduced fuel and vehicle operating costs for private motorists and for freight industries
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VicRoads is committed to protecting the environment in which the Craigieburn Bypass was constructed. A Project Environmental Protection Strategy was developed and incorporated requirements to manage environmental issues and ensure the environment was given high priority during both the construction of the bypass and now that it is in operation.
To protect Merri Creek and other local streams, the Craigieburn Bypass has included a number of water treatments.
Treatments such as wetlands, sedimentation basins and grass swales will capture pollutants such as oils, litter and other chemicals carried in road stormwater runoff before the water runs into the existing streams. The water treatments were designed to treat water during construction and also now that the bypass is open to traffic.
A number of endangered species have been identified in the vicinity of the Craigieburn Bypass. These are the southern bell frog, the striped legless lizard, and the grassland earless dragon.
VicRoads is committed to protecting all of these species. Special treatment has been given to preserving the southern bell frog’s habitat. A number of tunnels have been built under the bypass to allow the frogs and other small species to safely cross from one side of the bypass to the other. Mesh covers the entrance to these tunnels to stop predators such as foxes from using the crossings.
The wetland areas constructed also provide the southern bell frog with additional habitat areas along the bypass.
A number of protected flora were identified in the vicinity of the Craigieburn Bypass. The curly sedge and matted flax-lily are two such plants, which have been actively protected in the construction of the bypass. These plants were salvaged during the early stages of the project and were divided, propagated and replanted along the bypass.
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Throughout the construction period, VicRoads has provided updates on progress of the project via this website, displays at local community events and centres, and advertisements and reports in the local media.
To ensure that local community concerns were identified and addressed, the Local Community Advisory Group (LCAG) was formed. The group consisted of members from the local community, councillors and council officers from the Cities of Hume and Whittlesea, the Environment Protection Authority, the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne Water and VicRoads.
The LCAG played an important role in the development of the Craigieburn Bypass as it advised VicRoads about local matters and concerns that are important to the community.
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Before European colonisation, Melbourne was occupied by the Wurundjeri people. The Wurundjeri territory extends north of the city to the Great Dividing Ranges, east to Mt. Baw Baw, south to Mordialloc Creek and west to the Werribee River.
Melbourne’s waterways and swamps were central to the Wurundjeri people’s way of life as they provided a source of food such as eels and fish, and native animals and plants thrived on their fertile banks.
Areas along the Merri Creek are of great importance to the Wurundjeri people and VicRoads has worked with the Aboriginal community to preserve areas of cultural significance. VicRoads has conducted archaeological surveys and has incorporated management strategies to ensure any artefacts uncovered during construction, such as ground-edge axes, flaked stone tools and grinding stones, are salvaged and protected.
Commonwealth and State legislation protect all Aboriginal objects and places that are of particular significance to the local Aboriginal community.
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For more information on the Craigieburn Bypass contact:
Northern City Projects
814 Cooper St Somerton VIC 3062
Telephone: +61 3 9303 6100
Fax: +61 3 9303 6161
Email: cbpmail@roads.vic.gov.au
Telephone translation service: 131 450
The project office is open to the public Monday - Friday 9am to 5pm.
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