Stud Road, between Dunbarton Drive and Heatherton Road

Stud Road will be made safer thanks to the Australian and Victorian Government’s investment into vital safety upgrades on 80km/h roads in outer Melbourne, in partnership with the Transport Accident Commission.

Project update - December 2022

We’re installing flexible safety barriers along the left-hand side and centre median of Stud Road between Dunbarton Drive and Heatherton Road to reduce the risk of run-off-road and head-on collisions.

Crews have carried out service location works, vegetation removal and barrier installation works on Stud Road.

To minimise disruption during the busy holiday season, construction on this project will pause on 20 December 2022 and crews will be back onsite on 9 January 2023. 

During this time, the speed limit on Stud Road between Dunbarton Drive and Heatherton Road will return to the posted speed limit. Please continue to obey existing signage and drive safely.

Construction is expected to be completed by mid-2023. 

What this means for you

From 9 January 2022, crews will be onsite on Mondays to Fridays at 9.30am to 3.30pm and on Saturdays at 7am to 3pm. 

Some service location works will be undertaken at night on Sundays to Thursdays from 9:30pm to 6:30am.

During works, road users can expect the following disruptions: 

• a reduced speed of 40km/h through the work site during construction hours to protect both workers and drivers, and return to the posted speed limit after construction hours 
• single lane closures in both directions during construction hours
• access to properties from Stud Road will be kept open at all times
• intervals of low to medium levels of dust and noise during construction hours

Construction will finish at 12 noon on the day prior to a public holiday to minimise disruption to commuters during busy holiday periods.

We’re undertaking service location works along Stud Road to identify underground utility services to ensure safe barrier installation. We will not install barriers in locations where utility services are located below the road and are at risk of being disrupted or damaged.

If you’re travelling through the area, keep an eye out for changed traffic conditions, plan ahead and allow extra travel time.

We thank you for your patience while we complete these important safety improvements.

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Why we're doing it

Stud Road between Dunbarton Drive to Heatherton Road is a high-speed, high-volume road linking several south-eastern suburbs to the Melbourne CBD. 

Between 2016 and 2020, 22 accidents occurred on Stud Road between Dunbarton Drive and Heatherton Road and 12 crashes caused serious injury. Tragically two people lost their lives.  

Infrastructure plays a vital role in preventing serious crashes. It also helps to reduce the severity of crashes when they’re unavoidable.

Mistakes happen, which as humans we can’t always avoid. What we can do is build more forgiving road infrastructure so that when a mistake does happen on the road, it doesn’t cost a life.

Environmental sustainability 

To make these important safety improvements, we’ll need to remove a minimal number of trees along Stud Road between Heatherton Road and Dunbarton Drive to allow room for the safety barriers to work effectively and provide space for drivers to pull over in an emergency. We’ll revaluate tree removal prior to barrier installation and work to limit tree removal where possible.  

Prior to vegetation removal, our project team investigate and try to retain existing trees and vegetation, balancing this with the critical need to improve safety to reduce road trauma and save lives.

To offset tree removal and add more vegetation in the area as part of this project, we’re investigating opportunities to work with local councils and community groups to plant native trees and shrubs on Stud Road along the centre median, as well as investigating tree repurposing opportunities. 

The Department of Transport continues to look for ways to improve green spaces along arterial roads where possible while creating better connections for Victorians, as part of our ongoing commitment to supporting greener communities and improving environmental sustainability.

Background

These upgrades are being delivered by the Department of Transport in partnership with the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and Australian Government’s Road Safety Program, to deliver safer, connected journeys in Victoria, while supporting our economic recovery.

The Australian and Victorian Governments have an ongoing commitment to improving road safety for all Australians and reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads. 

Through the Road Safety Program, we’ll see improvements with the highest safety benefits on state highways and arterial roads. This includes shoulder sealing and rumble strips to support the safe return of vehicles from the shoulder into the travel lane, targeted safety barriers to prevent run-off-road crashes, traffic calming treatments to make our local streets safer, and electronic speed limit signs in busy pedestrian areas to create a safer environment.

Get in touch

For more information about this project, please get in touch.

Email: [email protected]