Westall Road

Westall Road (also known as the Springvale Bypass) is a major north to south thoroughfare west of Springvale, Victoria, Australia.

Westall Road

Springvale Bypass

Victoria
General information
TypeRoad
Length6.8 km (4.2 mi)
Route number(s) State Route 49
Major junctions
North end
 
South end
Location(s)
Major suburbsClayton South, Dingley Village

Starting at the intersection with Princes Highway in Clayton, the road travels in a southerly direction, intersecting with Centre Road, an overpass of the Cranbourne and Pakenham railway lines and an intersection with Heatherton Road, all with a speed limit of 80 km/h. Westall Road then continues on as a semi-freeway standard road along the reservation of the Dingley Freeway with a speed limit of 80 km/h (formerly 100km/h until the Dingley Bypass was built). It continues as the Dandenong Bypass at Springvale Road and continues east to Cranbourne and Gippsland.

History

Historically before the reconstruction and extension works, Westall Road ran as a semi-major road from just south of the Dandenong Rail line at Westall Station to Heatherton Road, and as a minor road from the railway line to Centre Road. The previous thoroughfare consisted of taking McNaughton Road, Kombi Road and Rayhur Street.

The extensions north to Princes Highway and south to Springvale Road were designed to reduce traffic which travels through Springvale via Springvale Road, as it has a 70 km/h speed limit for most of its length in which it is bypassed as well as having a reduced 60 km/h limit through the Springvale shopping area with this dropping to 40 km/h during school times. Traffic is further delayed by the level crossing adjacent to Springvale Station, and the particularly slow Springvale Junction. The upgrade of Westall Road has allowed north-south through traffic to avoid this area.

Westall Road Southern Extension

The Westall Road Extension runs along the Dingley Arterial route from Heatherton Road to Springvale Road in Springvale South. It commenced construction in 1994 and was finished in 1995. The extension is also known as the Springvale Bypass.

The works involved creating a 2.8 km divided four lane (two lanes each way) semi-freeway standard road to bypass the busy and congested centre of Springvale. The extension involves constructing part of the Dingley Freeway to the future site of an interchange with Westall Road before travelling along a temporary alignment to join up with the extended Westall Road south of Heatherton Road. A speed limit of 100 km/h applied between Heatherton Road and Rowan Road from 1995 until 2015 when it was permanently changed to 80km/h as a result of the Dingley Bypass construction. The reason being VicRoads determined the stretch of road too short to have a limit of 100km/h. The limit had always been an 80 km/h limit on the approaches to Heatherton and Springvale Roads. A bicycle path was completed along the entire length of the road.

As a result of the Dingley Bypass, there is now a T-intersection in place close to Heatherton Road connecting both the bypass & Westall Road. Original plans were for a grade separation at this intersection.

Associated works included a northern extension of Westall Road from Rayhur Street, Springvale to Princes Highway in Clayton. Westall Road from Heatherton Road to Centre Road consisted of a two lane undivided road while the road from Centre Road to the Princes Highway was constructed as a six lane divided road. In order to enable Westall Road to truly serve as a high capacity alternative route to Springvale Road, the level crossing with the Cranbourne / Pakenham railway line was grade separated in conjunction with duplication works to upgrade Westall Road to a six lane divided road between Heatherton Road and Centre Road. These works were completed by April 2001.[1]

Major intersections
LocationkmmiDestinationsNotes
Springvale00.0 Princes Highway – Melbourne, Blackburn, DandenongNorthern terminus
0.750.47 Centre Road – Clayton, Dandenong North
1.71.1Dandenong railway line
2.11.3Fairbank Road / Brear Street – Clayton South
2.41.5Osborne Avenue – Springvale railway station
Springvale / Springvale South border4.02.5 Heatherton Road – Heatherton, Noble Park, Narre Warren NorthRoad name change: Westall Road north, Westall Road Extension south
Springvale South4.62.9 Dingley Bypass – Moorabbin, Hampton
Springvale South / Dingley Village / Keysborough border6.84.2 Dandenong Bypass (State Route 49) / Springvale Road (State Route 40) – Springvale, Glen Waverley, Edithvale, Dandenong SouthContinues east as Dandenong Bypass (State Route 49) to Dandenong South
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

 Australian roads portal

References
  1. VicRoads - Road Safety Management Page 5
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