Craigieburn Road Upgrade

Description

The Craigieburn Road upgrade project is the biggest road transport infrastructure project in Melbourne’s outer north. Fulton Hogan commenced construction in June 2021 and is expected to be completed by 2025.  Craigieburn Road is a critical link in Melbourne’s north, connecting 28,000 vehicles between the Hume Highway and Mickleham Road per day. The project is designed to meet the urbanisation of the fast-growing suburb of Craigieburn and will improve traffic flow, travel times and access to the Hume Highway.

Scope of work

Construction works include upgrading intersections and building extra lanes, walking, cycling and public transport connections on Craigieburn Road between Hume Highway and Mickleham Road.  To take advantage of lighter holiday traffic, a seven-week construction blitz was undertaken in early January 2023 to build a new freeway interchange and fast-track nine months of work. The section of Craigieburn Road between Hanson Road and the Hume Highway was closed to enable construction crews to work 24 hours a day which impacted residents and local businesses in the area. Two Comacon team members were brought in to support the community engagement for this period.

Approach

The Comacon team assisted Fulton Hogan’s Stakeholder Engagement and Communication team to notify the community of the upcoming construction blitz and engaged with them during the works including community door knocks, letterbox drops, information sessions for impacted residents and local business owners, stakeholder database management, the development of collateral and reporting. The team also provided ongoing support to the local traders at the Craigieburn Plaza including trader information sessions, health checks, campaigns and events, and responding to enquiries.

Highlights

The Comacon team assisted with an end-of-works event to celebrate the opening of the completed section of works. The major event (to thank the community for their patience) was attended by approximately 6,000 people. We supported the client with developing the event plan, coordinating with stakeholders and event organisers, promoting, and facilitating the event.   Our team positively worked with the community throughout the works to ensure they were kept informed of disruptions and changes in road access and we actively engaged to minimise impacts. We provided the community with timely, accurate and effective responses to issues. The Comacon team built and maintained a good relationship with local traders at the Craigieburn Plaza. This assisted in the successful delivery of the intensive work and was a great start to the year for the project.

Contacts

Eleanor Smith-Waters, Senior Consultant    

Rosa Aksharanugraha, Graduate Consultant

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