Sunshine Avenue Safety Improvements, Sage Avenue to Old Calder Highway

Project update - July 2023

We’ve installed safety barriers on Sunshine Avenue between Sage Avenue in St Albans and Old Calder Highway Keilor to prevent run-off-road and head-on crashes.

In the coming months, crews will be on-site to repair safety barriers that have been hit by vehicles.

We’ll keep the community posted on construction timings when the repair works are scheduled in. The project is expected to be completed in late-2023.

What this means for you

Road users can expect the following during works:

• a reduced speed of 40km/h through the work site during construction hours, to protect both workers and drivers
• a reduced speed of 60km/h after hours to protect road users
• a five-minute travel delay on Sunshine Avenue and,
• two-way traffic and access to properties from Sunshine Avenue will be kept open. 

If you’re travelling through the area, keep an eye out for changed traffic conditions.

More Trees for a Cooler, Greener West

We’ve partnered with DELWP and Brimbank City Council to plant over 400 mature trees along Sunshine Avenue between Old Calder Highway and Sage Avenue.

Communities living along Sunshine Avenue will benefit from more tree canopy cover and greener spaces, thanks to the Victorian Government’s $5 million More Trees for a Cooler, Greener West Program.

Melbourne’s west region currently has the lowest tree canopy cover in Melbourne and the More Trees for a Cooler, Greener West Program will see more trees planted in Melbourne’s west over the next two years.

In order to safely install safety barriers on the road, a very limited number of existing trees were removed to allow for the safe installation of safety barriers.

We investigated all suitable alternatives to tree removal, balancing this with the critical need to improve safety for the community and road users.

The Department of Transport and Planning 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.

For more information about the More Trees for A Cooler, Greener West Program, visit the DELWP website here.

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What we're doing

To improve safety and reduce the risk of head-on and run-off-road crashes, we’re installing safety barriers along the left-hand side and centre median of the Sunshine Avenue, between Sage Avenue and Old Calder Highway.

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.

Road safety infrastructure such as safety barriers, wide centreline treatments and rumble strips help prevent the most common crash types, head-on and run-off-road collisions, which in 2015 were responsible for 40 per cent of Victoria’s road deaths and serious injuries. 

Background

Sunshine Avenue is a high-speed, high-volume road in Victoria’s metropolitan north west region, linking suburban Melbourne to the CBD.

Between January 2015 and December 2020, 52 crashes occurred on Sunshine Avenue between Sage Avenue and Old Calder Highway and twenty-two crashes caused serious injury. Tragically two people lost their lives.

Sunshine Avenue will be made safer as part of the Australian Government’s investment into the Road Safety Program, being delivered in partnership with the Victorian Government.

Get in touch

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

Email: [email protected]