Things are going full pelt for the Armadale section of the Byford Rail Extension.
There has been a raft of changes for pedestrians and motorists in the Armadale CBD over the past week.
Armadale Road between Church and Railway Avenues has been reduced to a single lane in either direction with traffic slowed to the new 40kph limit.
The changes are expected to remain in place until midway through next year, when the entire project is expected to be wrapped up.
Right turns from Orchard Avenue onto Armadale Rd have been blocked until the end of this year.
And Streich Avenue traffic is being diverted onto Glastonbury Rd, to exit onto Armadale Rd from Fountains Court.
The reason for the changes to traffic conditions is because a new median strip will be constructed between the east and westbound lanes of Armadale Rd to accommodate columns that will support the elevated rail.
At completion, the reconfigured section of Armadale Road will have two lanes in each direction. In addition, eastbound traffic on Armadale Road will have a new turning lane into Streich Avenue.
From Orchard Ave, westbound traffic will have a longer slip lane to merge into traffic, and eastbound traffic will have more space in the new median strip, improving safety when joining Armadale Rd.
Church Ave between Commerce and Green Avenues was also closed from Monday, to allow for old rail infrastructure to be removed and the road rebuilt. The road is expected to reopen in three months. During the closure road users will be able to cross the rail line at Forrest Road to the north and Byron Road to the south.
Pedestrians can continue to cross the railway via a temporary crossing.
There has also been some progress on the Byron Rd level crossing saga.
Unfortunately, it will still be permanently closed in a few months’ time, with Metronet still sticking to their original justification that more trains on the line would create more headaches for road users, and removing the crossing would alleviate congestion and increase safety.
But Main Roads has now committed to improving the South West Highway intersections at Stone Street, Dickens Place and Eleventh Avenue.
These improvements include two new sets of traffic lights at Stone St and Eleventh Avenue.
There’ll also be additional north and southbound turning lanes to improve access from SW Highway into Dickens Place.
Metronet has said the intersection upgrades will be finished before they close the Byron Rd rail crossing midway through this year.
When that happens, temporary water barriers, fencing and signage will be placed across Byron Rd on both sides of the level crossing to prevent access during works. Signage will also be placed near the intersection of Wungong and Byron Rds to discourage vehicles from turning into Byron Rd.
