Traffic is now flowing on the Ranford Road Bridge in Perth, with the first two lanes of the bridge now open to traffic.
The bridge is being delivered by the NEWest Alliance, comprising CPB Contractors and Downer, as part of the $716 million Thornlie-Cockburn Link project.
The 17.5-kilometre Thornlie-Cockburn Link will be Perth’s first east-west cross line connection, making travel around the city by train more flexible and providing a higher level of public transport service to Perth’s southern suburbs.
It will also provide direct access to employment, sporting and recreation opportunities at Canning Vale, Cannington Strategic Metropolitan Centre, Burswood Peninsula and the eastern Central Business District.
The switching of traffic over part of the new Ranford Road Bridge will allow for demolition works to begin on the old bridge. This will clear the way for the completion of the entire Ranford Road Bridge project.
The new bridge is higher and longer than the original, allowing the four tracks to be laid underneath for METRONET Thornlie-Cockburn Link.
When completed, the bridge will provide six general traffic lanes (three in each direction), plus a dedicated bus lane and shared path for pedestrians and cyclists on each side, catering for an estimated average of 43,000 vehicles a day.
WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the Ranford Road Bridge would provide employment, as well as improved road conditions for locals.
“The METRONET Thornlie-Cockburn Link supports around 1680 Western Australian jobs, and these works are just one example of the ways our projects support local workers and manufacturers in WA,” Saffioti said.
“Ranford Road Bridge will be a game changer for this area, future-proofing the road network ahead of a projected increase in demand for access to surrounding businesses, industrial areas and of course the future Thornlie-Cockburn Link train station at Ranford Road.”
Southern River Member of the Legislative Assembly Terry Healy said the switch was necessary to ensure that works on the project can continue.
“The new Ranford Road Bridge is a critical part of the overall Thornlie-Cockburn Link project and having traffic switch over is a really critical milestone,” Healy said. “Now that traffic has switched over, demolition of the old bridge can begin, which will is essential to the delivery of the project.”
Seven locally manufactured 50-metre beams have been installed, with three more beams to be installed next year, to pave the way for bridge completion.
When the Thornlie-Cockburn Link is complete in 2024, passengers using Ranford Road Station will be able to travel to Perth in about 29 minutes.
To allow the Thornlie and Cockburn station connections to happen, the existing Mandurah Line tracks will be shifted further apart during a shutdown from December 26 to January 14.
This will allow the new Thornlie-Cockburn Line tracks to be built in between them.
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- Tunnel built in 2000 being used in the Thornlie-Cockburn Link construction
- METRONET unveils designs for Perth’s Morley Station Precinct
- Design unveiled for METRONET’s Whiteman Park Station