Diggers come in all sizes and colours for the Flynn Drive realignment project.
Camera IconDiggers come in all sizes and colours for the Flynn Drive realignment project. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Road on the level

Lucy Jarvis, North Coast TimesNorth Coast Times

About a dozen machines moved through an 800m cutting adjacent to Wanneroo Road when the Times visited the construction site recently.

Since work started on stage one in February, civil construction company Brierty has excavated three-quarters of a mound that sat up to 8.8m above the future road level.

Its scrapers have shifted the limestone and soil into a dip that is about 8m lower than the road level at its deepest point.

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Altogether, the City of Wanneroo expects about 67,000 cubic metres of excavated material will be used as fill, with another 35,500 cubic metres to be imported.

Another 55,000 cubic metres of top soil was removed, and the current contract includes laying 1024m of storm drainpipes, about 20,000sq m of asphalt and 1845m of kerbing.

The civil construction company has up to 15 people on site each day, operating a range of machines, including dozers with scrapers, two compactors, dump trucks and a water cart.

Currently, the project covers an 800m stretch adjacent to Wanneroo Road, although the master plan for the Flynn Drive realignment would eventually see a dual carriageway lead east to the Neerabup industrial area.

The City’s infrastructure director Dennis Blair said work in progress included rock excavation of high areas, filling low areas and clearing on Wanneroo Road.

He said widening works on Wanneroo Road would follow, then reconstruction of the junction with Flynn Drive, where they will install traffic signals, streetlights, line marks and signs.

‘(They will) remove the existing Wanneroo Road-Flynn Drive intersection and construct a cul-de-sac at the south end of existing Flynn Drive,’ Mr Blair said.

‘Work on Wanneroo Road will be constructed in two stages so that traffic in both directions will be maintained without interruption.

‘A detailed traffic management plan has been prepared by the contractor and was subsequently approved by the City as well as Main Roads WA. In general, the speed limit on Wanneroo Road will be reduced to ensure safe driving environment for the road users.’

Mr Blair said they had spent about $0.9 million so far of the total project cost of $5.5 million.

‘The original plan allowed for commissioning the traffic lights and opening the intersection for traffic by early July,’ he said.

‘As a result of delays in granting clearing permit by Main Roads WA to clear native vegetation along Wanneroo Road, it is likely that the opening of the intersection for traffic will be delayed to the end of July.’

Mr Blair said impacts on traffic on Flynn Drive would continue where the re-aligned section tied in with the existing road.