The new Akuna Drive link road in Melbourne is now open, which the Victorian Government said will provide a safer connection between Newport and Williamstown. 

Linking Champion Road to Maddox Road, Akuna Drive includes parking for up to 80 vehicles along the road, along with an additional 50 spaces on Park Crescent. 

The road forms part of a broader project to remove two “dangerous” level crossings at Maddox and Champion roads, reducing congestion and improving safety by separating trains from vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. 

With the link road now in operation, a two-week construction blitz is now underway to deliver new passenger rail bridges over Maddox Road. 

Buses will replace trains between Newport and Werribee from the night of Friday April 10 through to the last service on Friday April 24, as crew build the new rail bridges and install a pedestrian and cycling bridge over Champion Road, which is expected to open in mid-April. 

Champion Road will permanently close at the rail line from Friday April 10. A shuttle bus will operate to help locals safely cross the rail corridor until the new pedestrian and cycling bridge opens. 

When passenger services resume on the Werribee Line on Saturday April 25, trains will also return to the Altona Loop and begin running on the new elevated bridges over Maddox Road. Work will then continue on a third rail bridge, which will carry freight trains later this year. 

In total, five level crossings will be removed across Melbourne’s inner west at Newport, Altona, Spotswood and Yarraville, making the Werribee Line boom gate free by 2030.