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Register for news updatesNew Hold-up for Western Port Trail
They have stopped working at the intersection of Frankston-Flinders and Hawkins roads, about halfway along. This was to have a signalised, pedestrian-activated crossing that would have been synchronised with the adjacent level crossing on the Stony Point railway line. 
“Council have experienced complications with the level crossing and the proposed (pedestrian) crossing of Frankston-Flinders Rd,” Mornington Shire announced online. “Design and construction work on this crossing will be on-going into 2026 … with this crossing point remaining closed until completion.” Rail Trails Australia does not recommend attempting to cross at this point on Hawkins Rd in the meantime as it is a busy intersection with poor sight lines for drivers heading north to the Peninsula Link Freeway. The shire’s current favoured option is to build a subway, which it believes may be cheaper than traffic lights.
This is the latest setback in completing the missing link in a 26km rail trail from Frankston to Bittern, of which 7.5km was built by the City of Frankston to its boundary at Golf Links Rd, near Baxter, many years ago. Another section was built south from Somerville by the Mornington Shire as part of the Western Port Bay Trail. The next parts of their ambitious Peninsula Trail project are the construction of the Mornington Rail Trail section from Moorooduc and the Red Hill Rail Trail section from Bittern to Merricks.
The options for the troublesome intersection are outlined here
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One comment on “New Hold-up for Western Port Trail”
This issue was flagged during the public display 3 years ago but disregarded. The Frankston – Flinders Road is a major arterial with road trains and B doubles using it to access Lysaghts steel works and B double tamkers using it to acess United Petroleums storage facilty at Hastings. The northern approach to the crossing is blind and downhill and Hawkins Rd.is also busy. It is a very dangerous intersection with the rail crossing as well, where there have been multiple fatalities. A tunnel is problematic for a variety of reasons including security and water ingress. The topography does lend itself to a pedestrian/bicycle overpass which would be safest. This crossing should have been the primary concern prior to route selection.