AS the $86 million upgrade of the Ravenswood Interchange comes together, Bob and Shirley Draper have watched every step of the way.
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The owners of the Ravenswood Retreat are the closest landowners to the new intersection.
Attending regular Landcare and site meetings, Mr Draper jokingly mentioned that they had better be the first people to use the brand new stretch of highway.
Last week, they got their wish – and did it in style in their 1915 T-Model Ford.
“We went from the old Ravenswood hotel up to Bullock Creek, and then turned around and came back the wrong way from Beilharz Road before we could do a U-turn,” Mr Draper said.
“We had a VicRoads patrol car lead us around.”
They were the first non-construction car to drive on the new alignment at the Ravenswood Interchange, a trip that has been more than two years in the making since the first sod was turned.
The project is now approaching completion as traffic restrictions are removed in the north-bound side.
VicRoads estimates it will be finished by early-2018, with minor site works to continue until midyear.
Mr Draper said they were pleased with the level of consultation from VicRoads and CPB contractors.
“Something that I don’t think gets enough recognition is the workmanship that goes into a project like this and the skills that are used,” he said.
“Their brief was to create an intersection that was safer, and they’ve done that. They couldn’t have built anything less and still fit the brief.”
The government committed to the project after repeated serious crashes on the stretch of the Calder Highway, where it meets the Calder Alternate.
The design of the intersection is a first for Victoria – a circular roadway which allows traffic to merge from all directions in a raised roundabout.
Project director M80 upgrade Susana Fueyo Suarez saidthe northbound Calder Highway entry ramp and carriageway were opened on December 15.
“In addition, the Calder Alternative Highway Melbourne-bound and the Calder Alternative Highway entry and exit ramps are also open,” she said.
“Southbound traffic will still need to travel on Beilharz Road/Ravenswood Street at this time.”