Ironbark Road upgrade

Project typeRoad safety improvements
Project value$1.203 million
Project scheduleWorks complete November 2024

Photo or Ironbark Road Yarrambat, looking west. A bitumen road with buildings and trees.

In 2022 the Australian Government announced a $1.203 million package for Ironbark Road, Diamond Creek/Yarrambat, funded under the BlackSpot program to improve road safety in Nillumbik.

These funds have allowed Council to complete important road safety works along Ironbark Road which has a significant recorded history of vehicle crashes.

Between 2015 and 2020, there were two fatal crashes, two serious crashes and 10 other injury crashes. The crashes were typically run-off road and head-on crashes due to the windy nature of the road and generally untreated with the following existing characteristics:

Moderate amount of exposed culverts
Unsealed intersections and shoulders that cause gravel to flow onto the road
Vegetation and power poles within clearance zones
Limited signage and advanced warning around bends
Multiple bends with limited oncoming traffic visibility and a lack of protection for run off road crashes.

Scope of works

Multiple safety hazards have been identified and to address these issues, and Council has now installed road safety treatments including:

Signs, reflective road pavement markers and rumble strips to alert motorists of the bends in the road
Sealing road shoulders (edges) to prevent gravel on road
Traffic islands at four intersections (Pioneer Road northern, Murray Road, Black Gully Road and Pioneer Road southern) to alert vehicles on the approach to intersections
Guardrails to protecting against roadside hazards (trees, utility poles, drainage)
Road widening around bends

Council has taken all measures to minimise the impact on vegetation, however the removal of one tree was required.

Please refer to the attached plan highlighting the section of Ironbark Road where works have occurred. A full plan can also be viewed at the Civic Centre.