The need

Many Cardinia Shire residents leave the area for work every day via the Monash Freeway. Fostering more high-skill local job opportunities and cutting congestion are two of Council’s highest priorities.

An extended Thompsons Road will solve both of these problems by connecting Cranbourne, Clyde, Officer, and Pakenham with the new Officer South Employment Precinct. Commuter and commercial traffic will no longer need to rely on the Monash Freeway to access well-paid and high-skilled jobs elsewhere.

As Cardinia Shire’s population grows, new infrastructure is required to unlock land for commercial and business use. Officer South is a prime location for this, and a major investment in Thompsons Road will allow private development to complete the precinct.

The extended road will help to relieve major regional connections, change travel demands and enhance liveability of the region by attracting business and investment.

The plan

Council is calling for the transformation of Thompsons Road into a major new arterial road connecting Berwick-Cranbourne Road in Clyde with Koo Wee Rup Road in Pakenham.

This will establish an alternative east-west route to the Monash Freeway as well as unlocking the development of a major regional jobs and employment hub in Officer South.

Thompsons Road will cross both Cardinia Shire and the City of Casey and will deliver a major economic and employment boost to the additional six Greater South East Melbourne councils.

Benefits to the community

Residents across the south east of Melbourne will benefit from reduced commercial traffic along the Monash Freeway and other major arterials in the area as Thompsons Road becomes a key connection between commercial zones.

Opening up the Officer South Employment Precinct will also allow for tens of thousands of new jobs to be created in the local area which will provide opportunities to work closer to home, reducing the length of commutes and taking cars off the roads in peak periods.

The extended Thompsons Road will also provide a direct connection between residential-heavy suburbs like Clyde, Clyde North, and Pakenham and major employment hubs in Cranbourne, Carrum Downs and Dandenong South. This will ensure a more efficient flow of workers across the south east.