- Published:
- Wednesday 1 January 2020
Victoria’s Big Build will ramp up again this summer with significant work starting today on the Metro Tunnel at South Yarra, major road projects in Melbourne’s west and tram stop upgrades along Nicholson Street.
Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan inspected works at South Yarra today, where construction crews will be working around-the-clock until the end of January to excavate the final section of the Metro Tunnel entrance and make room for the new track that will connect the existing lines to the tunnel.
Crews will also complete major concreting works at the tunnel entrance, pouring the final sections of the tunnel roof slab and installing the tunnel support structures.
To enable this work to take place, buses are replacing trains on the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Frankston lines between Flinders Street and Caulfield station until Thursday 30 January.
From 4 January until 12 January, buses will be extended to replace trains through to Westall station on the Cranbourne/Pakenham line and Moorabbin station on the Frankston line. Buses will also replace trains on the Sandringham line between Parliament Station and Elsternwick on various days throughout the period.
Coaches are replacing trains on the Gippsland line for the duration of the Metro Tunnel construction, with work on the Avon River Bridge and maintenance works underway between Morwell and Bairnsdale also taking place. Free travel will be provided to Gippsland passengers.
Nicholson Street will be closed to trams and traffic between Barkly Street in East Brunswick and Johnston Street in Fitzroy until 6am 19 January to build six new accessible tram stops on Route 96. Alexandra Parade will also be closed to traffic between Brunswick and Nicholson streets until 5:00am on 6 January.
In the west, the intersection of Fitzgerald and Dohertys roads in Laverton North has closed which will enable crews to rebuild the intersection, apply new asphalt and install traffic signals as part of the Western Roads Upgrade.
Motorists are also encouraged to plan ahead for major works on the West Gate Tunnel project. On 13 January, ramps over the West Gate Freeway will be closed and rebuilt to make way for the widening of the West Gate Freeway from eight to 12 lanes.
For more information about the planned disruptions over summer visit bigbuild.vic.gov.au.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan
“During this quieter period we’re getting on with a massive amount of work on some of our biggest transport projects, to keep our city and state moving.”
“We thank Victorians for their patience and encourage them to plan ahead and allow extra time – we know it’s disruptive, but it will mean better trains, trams and traffic in the future.”