Repairs were estimated to cost $5 million, with 43 of the 60 air pillows needing replacement, work commencing in April 2010 and lasting 12 to 14 weeks.
Things that are gone
Remember mX, the free newspaper that littered Melbourne trains and stations each afternoon?
There were replaced by plain looking white on black LCD screens in 2011, but the use of colours was brought back in 2018, but only at Flinders Street Station.
V/Line trains to Geelong used to run via the Werribee line.
Since 2015 they have travelled via the new Melbourne suburbs of Wyndham Vale and Tarneit, follow the completion of Regional Rail Link.
Most people depart Melbourne Airport via an overpriced mode of transport – SkyBus, taxi or car park. But it is possible to get to the city via a normal public transport – the hard bit is finding a place to buy or top up your Myki card.
In order to travel on public transport in Melbourne, you’ll need a myki card. Top up or check your card balance at the myki machines located throughout the terminals using cash or EFTPOS/credit card.
The streets of Southbank have a long and complicated history, but the most confusing is Southbank Boulevard – a creation of the 1980s Melbourne. So how did the road come into being?
An inspection of map 43 of Melway Edition 1 shows a completely different road layout existed through Southbank back in 1966.
The current path of Southbank Boulevard commences at St Kilda Road and follows a route south-west to a point just before the Yarra bank at the site of the Falls and Queen’s Bridge.
It corresponds with the former route of Nolan Street, which was formed in 1888 in gazetted in 1895). It then crosses a path parallel with the former route of Ireland Street (formed by 1886) but at a point just north of Ireland Street, before following the route of what was formerly Maffra Street (gazetted in 1895).
Henry Cox’s map of Melbourne dated 1865 shows the absence of development in the area.
The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) plan of 1896, shows that the new section of road cut through the courses of Bridge Street (the remainder of which is now Fawkner Street), Kavanagh Street, Moore Street and Sturt Street, and that in the intervening blocks is overran the premises of several industrial premises, including most substantially the following:
‘Stone works’ between City Road and Bridge Street;
‘Cork works’ between Bridge Street and Kavanagh Street; and
‘Engineering works’ (exact type not specified), including rails for trams and a travelling crane.
During its first few years of operation, up to 40,000 vehicles a day used Southbank Boulevard – compared to the 50,000 vehicles per day that currently use Kings Way.
As Melbourne continued to reorientate itself towards the Yarra River with the redevelopment of Southbank, the railway viaduct across South Melbourne was demolished in 1993, leaving just a stub of the Sandridge railway bridge behind, and opening up the intersection of Queensbridge Street and Southbank Boulevard.
In 1996 questions were asked as to what purpose Southbank Boulevard served.
Mr Batchelor (Thomastown)
I raise for the attention of the Minister for Planning and Local Government the relationship between the CityLink Southgate interchange and the proposed Queens Bridge square, and the impact of these two developments on traffic flows.
In particular, the opposition wants a guarantee that drivers will have options other than ending up in the casino car park. The Southgate interchange has already been dubbed Spaghetti Junction, but despite that confusing,complex and ugly structural monstrosity, it is clear that its prime traffic function is to deliver thousands of cars a day to the back door of the casino.
The opposition seeks from the Minister for Planning and Local Government an assurance that all traffic options will continue to be available; that there will be adequate capacity for all cars travelling in the variety of directions that they need to; that additional capacities and directions will be available to cars so that they will have other options available to them other than ending up in the casino car park; and that they will be able to exercise those options.
It is not just a question of direction but also capacity, particularly when one is travelling along Power Street and turning left into City Road. The traffic lights at the intersection must allow for a sufficient volume of cars to make left-hand turns into City Road so that they are not forced to travel back to the CityLink.
With the government stated Southbank Boulevard was more than just a road into the Crown Casino car park:
Mr MacLennan (Minister for Planning and Local Government)
The honourable member for Thomastown raised a matter regarding the traffic management in areas in the City of Melbourne to the south of the Yarra River.
The casino site was chosen because of the elements of traffic to which the honourable member referred. Why would one have a casino on that site? Because it provides the opportunity of having a number of roads coming to the 2500 car parking spaces that the casino was required to build as part of the project. Naturally with 2500 spaces one would expect that there would be a lot of traffic movement towards them.
Indeed, casino legislation passed by Parliament with the support of the opposition requires the construction of a car park entrance in the Queens Bridge square area, which will lead in part to the casino car park. The casino legislation passed by Parliament requires certain other traffic measurements to be taken.
And flagged that the land beside the river could be turned into a public square.
Mr MacLennan
We are examining the creation of a Queens Bridge square -it will not be a square but more like a circle – to enable the Southbank Promenade to be extended further down the river.
It will not be possible to avoid pedestrian traffic at a level where trams and motor traffic cross Queens Bridge. It has been considered whether pedestrians could go under the bridge, but unfortunately it would mean they would have to be barricaded off from the water of the Yarra River. Therefore we are examining an alternative route going over the bridge, thereby avoiding clashes with trams and car traffic.
As part of the proposal for an appropriate treatment for the Queens Bridge circle, it may be that post-CityLink Southbank Boulevard does not continue through that area, so that the circle area will become a space dedicated to people rather than cars and traffic.
When proposed in 1946 the classic ‘congestion busting‘ line was given as a reason for construction of the bridge.
The Swan Street Bridge will provide a direct traffic route from South and Port Melbourne to Richmond and Collingwood without having to enter the city proper, and would ease Flinders Street congestion.
But the Town and Country Planning Board indicated in their 1948 annual report that the further road upgrades would be needed to take advantage of the new river crossing.
The Swan Street Bridge was placed on the urgent list by the Metropolitan Town Planning Commission in 1929, was recommended by an expert conference in 1936, and again by the conference called in 1946 by the Hon. P. J. Kennelly, M.L.C., when Minister of Public Works.
The bridge now being built as a continuation of Swan Street across the river will help the traffic problem in many ways. However it will be desirable to construct an underpass at St Kilda Road, either at Alexandra Avenue or Linlithgow Avenue.
Some objections been raised to the use of Alexandra Avenue by commercial vehicles, but the Board points out that the section of the avenue west of Jeffries Parade is now almost unused. Only approximately 1,100 vehicles passed along the section in both directions during the twelve hours of the census in 1947, a reduction of about one-third over the 1926 census figures, although the overall traffic of Melbourne increased by 62 per cent in the twenty years between the two counts.
Some re-arrangement of the unsatisfactory street system on the south bank of the River Yarra in the South Melbourne Municipality to link with the St Kilda Road underpass will also become necessary.
In April 1952 moves were made towards building such an underpass.
£210,000 Plan for Underpass
A. £210,000 traffic underpass is to be built under St Kilda Road at Alexandra Avenue. Cabinet last night instructed the Minister for Public Works (Mr. Byrnes) to prepare necessary legislation for the July session of Parliament. Mr. Byrnes said later he would discuss the work next week with the Metropolitan Board chairman (Mr. J. C Jessop) and the Chief Town
Planner (Mr. K P. Borrie)
The passing of the Melbourne (St Kilda Road Underpass) Lands Bill in 1969 converted Crown Land in the area to a road reserve, enabling Leighton Contractors to start on the project in April 1970.
St Kilda Road is the main access route for traffic and trams approaching the City from the South. An underpass is being built to ease congestion at this major intersection for the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works. A $2 million contract was awarded in December, 1969, and reconstruction of nearby streets was begun so that work on the main structure and approach roads could begin in April, 1970.
The underpass structure has to be built in three phases so that traffic flow in St Kilda Road is not interrupted. Numerous underground and overhead services severely restrict the sequence of work.
Main construction items are:-
3 ft. and 8 ft. diameter cast in situ piles socketted into rock 100 ft. below surface.
Driving of 7,000 ft. of prestressed concrete sheet piles.
Erection of forty 110 ft. long precast concrete beams weighing up to 35 tons. Each of these is pretensioned in the factory and post tensioned on site.
Excavation of 80,000 cu.yds, of various materials.
Construction of 2,700 ft. of drainage lines including a 42″ diameter outfall into the Yarra River. A length of 180 ft. of this outfall was installed by jacking the pipes through an embankment.
Constructing 1,600 ft. of concrete retaining walls up to 20 ft. high. These walls are specially shaped to deflect runaway vehicles.
Providing various approach roads with both flexible and rigid pavements of various types.
Building sawn basalt stonework to match that used on the adjoining Arts Centre.
The structure is being built over the old bed of the Yarra and during excavation numerous clay smoking pipes and old bottles of many shapes were recovered. Unfortunately most of the bottles were broken and all were empty. A brick kiln existed on the site many years ago and hundreds of old bricks have been dug out.
Despite these diversions the project should be finished by the end of the year.
The road serving as the main link between the eastern and western suburbs of Melbourne.
Until 2000 when the Burnley and Domain Tunnels were opened as part of the CityLink project.
But the underpass is still busy today, due to overheight vehicles and dangerous goods tankers, neither of which can use the tunnels.
And don’t forget the trams!
Route 1 trams to South Melbourne once followed the entire length of Sturt Street, being diverted to Nolan Street (now called Southbank Boulevard) to make way for the underpass.
18 May 1969
A track junction was installed at Nolan Street in St Kilda Road, in preparation for diversion of the South Melbourne Beach route due to construction of the City Road underpass.
16 March 1970
A new track in Nolan Street, South Melbourne, was opened, from Sturt Street to St Kilda Road. It replaced the track in Sturt Street from Nolan Street to City Road, which was abandoned due to construction of the City Road underpass. A crossover was provided in Nolan Street at St Kilda Road.
The map 43 in the 1970 Melway directory feature ramps between St Kilda Road and the underpass – did they ever exist, or something descoped from the initial plans?
And the Victorian Arts Centre
The remaining Crown land between the underpass and the Yarra River was then permanently reserved as a site for the Victorian Arts Centre under the Melbourne (Snowden Gardens) Land Act 1975.
Whereas by Order in Council dated the 3rd day of February, 1914 certain Crown lands in the City of Melbourne were permanently reserved as a site for ornamental purposes and were vested in the corporation of the City of Melbourne by Order in Council of the 13th day of November, 1917 pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (b) of sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Prince’s Bridge Approach Act 1900.
South-east corner.
Whereas by an Order in Council dated the 8th day of May, 1905 certain Crown lands in the City of Melbourne were permanently reserved as a site for a memorial statue of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria and a public garden and Crown grant dated the 9th day of November, 1905.
Eastern side.
Whereas by an Order in Council dated the 5th day of August, 1913 certain Crown lands in the City of Melbourne were permanently reserved as a site for a public park for the recreation and amusement of His Majesty’s subjects and people designated the Alexandra Park and Crown grant dated the 18th day of December, 1917.
And south-west corner.
Whereas by an Order in Council dated the’ 7th day of May, 1957 certain Crown lands in the Cities of Melbourne and South Melbourne were permanently reserved as a site for a National Art Gallery and Cultural Centre and pursuant to the provisions of section 5 of the National Art Gallery and Cultural Centre Act 1956 Crown grant dated the 30th day of July, 1957.
Both trains still run today, but under new operators – Qube Logistics and Southern Shorthaul Railroad respectively – while the sidings they use have been completely rebuilt as part of the Regional Rail Link project.
Another scene changed thanks to Regional Rail Link is the approach to Sunshine, where V/Line and suburban trains had to share the tracks.
Today a second track pair runs between Sunshine and the city, speeding the journey for V/Line trains on the Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo lines.
And new trains
The construction of new X’Trapolis trains had just restarted at the Alstom Ballarat workshops.
And the older Comeng trains were also in the middle of an air conditioning upgrade program.
Previously known for their propensity to drop dead whenever the temperature hit 36 degrees, the State Government spent $18.7 million retrofitting the units so that they would continue to run at temperatures up to 45 degrees.
Due to the railways of New South Wales being standard gauge, each railcar needed to be transferred to broad gauge bogies at South Dynon, then dragged to Dandenong behind a diesel locomotive.
Headed out west
Another rail gauge muddle can be found at Maryborough, where the mothballed standard gauge track to Ararat met the broad gauge tracks from Ballarat.
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