Proposed designs are now available for the easternmost section of the North East Link Project where the Koonung Creek Trail will be realigned and upgraded.
The urban design and landscape plan for the section of the Eastern Freeway between Tram Road and Springvale Road has been released for public comment.
It will provide 1.6 kilometres of new and upgraded walking and cycling paths, two new shared path bridges and two upgraded bridges over the freeway.
The Koonung Creek will also be rerouted to provide a more natural environmental setting, with 2,000 trees and more than a million other plants and grasses put in the ground and riparian zones.
The North East Link Project has been broken up into separate sections with their own contractors. Although there is an approved design for the whole project, each contract team has the opportunity to change details to deliver a better outcome.
These detailed changes in turn go out to a final stakeholder and public consultation. Riders have an opportunity to comment until 21 September 2025.
There is a webpage summarising many of the design elements.
The page with all the detailed design reporting is here.
Major construction will get underway next year.
With this stage of the project, new noise wall standards have to be met, challenging the designers to come up with new solutions where bike paths cross the freeway on the bridges.
The latest concepts are designed to provide views that make it easier for riders and walkers to navigate and orient themselves along journeys on the trail.
New landscaped ‘navigation nodes’ at bridge entries with seats and new trees and plants will provide places to stop, meet and rest. Improved signage will also make it easier for people to find their way.
Where Koonung Creek Trail connects to Tram, Middleborough, Surrey and Springvale roads, new trees and plants will make these entry points more welcoming.
A 150-metre section of Koonung Creek in Eram Park will be moved away from construction areas and landscaped with new trees, plants and natural rock edges.
The location for the creek has been improved from the original design for more natural light, space for trees and plants, and a better connection with Koonung Creek Trail. The move also avoids this section needing to run under the freeway.
The existing Koonung Creek Trail underpasses at Station Street and Wetherby, Blackburn and Springvale roads will be upgraded with better surface treatments, landscaping, planting and lighting to make them more enjoyable and safer to use.
The existing bridges at Koonung Road and Cabena Street, originally planned to be demolished and rebuilt at a higher level to provide clearances for high loads, are now being kept as the freeway has been lowered instead.
A new set of stairs on the south side of the Cabena Street bridge, and a new path on the south side of the Koonung Road bridge will provide better connections to Koonung Creek Trail for pedestrians and bike riders.
An urban design and landscape plan for the upgrades from Hoddle Street to Burke Road will be exhibited for comment later this year.
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