There is a lot of action taking place on our doorstep….if you want to ask questions about any of it, here is your chance

Good afternoon,

We would like to invite you to come along to our upcoming drop-in information sessions and find out more about upcoming works in April on St Kilda Road and Park Street, South Melbourne.

Metro Tunnel staff will be available to answer your questions.

Details:
Thursday 22 March and Monday 26 March
4:00pm – 6:00pm
Garden Room, Seasons Botanic Gardens, 348 St Kilda Road, Melbourne 3004.

Kind regards,

Hannah
Communications and Stakeholder Relations
Melbourne Metro Rail Authority

I have just received this….MM NOTIFICATION 20180314 St Kilda Road extended hours March

Good evening,

Please find attached a works notification that has been distributed to the Domain email database and is currently being distributed to residents and businesses in the area.

Works are currently underway on St Kilda Road, as notified for in the March construction notification. These works were briefly halted due to the recent discovery of asbestos in a pipe underneath St Kilda Road, so that the asbestos could be safely removed by licensed experts.

These works will now need to be temporarily extended to 10pm each evening, from Wednesday 14 to Wednesday 28 March. This is so that the disruption to the road and tram network can be minimised.

We would like to apologise for the late notice for these extended hours

If you would like to ask any further questions, please contact the Metro Tunnel Information Line on 1800 105 105.

If ever you were thinking of going away for the school holidays…this is the year.  The major tram works opposite The Botanica will occur from April 1 to April 18.  It will happen night and day.

The #58 tram will not run from April 1-17, all other trams will not run from April 6-17.  There will be bus replacements and the #58 Tram will make it as far as the new stop in Park St.  So if you want a tram, it is only a short walk.

During this time there will be 5 nights when NO traffic will be able to travel northwards in St Kilda Rd near us while they do overhead wiring work.  Our access will be maintained but will be a bit problematic.

Around the time of this being completed, Bowen Lane is going to be closed at the St Kilda Rd end…for a LONG time.  When you leave the lower car park you will need to use Albert Rd to get to Kings Way.

Current information is that Bowen Cres will re-open onto St Kilda Rd by the end of next week (March 16).

It will be the end of my “fun” driving for the day and reduce my commute to St Kilda Rd by 15 minutes.  Here are two examples, ONE and TWO

The other end of Bowen Cres will still be some weeks – around end April

It seems they are working slowly and steadily from the city end southwards.  The danger has been managed via a lot of plastic, some water and careful digging.

Here is a link to today’s action

Today they uncovered more pipe

..but also a piece of broken section that is causing more issues

Mick and Stephen have it under control

As many of you know, the Metro Tunnel guys have encountered some asbestos.  Here is the troublesome pipe

From the close up photo is actually looks like  it could have housed an old power cable??  But I don’t know….and given they were under the treed area, they have been there a long time.

Here is a time lapse video of a stack of prep work from yesterday.

And here is a few shots of today’s work

and then make safe, wash down and head home

This is from Cross Yarra Partnership (CYP) on the asbestos issue adjacent to The Botanica

• Last Friday, asbestos was discovered in a pipe under the southbound lane of St Kilda Road during works on the Metro Tunnel.
• The discovered pipe was made of ACM (asbestos containing material) and is 70m in length and 100mm in diameter.
• This area is in the construction work site that has been fenced off from the public since 14 February.
• Since the discovery, the construction team has obtained specialist advice which determined the pipe should be left undisturbed, as the asbestos within the pipe was identified as non-airborne.
• The material has been contained, and there is no health or safety risk to the public or workers.
• Preparations for its removal started yesterday.  Plastic sheeting has been established around the site and air monitoring is in place as standard practice.
• It will be safely removed over the coming days (they’re expecting it to take 2-3 days).
• Asbestos was regularly used in construction until the 1980s, so discoveries like these are not uncommon or unexpected.
• The asbestos is being safely removed in accordance with strict statutory requirements by licensed experts.

If you have concerns you can call their 24 hour hotline on 1800 105 105