Good afternoon all,

Welcome to another weekly look ahead, outlining what is happening out in the Domain Precinct next week.

1. Station Roof Works and Bowen Lane Utility Works

The final sections of steel tying has been the focus of the team this week, and we’re now ready to pour the last section of the station box roof. We’re expecting the concrete to go down tomorrow, once this is down and cured we’ll get the water proofing done and backfill. The team will soon begin to install the pre-cast concrete walls for the hatch in front of 400 St Kilda Road. This hatch is going to be in regular use, it has been specifically designed to future proof the station for the eventual replacement of the transformers down in the station, which will be removed via this hatch. In Bowen Lane, the slight pedestrian detour down and back up Bowen Lane is yet to come into full effect, but over the coming weeks there will be a lot of excavation and pre cast concrete drainage sections delivered into the site and the detour will come into effect.

2. Albert Road Reserve Station entrance

Down at the base of the new Albert Road Reserve station entrance, the team are installing all the required plumbing and drainage connections across the base of the station box. The works are also continuing on the formwork for the base slab next week.

3. Albert Road North construction

Next week the team will open up the first section of completed footpath, between The Domain building and the Ramsay Clinic main entrance. Next week we’ll also shift the location of the disabled parking in front of the Ramsay Clinic slightly towards St Kilda Road, this also presents us with the opportunity to create a five minute drop-off bay in this location. We understand it’s been challenging getting a taxi, or Uber eats while the works are going on. The drop off bay is an enforceable five minute zone and should hopefully help a little with the functionality on this side of the road.

While it’s a few updates away, when the paving works get down to Kings Way, the footpath will be fully reopened and we’ll close the on-road detour and shift the road traffic across to where the old central island parking was. This will allow us to start work on the other side of the tree line, to construct the new kerbs, and parkland through this section.

4. St Kilda Road median works – South

This morning the asphalting crews were hard at work laying a new section of blacktop in the kerb in front of the Melbourne Grammar School and up to the Royce Hotel. We’ll shift the traffic towards this kerb and this will give us the real estate we need to build the inner lane of traffic. The “pinch point” on the southbound side of St Kilda Road is the penetrations in the station roof that we’ve been using for the past few years to lower material in and out of the station with the crane on site. We’ll soon close up these penetrations and begin bringing material in through the two station entry points. This will give us back some real estate and allow us to start to build the lanes of traffic running past the station canopy.

5. St Kilda Road median works – North

On Park Street you may have noticed that the eastbound section of the road has closed earlier than expected. We have taken the decision to close this section of Park Street at Wells Street a little earlier than anticipated on safety grounds, this has come after two large livestock vehicles have ignored the restrictions on vehicle sizes and got stuck at the intersection (Not quite as prolific as the Montague Street Bridge, but enough for us to be concerned for pedestrians on the corner) You can continue straight from St Kilda Road into the Service lane. When we start works on the 5 June, we’ll turn the service lane into its own cul-de-sac arrangement with access from the green right turn arrow at Dorcas Street. (I’ve included a copy of the notification in today’s look-ahead)

When the next set of works are complete, the intersection will reopen, with the wider turn into the central lane enabled, to create more space for larger vehicles.

6. Station box construction

Station box construction is still in the same space as last week, the lifts are very close to being commissioned, and the team working on the escalators underneath the canopy have almost finished the first set and next week will move onto the second set. I’ve included a photo today of the team hard at work behind the canopy hoarding.

7. Shrine Entrance

The team over at the Shrine entrance are making their way back up and out from the base slab. The internal walls are being poured section by section, while at the top of the entrance they’ll be pouring the raft slab next week. This raft slab will form the base for the top landing of the escalators and elevators of the future entry point. The team today are in the process of excavating the footing for the future beams that will support the station canopy. Meanwhile, the new hoarding alignment that I mentioned in last weeks update has begun construction on its new alignment.

8. Park Street to Albert Road

With the concrete pour that took place on Tuesday, the team should make short work of the bluestone laying in front of the Hallmark, this will be followed by some works to complete the retaining wall adjacent to the footpath. While it wont be next week, we’ll soon start work on the legac pedestrian connection up to the new tram stop – this connection point branches off just next to the Hallmarks service driveway and heads up towards St Kilda Road. It will be a little while before pedestrians are using it to get to the new tram stop though, as we’ve got some work still to be done this year to complete the median at the intersection of Albert Road and St Kilda Road.

Have a great weekend

Thanks, Rob and Remy