Apologies this email is only going out today – connection issues on Friday meant it didn’t go out.
Content is now updated below.
I hope everyone enjoyed the gentle sounds of F1 cars flying around Albert Park this weekend.
Last week’s big milestone is that St Kilda Road is now reopen in two lanes in each direction.
There are still some small sections that did not get completed (see below), but regardless – a huge milestone for the project and a big thanks to everyone for their patience during the works.
Overnight Works Next Week
Line Marking
This week we will have some line markers out painting the road. Thankfully these are much quieter works and we wouldn’t expect any disturbance.
Concrete Pour
This Wednesday night (27 March) we’ve got a big concrete pour happening in Albert Road Reserve around the station entrance. A section of these works will require a concrete pump to sit on St Kilda Road adjacent to the tram stop – this means we’ll need to close St Killda Road on Wednesday night to complete these works.
- St Kilda Road will be closed northbound at Toorak, meaning Botanica’s St Kilda Road Driveway will be accessible via Bowen Crescent from 8pm.
- Entry into Albert Road will be via Kings Way only. Egress from Albert Road onto St Kilda Road will remain open while this is underway.
All works will be at the Anzac Tram stop and there are no works besides linemarking at the Toorak Road end of site through to Bowen Lane
Albert Road Traffic Light commissioning
The one piece of work that couldn’t be completed last week was the commissioning of the traffic lights at Albert Road. This is due to the incorrect signal technology being provided.
If you’ve walked the pedestrian crossing at the top of Albert Road you’ll see it’s the only section without brand new asphalt.
On Tuesday 26 March we’ll close Albert Road and St Kilda Road northbound overnight to asphalt this final section and commission the new traffic lights.
- St Kilda Road will be closed northbound at Toorak, meaning Botanica’s St Kilda Road Driveway will be accessible via Bowen Crescent from 8pm.
- Entry and exit from to Albert Road will be via Kings Way only. Traffic controllers will be on hand to assist Domain Hill residents to exit their driveway.
All works will be at the top of Albert Road and there are no works besides linemarking at the Toorak Road end of site through to Bowen Lane
Median Planting
There are some tricky spots is in the median between Albert Reserve and the Anzac Tram stop that need to have turf laid – we’ll have to come back at some point during the evening and lay some turf.
While we’re doing the concrete pour on Wednesday night, we’ll also pop in and lay that turf.
The tree plots through this area are already prepared and will be planted after April.
Domain Road
As outlined in the March construction notice, we’ll continue to do footpath works overnight further up Domain Road. This doesn’t include high-impact activities like hammering.
Albert Road Reserve forecourt and Station Entrance (Works until 1am)
The familiar blue sheeting that is the waterproofing was laid on top of the station concourse roof at Albert Road Reserve entrance last week. Over the weekend we’ve backfilled the surface and get ready to pour the concrete that will form the base for the station concourse bluestone paving.
The preparation work for these concrete pours is already well advanced on the northern end of the station entrance.
Next to the station entrance, the South African Soldiers Memorial continues to grow in height as the formwork for the central obelisk is formed and poured. This week we should see the first of the original stonework installed.
St Kilda Road Footpath Works – Bowen Lane to Albert Road
The footpath connecting Bowen Lane around the Albert Road opened last week. Our thanks to everyone for the patience while we finished these works, particular thanks to the residents of The Domain building who had their pedestrian access curtailed during the works.
Bowen Crescent – Partial Closure and Footpath Works
The reopening of St Kilda Road to two lanes in each direction also means Bowen Crescent is open from St Kilda Road. Again, thanks to everyone for your patience while this closure is in place. I appreciate that it means a round-the-block detour to Kings Way to access driveways at the top parking level of The Botanica as well as the laneway parking access for apartments at 416, 416A, 418 St Kilda Road.
Shrine Entrance and Domain Road (Works until 1am)
At the entrance adjacent to the Shrine of Remembrance, we are in full swing with the installation of services under Domain Road and the future station entrance forecourt. Like Albert Road Reserve entrance, this area will take shape very quickly once the in-ground works are complete.
What isn’t taking shape quickly is the drainage works on the footpath along Domain Road. We were targeting a 5 week closure of this area – but with the amount of in-ground services, it looks like we’re going to overshoot this mark.
We had originally planned to reopen the footpath, before closing it at a later date to apply the final asphalt surface. The delay to the inground services means that we’ll finish the services and just roll straight into the completion works for the footpath. This will mean that we’ll have it re-opened in time for school returning on the 15 April. Apologies that the detour via Bromby Street/Domain Road will remain in place for a while longer.
St Kilda Road Footpath Works – Bromby Street to Toorak Road
All our light pole works are done through this area and we’ve passed the area on to CitiPower.
They’ll connect the poles to the mains network and will advise separately.
Centre Island – St Kilda Road
Southern Area:
Drainage continues to be the focus within the central island, It will be some minor drainage works around the southern ventilation shafts in March, before we head in to the landscaping, and ultimately the tree planting next month.
Adjacent to the Anzac Station tram Stop
As mentioned above, we’ll need to come back and lay some grass through this area.
Enjoy the rest of the week – next week’s update will back to Fridays!
Thanks, Rob
The Botanica 