Good afternoon everyone,

What a warm week! I hope everyone has managed to stay cool and dry ahead of the welcome cool change today. While it’s been hot out on site, works have moved forward, the biggest milestone being the reopening of a section of the new Albert Road South alignment. Our thanks to the residents of The Domain for their patience during the partial driveway closure, footpath closure and the switch the new road alignment. In some good news, we managed to get the second driveway reopened today.

Just a reminder that there are no works on site on Monday with the RDO. We’ll be back on Tuesday.

Below is our look ahead for all construction related things within the Domain precinct

Overnight Works

As mentioned in last week’s update, there wasn’t much asphalting happening this week, which I’m sure absolutely nobody was upset about.

No asphalting next week either, with the preparatory works in the middle of St Kilda Road still going on.

Aside from the normal works at Albert Road Reserve Station Entrance, there are two overnight works activities set for next week:

Barrier Setup – Tuesday 27 February

Setting up barriers for the Bowen Crescent partial closures (See below) This will involve the placement of water filled barriers along the separated bike lanes between the Toorak Road tram stop pedestrian crossing and Bowen Crescent. These works will take approximately 3h to complete and are not expected to generate significant noise.

Light pole Cable Install – Wednesday 28 February to Friday 1 March

Pulling of some cables to connect the light poles at various locations across the site.  These are very minor works with hand-pulled cables and shouldn’t generate any significant noise.

The following St Kilda Road closures will be in place during these works (Closures commencing at 9pm)

Tuesday:

St Kilda Road north bound (towards city) will be closed between Kings Way and Albert Road while the barrier install works are underway.

Access to the Botanica’s St Kilda Road Driveway will be via Bowen Crescent

Access into Albert Road will be via Kings Way only

Access out of Albert Road onto St Kilda Road will remain open

Wednesday:

St Kilda Road south bound (away from the city) will be closed during these works, with a detour at Dorcas Street.

Thursday and Friday

St Kilda Road north bound closed (towards city) will be closed between Albert Road and Park Street during these works.

Access out of Albert Road will be via Kings Way while works are underway

Traffic controllers will be in place to assist egress from the Domain Hill Driveway

Access into Albert Road will remain open from St Kilda Road

Access to Botanica’s St Kilda Road driveway will remain via St Kilda Road

Bowen Crescent – Partial Closure

The partial closure of Bowen Crescent was a bit delayed, but as mentioned above, the closure of the left turn from St Kilda Road into Bowen Crescent will come into effect overnight next Tuesday. It will be followed by works to asphalt the footpath through this section, as well as preparing a tree pit on the corner.

There will also be a drainage connection under the footpath through in this area up towards 416 St Kilda Road. This will involve some Non-destructive Digging truck excavation during the day, more than likely this will commence the following week. I’ll have more information next week on these works.

As mentioned previously, access to 412 St Kilda Road will be via their existing pedestrian access ramp.

St Kilda Road Footpath Works  – Bowen Lane to Albert Road

The team are well underway with these works, and as noted above, we’ve finished the section that is the Domains driveway entrance. Works are going to start at both ends and work their way to the centre.

St Kilda Road Footpath Works  – Bromby Street to Toorak Road

The three light pole footing excavation works started today.

The footings will then cure and the light poles stood at a later date.

Centre Island – St Kilda Road

Southern Area:

The final sections of acoustic installation began this week, meaning the Chiller plants are nearly complete. There are some final sections of drainage and irrigation connections that need to happen, which will precede the landscaping of the area.

Adjacent to the Anzac Station tram Stop

Works have begun on the centre median to the west of the tram stop, these works will need to be complete before we can come through and lay the second lane of St Kilda Road northbound.

Station Fit out

It’s more of the same downstairs in the station box, I’ll have a bigger update next week

Albert Road legacy construction

As we mentioned above, we’ve opened a section of the new Albert Road South alignment, which has allowed works to push out onto the previous access road.

Albert Road Reserve forecourt and Station Entrance  (Works until 1am)

You’ll see the scaffold come down around the station entrance next week, we’ll likely begin to bring it down on Tuesday or Wednesday. This will see works commence on the glass balustrades around the station entrance.

Shrine Entrance and Domain Road (Works until 1am)

With the pedestrian crossing point towards Melbourne Grammar now closed, works have begun on the forecourt of the station entrance, this area will sit alongside the reinstated Domain Road, which will also begin its rebuild very soon.

Just a reminder that next week the pedestrian path up Domain Road (adjacent to Melbourne Grammar) will be closed while we start the water main work connection works underneath the footpath here. The detour to reconnect with Domain Road will be via Bromby Street and Domain Street

Have a great weekend

Thanks, Rob

Please take care today to secure any loose items that may be blown off your balconies, especially those on the front of the building.

We have lost furniture in the past.

https://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/explore-the-city/beaches-parks-and-playgrounds/find-parks-and-playgrounds/kings-way-reserve

A reminder to all residents that the upper and lower carpark are a shared space with a speed limit of 5km/h

Please take care to observe your surroundings for anyone potentially walking around blind corners especially in the lower carpark.

Be aware that there are cameras in both carparks and unsafe driving may constitute a breach of building policy.

Thanks all, and take care

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope everyone has enjoyed their week, it’s been a productive one on site, despite the insanely variable weather on Tuesday.

Below is our look ahead for all construction related things within the Domain precinct

Overnight Works – St Kilda Road final asphalt layer

This week saw the line-marking between the Toorak Road tram stop and Bowen Lane, as well as the removal of the waterfilled barriers in this section.

We also saw the start of the asphalting between Bowen Lane and Albert Road on Wednesday night, resuming on Thursday night.

In some good news, we have now finished off the tricky section of asphalting at the Park Street and St Kilda Road northbound intersection.

Next week will be a bit quieter, as we are only doing asphalting work on Monday 19 February, this will be confined to the area immediately to the west of tram stop.

Following this, there will be a reprieve from the asphalting works for a little while, before we resume on the south bound lane of St Kilda Road between the Park Street pedestrian crossing and the pedestrian crossing between Melbourne Grammar and the tram stop. The earliest we would resume overnight asphalting is Thursday 22 February, but in all likelihood, we wont be back out with the asphalting kit until the following week.

Bowen Crescent – Partial Closure

The partial closure of Bowen Crescent will start next week followed by the works to asphalt the footpath through this section, as well as preparing a tree pit on the corner.

Access to 412 St Kilda Road will be via their existing pedestrian access ramp.

St Kilda Road Footpath Works  – Bowen Lane to Albert Road

The footpath closure between Bowen Lane and Albert Road is also now in effect. The team got straight work and begun breaking out the concrete through this section. Once the breakout of the footpath is done, we’ll start with the pouring of concrete, closely followed by the careful laying of the bluestone pavers along the extent of the footpath here.

St Kilda Road Footpath Works  – Bromby Street to Toorak Road

Next week we’ll begin to install the three light pole footings in this area– this involves cutting, non destructive digging of the footing and pouring concrete for the footings.

The footings will then cure and the light poles stood at a later date.

Centre Island – St Kilda Road

Southern Area:

The final acoustic installation within the Chiller Plants will go in next week. The team are also in the process of testing and commissioning the Chiller plants.

Adjacent to the Anzac Station tram Stop

Last night we shifted traffic closer to the new Albert Road Reserve station entrance, this allows us to start work on the preparatory works closer to the tram stop, this includes the works on Monday night.

On the other side for the tram stop, closer to Melbourne Grammar, the preparation is more advanced and the team are laying kerb ahead of the future asphalting of the second lane.

Station Fit out

The myki gates are now installed within the station – as is the line-wide artwork installation on the platform level. These are by First Nations artist Maree Clarke, and you can find out more about the artwork here:
https://bigbuild.vic.gov.au/projects/metro-tunnel/community/art/legacy-artwork/station-artworks/maree-clarke-line-wide-artwork

Albert Road legacy construction (Change in Pedestrian and Vehicle Route)

One of the big changes next week will be the opening of the partial legacy alignment of Albert Road South. The opening of this new connection means residents of The Domain will access their building via the new roadway as of Tuesday morning (20 February). We’ll have additional signage in place discouraging anyone driving up there who isn’t accessing the Domain, as well as traffic controllers on the first day.

The pedestrian route will also change – with the previous pedestrian cut-through at the base of Albert Reserve closing, and a new pedestrians connection alongside the newly opened Albert Road South.

Albert Road Reserve forecourt and Station Entrance  (Works until 1am)

The canopy surrounding the Albert Road Reserve station entrance will come down late next week, allowing works to commence on the glass balustrades around the station entrance. Next Saturday we’ll also see the final delivery lowered into the hole in the station roof, which means it will be closed up the following week and we’ll use the station entrances to get materials into site.

I’ve included a different visual perspective of the site this week, courtesy of one of our local residents, a look south along the site. The snap was taken on Wednesday before the asphalt went in, it gives a good sense of some of the progress to date on both the station and the roadway. Our thanks to Karen for providing the great shot.

Coupled with this is a photo from this morning, showing the end result of last nights asphalting and the newly established works area adjacent to the tram stop.

Shrine Entrance and Domain Road (Works until 1am)

With the pedestrian crossing point towards Melbourne Grammar now closed, works have begun on the forecourt of the station entrance, this area will sit alongside the reinstated Domain Road, which will also begin its rebuild very soon.

Just a reminder that next week the pedestrian path up Domain Road (adjacent to Melbourne Grammar) will be closed while we start the water main work connection works underneath the footpath here. The detour to reconnect with Domain Road will be via Bromby Street and Domain Street

Have a great weekend

Thanks, Rob

someone of you were worried they would not water our garden…you should not have worried 😉

This is the current(?) version of the plan they are using out the front

This is my best efforts to show where the trees will go – one is off the right hand edge of the screen. They will be planted in about late April.

We will have 4 car parking bays out the front (I’ve drawn them on the photo) – which will leave space for trucks to park illegally and block the line of sight exiting our driveway. the state government rep (Paula Williams from Rail Projects Victoria) has told me that the contractor believes that this is the best option. They have suggested by getting the City of Port Phillip to fine drivers who park illegally, the drivers will cease the practice.

I think we will have to do something ourselves after the project is done.

I’m also of the opinion that the ‘granitic sand’ path through the garden bed will see mud traipsed through our building in winter. May be another small project ‘post-CYP’.

…but in good news – we convinced them to make the crossing in Bowen Cres a zebra crossing. 

We have had massive problems with birds. Please do NOT encourage them by feeding them

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope everyone has had a good week, below is the construction update for next week in Domain.

Just a reminder that next Monday is an RDO, so no works on site – and a more important reminder that Wednesday is Valentines day!

Overnight Works – St Kilda Road final asphalt layer

We’re now well underway on the asphalting works on St Kilda Road. Last night the crews were working between Bowen Crescent and Bowen Lane, and the intersection of Park Street and St Kilda Road. The outer lane section of wearing course from the Toorak Road Tram stop to Bowen Lane is now done. The inner lane of wearing course will need to be completed once the kerbing is installed in the inner median. We’ll update closer to these works taking place.

There is only one small section of asphalt remaining down Park Street, this will be completed early next week

See below for the latest plan on site, as per last week this is subject to change. I’ll update with any major changes during the week.

Bowen Crescent – Partial Closure

As mentioned in the February construction notification, next week we’ll close the left turn from St Kilda Road into Bowen Crescent. This is to enable the works to resurface the footpath on the southern side of the road, and prepare a tree plot in this area. A pedestrian detour via the separated bike lane will be in place during the works, access to local businesses will be retained during the works.

When the resurfacing works are underway, access to 412 St Kilda Road will be via the existing pedestrian access ramp.

St Kilda Road Footpath Works  – Bowen Lane to Albert Road

Next Tuesday (13 February) the closure of the footpath between Bowen Lane and Albert Road will start.

Access around the site will be either via the tram stop (via the reopened pedestrian crossing to the tram stop at Bowen Lane) or via Bowen Lane > Kings Way > Albert Road.

St Kilda Road Footpath Works  – Bromby Street to Toorak Road

The three light pole footings to be installed through this section has now pushed to the following week – this involves cutting, non destructive digging of the footing and pouring concrete for the footings.

The footings will then cure and the light poles stood at a later date.

Centre Island – St Kilda Road

Southern Area:

The barriers were shifted last night adjacent to the ventilation shafts. This will allow landscaping works to soon commence in this area, this will start with the preparation of the ground, removal of crushed rock, final drainage installation and placement of topsoil and prepping for tree pits.

Adjacent to the Anzac Station tram Stop

Works are continuing on the centre island that sits between the road and the tram stop, not much to report there with in-ground utility work the main feature – kerb installation will start next week.

Station Fit out

No major milestones to report from downstairs in the station.

Albert Road legacy construction

Next week we’ll be doing works at the top of Albert Road to install the detector loops for the new signalised pedestrian crossing, we expect the crossing will switch from a zebra crossing to a signalised crossing in the coming weeks.  Over on the other side of Albert Reserve, the steel arrived on site for the South African Soldiers Memorial reinforced base slab. As mentioned last week, the memorial will be carefully reconstructed over the coming weeks.

Albert Road Reserve forecourt and Station Entrance  (Works until 1am)

While works are ticking along inside the station entry, just adjacent to the station canopy, the kerb alignment for the second lane of St Kilda Road is progressively snaking its way towards Albert Road. The surface preparation for the second lane of traffic is following closely behind it. As you’ll see in the update below, we’ll shift the roadside barriers next week while St Kilda Road is closed, and commence the laying of asphalt through this area.

Eastern site – Shrine Entrance and Domain Road (Works until 1am)

The existing pedestrian crossing from Melbourne Grammar School into the Shrine Grounds has now closed and the pedestrian path alongside St Kilda Road is open.

Have a great weekend

Thanks, Rob