Box Hill interchange redevelopment at least 10 years away according to State Government report

LONG-suffering Box Hill commuters can expect conditions to get worse at one of Melbourne’s busiest interchanges, with a long-overdue upgrade now years away.

The State Government has released the ministerial advisory group report into the Box Hill interchange. Picture: David Crosling

ANY major development of one of Melbourne’s most congested transport hubs is at least a decade away, a long-awaited report reveals.

The release of the Box Hill interchange ministerial advisory group report follows a two-month campaign by the Whitehorse Leader urging public transport minister Jacinta Allan to make it public after she received it in February this year.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL REPORT

The report shows Vicinity Centres, which owns Box Hill Central, wasn’t planning a major redevelopment of the shopping centre for “some years into the future”.

Master planning for any redevelopment would take three to five years, while any subsequent redevelopment action could be up to 10 years away, the report states.

The ministerial advisory group found the Box Hill interchange was the second busiest train-bus interchange in the metropolitan area, and was the 10th busiest train station overall, with commuter use expected to increase by more than 45 per cent by 2031.

It also found there were about 202 bus movements every hour during the peak morning times, with 6000 patrons using the bus interchange escalators between 8-9am on a weekday.

The group looked at eight alternate locations for the bus station, but found “all required a lot more work to determine the feasibility of relocating the transit interchange away from its current location”.

The report states the “boom” in building activity around central Box Hill — with 2300 new dwellings approved in the previous four years — had created increased road congestion which had resulted in bus reliability issues, particularly along Station St.

The report recommended working groups be established to oversee any possible redevelopment.

The State Government last night announced the first of those, the Box Hill Transit Interchange Steering Committee, which will work towards creating a business case for the interchange upgrade.

Ms Allan said the ministerial advisory group report would help develop the business case for the project.

“This steering committee will give locals a voice, and help get the planning right for the Box Hill interchange redevelopment,” Ms Allan said.

“We’ve already delivered vital upgrade to services and infrastructure at Box Hill interchange, and will continue to look for further improvements while the business case is developed,” she said.

Box Hill state Liberal MP Robert Clark accused the Government of delivering another “talkfest’’.

“Labor promised voters before the 2014 election that their advisory group would provide a clear direction for the interchange, but after all this time the group has produced no real direction at all, and now Labor are simply setting up yet another group to review the work of their first group,’’ Mr Clark said,

“The community is crying out for a solution to the Box Hill interchange, but all we’re getting is spin and another talkfest rather than any real action.”

More to come.