Residents furious after first sky rail columns placed near Murrumbeena station

ANGRY inner south residents say they still haven’t even seen proper sky rail plans, after the first columns were installed without fanfare on the Cranbourne-Pakenham line.

A view of the area of Sky Rail work in Carnegie. Picture: Hamish Blair

FURIOUS Glen Eira residents say they still haven’t even seen proper sky rail plans, despite last night’s installation of the first columns near Murrumbeena Station.

Two 6.7 metre columns were lowered into place on the Cranbourne-Pakenham line last night by a 350-tonne mobile crane.

Lower Our Tracks Incorporated secretary Dianne Hunt said the pillars had been installed under the cover of darkness.

First pillars installed for controversial sky rail project

“They’re going ahead building this monstrosity, but where are the plans,” Ms Hunt said.

“Residents have still not been provided with exact information on the dimensions and location of the construction in relation to their properties.”

First of 352 columns for sky rail in place at Murrumbeena. @theheraldsun #springst pic.twitter.com/XXFPjaZgVF

— Tom Minear (@tminear) January 31, 2017

She urged the State Government to release the plans including all dimensions on size, location and final structural appearance, including height of privacy and noise barriers.

Ms Hunt said many residents wanted to stay in their family homes if possible but were unsure of the exact impact on the amenity of their home.

Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said the first piece of the “huge” project was in place.

“It’s the start of a massive construction blitz that will remove nine of our worst level crossings and create space for more trains on Victoria’s busiest line,” Ms Allan said.

She said over the coming months, more than 350 of the support columns — known as piers — would be raised to support the new elevated train line through Melbourne’s south east.

Ms Allan said removing the crossings would reduce road congestion, improve safety and create space to run more trains on Victoria’s busiest rail corridor.

LXRA project director Brett Summers said designs setting out the exact dimensions of support pylons were provided to residents on January 9 via 600 letters sent to local houses, plus an email update.

“These aerial maps detail the exact locations of the pylons in relation to properties, and in coming weeks we’ll be updating them with more detail about screening,” Mr Summers said.

The crossings are among the state’s worst, with boom gates down for more than 80 minutes in the morning peak at a number of sites.

The $1.6 billion project will also build five new stations, upgrade power and signalling, and create 22.5 hectares of new public open space for parks, paths and community facilities under the new line.

The designs and aerial views can be viewed here.