Exclusive: Sneak peek at new Mentone, Cheltenham stations as $536 million blitz hits halfway mark
Mentone and Cheltenham stations have been left unrecognisable as 1700 employees work 24 hours a day to remove three level crossings and build two new stations. And the Leader got an exclusive look inside. SEE THE PHOTOS
South East
Don't miss out on the headlines from South East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
More than 15,000 motorists have returned to Balcombe Rd in Melbourne’s southeast as the huge level crossing removal project at Mentone and Cheltenham continues.
And the two popular stations have been left unrecognisable with traffic now moving freely over new rail trenches at Balcombe, Charman and Park roads which stretch as deep as 30 metres underground.
Yesterday’s reopening of Balcombe Rd — after a six week closure — follows the launch of Park Rd at Cheltenham on June 9 and Charman Rd on June 11, and marks the official halfway point of the $536 million blitz.
A whopping 50 trucks hauled 200,000 cubic metres of soil — close to the size of 75 Olympic sized swimming pools — per hour during excavations along 2.1km of trenches.
And more than 400 concrete planks weighing 12 tonnes each have been put in place for the roads.
The chaotic Mentone roundabout has been replaced by an intersection and the nearby pedestrian crossing moved further down Balcombe Rd.
The super blitz employs 1700 workers across dozens of trades with up to 300 people on site at using 180 big machines including bulldozers, excavators and Melbourne’s biggest crane, weighing 750 tonnes.
The mammoth overhaul — and LXRP’s biggest project to date — comes after boomgates were down for 49 minutes per day in the 7am-9am weekday peak at Balcombe Rd, 48 minutes at Park Rd and 35 minutes at Charman Rd.
A staggering 22,000 cars pass through the Charman and Park road area every day and 16,000 over the trench at Balcombe Rd, with 200 trains passing through the stations.
A third rail at Cheltenham will allow for express and freight trains to pass through — allowing more regular services to run — and 3.5km of pedestrian and bike path will link new community spaces at both stops.
“With Park and Charman roads boom gate free, we’re already seeing traffic flowing better through Cheltenham. Balcombe Rd is now open to make school drop offs and getting around the area even easier,” Mordialloc MP Tim Richardson told the Leader.
“The teams have been working at an amazing pace, it’s hard to believe we’re halfway through the construction blitz.”
LXRP program director Adam Maguire said the crews would spend the next nine weeks laying down rail track and installing signalling and power infrastructure while continuing work on the two new stations.
Buses continue to replaced trains on the Frankston line between Moorabbin and Mordialloc, and on the Stony Point line before services resume on July 27.
However Mentone station will not open until August 3 and Cheltenham on August 17.
MORE NEWS
TEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED AT GRAND FINAL PARTY
PARKDALE TEEN OPENS BACKYARD ‘GLAMPING’ BUSINESS
MELBOURNE’S MOST DANGEROUS SHOPPING CENTRES REVEALED
Next in line after the Mentone and Cheltenham blitz is Edithvale, Chelsea and Bonbeach, where five crossings will be plucked and three new stations built.
The line will be lowered into a trench under Edithvale Rd, Edithvale, Thames Pr and Argyle Ave, Chelsea, and Bondi Rd, Bonbeach.
Thames Pr will be extended through to the Nepean Hwy and the crossings at Swanpool Ave and Chelsea Rd will close.
MENTONE AND CHELTENHAM BY NUMBERS:
● 12 ‘Super T’ beams, each weighing 30 tonne, to help construct the concourse at Mentone
● 24 ‘Super T’ beams, each weighing 60 tonne, to help construct the concourse at Cheltenham
● More than 6800 tonnes of steel reinforcing
● More than 15,000 cubic metres of concrete
● 480 tonnes of rail
● 25,000 tonnes of ballast
● More than 20 kilometres of overhead wires to come