Construction pain for City of Monash property owners revealed in new Suburban Rail Loop maps

A new rail loop will make Monash University accessible by train for the first time, but the massive toll on its buildings and nearby businesses has been revealed.

Businesses and organisations close to Monash University will bear the brunt of a seven-year construction window to build a long-awaited heavy rail station in Clayton North.

Monash station will be the second stop on the Suburban Rail Loop East, a 26km tunnel through middle Melbourne to connect Cheltenham to Box Hill at a cost of $30-34.5bn.

The SRL East construction footprint has been revealed in planning maps, showing a 1km stretch of “project land” will be affected from north of Ferntree Gully Rd to south of Normanby Rd.

To the east, the project runs to Blackburn Rd on the boundary of the suburb of Notting Hill.

The Andrews government says work will be undertaken across the breadth of the broader project land “at some point” — but this could include minor works or underground works.

Over the coming days the Herald Sunwill reveal the chaos expected around Glen Waverley, Burwood, and Box Hill, as detailed in the project’s Environmental Effects Statement.

Thirty-four businesses will be moved or acquired in order to install a new station next to Monash University. Picture: Rob Leeson

Widespread impacts will also be felt at other stations, including Cheltenham and Clayton, while a new stabling and maintenance facility on green wedge land in Heatherton has caused uproar.

Once the project is built, the government’s investment case says there will be a jobs boom and it will transform the way people in middle suburbs travel and work.

In order to get a new station next to Monash University, which has raised concerns about the designs proposed by the government, 34 business properties will be moved or acquired.

This includes a 120-place childcare centre and a 101-bed student accommodation building.

Short-term vibration and noise is expected to affect more businesses, while sensitive equipment at Monash University and CSIRO is another concern.

The government’s investment case says there will be a jobs boom and it will transform the way people in middle suburbs travel and work.

Monash University Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner said the institution was “delighted” to welcome Suburban Rail Loop Minister Jacinta Allan to the Clayton campus late last year and discussions about the project’s impact and benefits were ongoing.

“(The university) will continue to work closely with SRLA to maximise the benefits SRL will bring to the 55,000 staff, students and visitors who travel to our University, the Monash Technology Precinct and the surrounding areas each day,” she said.

At the peak of construction there will be a daily movements of 290 trucks, making access to the precinct challenging.

Once finished next decade, the station would enable a train connection to Monash for the first time, servicing about 9000 passengers a day.

A trip from Cheltenham to Monash would be slashed by 40 minutes, while jobs are predicted to soar from 36,500 to 162,000 by mid-century.

One option being explored for the Monash station is to build a pedestrian underpass at Normanby Rd, while a bus interchange and access areas for cars is being planned for off Howleys Rd.

Suburban Rail Loop Authority chief executive Frankie Carroll said while most of the work on the project would be underground, “for a project of this size some impacts are unavoidable”.

“We are doing everything we can to carefully manage construction in these built-up areas to keep community disruption to a minimum,” he said.