Lane of traffic to be closed and acoustic shed to be built as Metro Tunnel work reaches Fed Square

ONE of the city’s busiest roads will be reduced by one lane for up to four years, with commuters warned to expect delays, while a giant acoustic shed will also be built at Federation Square as Metro Tunnel works ramp up.

A LANE of traffic will be closed on Flinders St and a giant acoustic shed will be built over a corner of Federation Square as work ramps up on Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel.

During construction works, a lane will be closed on Flinders St next to the square for up to four years, providing motorists with only one lane to turn left on to St Kilda Rd.

Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan today announced work on the iconic square would soon be underway, with the Melbourne Visitor’s Centre to be demolished for an entrance to Town Hall station.

DELICATE OPERATION TO TUNNEL NEAR HOSPITAL HUB

INSIDE MELBOURNE’S NEW METRO TRAIN STATIONS

PLATFORM SCREENS FOR METRO TUNNEL REVEALED

UNDERGROUND SUBURBAN NETWORK ANNOUCED

A concept design for the new train station entrance.

Authorities are advising motorists travelling through this stretch of road to allow for delays of up to 15 minutes.

A new heritage overlay over Federation Square will impact the project and Rail Projects Victoria have applied for a permit to begin the work.

The permit will go to public consultation for two weeks from Wednesday and the acoustic shed is expected to be built early next year.

The Minister for Public Transport, Jacinta Allan, at a Metro Tunnel site in July. Picture: David Crosling

“We are getting on with building the urgently needed Metro Tunnel, so thousands of people can get to and from the suburbs every day,” Ms Allan said.

“These works will be disruptive but they are absolutely necessary to build the Metro Tunnel as safely and quickly as possible.”

The acoustic shed will be similar to those built near other Metro Tunnel sites and will be about 40m long, 30m wide and 18m high.

Rail Projects Victoria CEO Evan Tattersall said the organisation expected to start work within the next few weeks.

“We’re working well with Heritage Victoria and we’re confident we’ll be able to sort this in a timely way,” he said.

“It will be quite an imposing building on the corner there but we will do some creative artwork on the sides of the building.

The $11 billion Metro Tunnel project is due to be completed by 2025.