New rail loop to reshape suburbs as major road shifts for traffic-free connections

A new linear park built to enable traffic-free public transport connections is at the centre of plan will make one commuter hub unrecognisable.

A major road in Melbourne’s east will be shifted and a new linear park built to enable traffic-free public transport connections as part of the $34.5 billion Suburban Rail Loop.
The new park and pedestrian plaza planned for Box Hill will push southern lanes of Whitehorse Rd, between Nelson Rd and Linsley St, to the north.
This means people moving between SRL and metro trains, trams, buses or shops won’t have to cross a road carrying 20,000 cars a day.

In a major reshaping of the suburb, the new linear park and plaza will be almost 900m long, while more high rises will be permitted to cater for thousands of new residents and jobs.

How Box Hill station could look once completed.

Outside the revamped Box Hill station.

An entrance to Box Hill station.

Dozens of homes and businesses have been told they will be bought to make way for the new vision.

Details of the station precinct will be revealed on Friday through a 10,000-page environmental effects statement on the SRL’s first stage — a 26km underground tunnel between Cheltenham and Box Hill.
The EES process will enable the community to make formal submissions to the planning process, which will remain open until December 16.

Suburban Rail Loop Minister Jacinta Allan said the changes to Box Hill’s landscape would be good for commuters and retailers.

Plans for Box Hill’s Suburban Rail Loop station and public plaza, as viewed from a rebuilt Whitehorse Rd. Image: SRL Authority

Concept designs for Clayton station.

“Changing between SRL and metro trains, trams and buses at Box Hill will all be done without having to cross traffic,” she said.

“Box Hill is already a vibrant precinct and Suburban Rail Loop will see it flourish further, with the creation of thousands more jobs closer to home, great public spaces and the delivery of safe and convenient walking and cycling paths for locals, traders and shoppers.”

The government’s SRL plan is being designed as more than a public transport project, with a push for more density in middle Melbourne to address population spread at the city’s fringes.

Six new stations will be built in the first stage of the project including at Cheltenham, Clayton, Glen Waverley, Monash University, Burwood, and Box Hill.

New images show a huge overpass above Burwood Highway is planned to link a new SRL station with Deakin University, while a massive concourse will be built next to the new Glen Waverley station.

Ms Allan said for the first time in an EES process all documents would be online meaning residents can explore the project detail “from the comfort of home”.