Ratepayers back underground station

By Shaun Inguanzo
DANDENONG Residents and Ratepayers Association has thrown its support behind the City of Greater Dandenong’s request to place Springvale railway station and surrounding rail lines underground.
Star revealed last week that Greater Dandenong council had made a formal submission to the State Government as part of its $37 million first stage of the Dandenong line triplication, requesting that Springvale railway station and its surrounding track be grade separated underground near Springvale Road.
Council CEO John Bennie told Star it would reduce traffic congestion, eliminate turn bans on Springvale Road, open up the rail reserve for development and remove the north-south community divide of the railway line.
Ratepayers association president Alan Hood this week congratulated the council and said the association had been lobbying for similar “cut and cap” work to place Springvale railway station and its surrounding railway underground in a recent submission to the Port of Hastings Corporation.
Mr Hood said the railways’ intersection with Springvale Road had “been a bottleneck for traffic since 1924, and successive councils and governments have avoided doing something about it.”
“It’s got the potential to open up Springvale and make it more shopper friendly, and it’s a positive story for City of Greater Dandenong,” he said.
Mr Hood said the method of cutting out the ground, building the new rail lines, then capping them with a road-level roof, was the preferred method of grade separation, compared to raising the road.
“It is by far the best because you draw all the cosmopolitan activity in Springvale in from the margins and produce a vibrant centre,” he said.
Mr Hood said Springvale didn’t need revitalisation, just a “clean up” – and an underground train station would contribute greatly.
“I’ve taken Japanese people, fresh out of Tokyo, to a Japanese restaurant there and they were blown away by the authenticity of the food,” he said.
“There are restaurants there that serve food that is world class.
“So I don’t think it needs revitalising, but it certainly needs cleaning up from an infrastructure point of view.
“Lights are in poor condition, there are cracked footpaths, roads need resealing – but that will all come with increased activity provided by the grade separation.”