CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
WHAT’S going on under the surface at Springvale railway station is set to make a big difference for the suburb above ground.
Peter Fraser, general manager of the Springvale level crossing removal project, says work is at the half-way mark.
The project team will be going “flat out” to have the $156 million project done by September 2014.
As the Journal’s exclusive pictures of inside the project show, cavernous trenches up to 4.6 metres deep are being dug east and west of Springvale Road.
There is still another metre yet to delve into the groundwater table, requiring drainage then sealing by concrete base slabs.
These clay canyons will link into a 1.4-kilometre stretch bearing a premium railway station and railway trucks tunneling under the road.
Mr Fraser said the elimination of boom gates could be a boom-time for the precinct north of the tracks.
Easier links to Springvale’s southern shopping district will spell more development opportunities in the sparsely-occupied north.
Work is also apace building a new vehicle and pedestrian bridge across the trench.
It will provide a second north-south link at Sandown and Lighwood roads.
This should divert traffic away from the Springvale Road junction and the new station’s plaza frontage – which is hoped to be home to market stalls.
Atop of the towering former wood-processing plant, a timelapse camera is recording the intersection’s dramatic transformation.
To picture the result, think of the Nunawading level crossing elimination, says Mr Fraser.
He adds: “Except better”.
