Wishing all our neighbouring residents and businesses a safe and merry festive season.

The removal of the Heatherdale Road level crossing is an important community project providing a safer and better connected environment, as well as a new station. We are committed to working with you to successfully deliver this project with the least possible disruption.

You will have seen plenty of activity onsite over the last month and 2016 will be even busier as we work towards removing the Heatherdale Road level crossing.

For your diary

Christmas/New Year period

Works will cease over the Christmas/New Year from Thursday 24 December 2015 until Monday 4 January 2015.

Weekend works in January 2016

Weekend works are planned from 1am Saturday 16 January 2016 until 4am Sunday 17 January 2016. During this period, works will be carried out 24 hours a day. More details will be provided in coming weeks via the Level Crossing Removal Project website. Those directly impacted by the works will receive a notification letter in their mailbox.

Planned disruptions

Changes to train services

Buses will replace trains on the Belgrave/Lilydale Line between Box Hill and Ringwood on Saturday 16 January 2016. Please note journey times will increase by up to 30 minutes.

Visit the PTV website or call 1800 800 007 closer to the date for replacement services and bus stops.

The construction team will generally undertake works during normal construction hours, which are 7am to 6pm weekdays and 7am to 1pm Saturdays. Weekend works will be undertaken from time to time during the project to minimise disruption to weekday commuters. If daytime construction activities will impact you directly, or if works need to be completed outside the normal construction hours noted above, we will notify you in advance.

Works so far

Works started to date are:

Temporary rail safety fencing

Temporary safety fencing has been erected along each side of the rail corridor between Heatherdale Road and EastLink, and a southern side section near Brunswick Street.

Existing services relocation

Trenching and conduiting under the rail line near Brunswick Street has been completed in preparation for relocation of services such as signalling, underground power and telecommunications.

Tree clearing

Some non-native trees have been removed to enable works to proceed. Trees in Brunswick Park have been tagged for assessment purposes only. Design and landscaping solutions will be developed and further community consultation undertaken, to retain trees in the park where possible and finalise the shared pedestrian and cyclist path alignment.

Car park closures and relocation

The northwest station car park and northeast car park entrance have been closed to enable relocation of services. Offset car parking is being provided at the Newman Street car park (located off Molan Street.)

Shared use path – Brunswick Park to EastLink

A robust community consultation process was undertaken to determine a suitable alignment for the shared pedestrian and cyclist path from Brunswick Park to EastLink.

Alternative alignments were assessed against criteria including community feedback, conformance with VicRoads guidelines, and potential property and environmental impacts. Considerable importance was given to residents' concerns, tree removal minimisation, path usability and safety.

Early 2016 look ahead

The team is ready to go and looking forward to 2016. In the new year you will see a significant increase in activity onsite.

Planned works for the new year are:

Drainage

Commencing December 2015, a new piped stormwater drainage line will be constructed from Tennyson Street to EastLink.

Services installation

Installation of new network operating services such as power and signal feeds will start in December 2015. Commencement works involve the excavation of a new trench and installation of conduits along the Brunswick Street conduit route between Tennyson Street and Heatherdale Road.

Excavation

Excavation works will soon start in the northwest car park. This is part of the design to level out the car park and fully maximise the area for new car parking and accessible spaces.

Retaining wall construction

Construction of retaining walls in the station northwest car park and along the Shared Use Path from Tennyson Street to Heatherdale Road is planned to start in early February 2016.