Preston FAQ

1 October 2016

The Victorian Government is removing 50 dangerous and congested level crossings in Melbourne, the largest project of its time in Victoria’s history. By 2018, it is expected that 37 crossings will be removed or underway.

The Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) has been established to oversee the delivery of this massive project, ensuring that level crossings are removed in a coordinated and efficient manner.

Construction has commenced at a number of the 50 sites with planning and consultation underway for the remaining sites.

Removing these level crossings will:

deliver significant safety improvements for drivers and pedestrians
improve travel around Melbourne – whether you’re a train user, pedestrian, cyclist or driver
get people home safer and faster
make our roads more reliable, enabling people to better predict their travel times
stimulate economic growth by creating thousands of jobs during construction
revitalise local communities, with many areas benefiting from station rebuilds
improve urban amenity through consideration of urban design treatments.

The level crossing is located on Bell Street, between High Street and St Georges Road in Preston. Bell Street is a major east-west road that provides vital connectivity between Heidelberg in the east and Tullamarine Freeway in the west.

The project includes the separation of the railway line from the road level to help improve safety and ease congestion. The project also involves the rebuilding of Bell train station.

Works are planned to commence in 2018 and will take 18 months to 2 years to complete.

The boom gates are down for approximately 27 minutes in the 2-hour morning peak (between 7am and 9am), causing delays and leading to congestion for approximately 52,000 road users travelling along Bell Street each week day.

Besides the time delays, the congestion can also lead to frustration for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians and cause them to take risks such as trying to ‘beat’ the red lights and boom gates to avoid delays.

Planning and technical investigation works got underway in 2016 and will continue into 2017. These works include:

geotechnical investigations (drilling) to learn about the ground conditions
site surveys, including environmental surveys
traffic studies
determining where the existing service utilities are located
stakeholder engagement
community updates.

No. There are several design options when removing a level crossing to separate the road and railway line. These options include building a railway bridge over the road, lowering the railway line under the road, lowering the road under the railway line or a road bridge over the railway line.

We will investigate several options before a recommended design is determined. Before then, considerations will include community feedback, urban renewal opportunities, constructability, cost, technical constraints and impacts to rail operations and road traffic.

Until the detailed planning process is complete it is too early to know whether there will be impact on private property. Wherever practical, we will aim to avoid the need to acquire private property.

Any land acquisition will be handled in accordance with the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act.

Any impacts on noise will depend on the final design chosen. Noise assessments will be carried out prior to the start of construction. The project will meet the thresholds set out in the Victorian Government’s Passenger Rail Infrastructure Noise Policy.

Yes. The removal of the level crossings at Reservoir and Bell Street, Preston will likely be coordinated to minimise disruption, maximise benefit and deliver value for money.

Yes. The station will be rebuilt as part of the works. Bell Station is the closest station to the Bell Street level crossing. It is a premium station, with a daily patronage of approximately 1500 people.

You can sign up to receive email updates about specific level crossing removals, or by connecting with us on our Facebook page or our other social media channels.

Local residents, businesses and other stakeholders will be kept up to date during the project through a range of:

letterbox drops and doorknocks
community drop-in sessions and pop ups at train stations and local trading strips
local newspaper advertisements
social media
on-site information boards and station posters
24-hour information lines during construction.