North East Link will redistribute traffic across north east Melbourne, reducing traffic volumes on a number of roads including Thompsons Road. Even with additional bus movements in and around the new park and ride, traffic assessments suggest that there will be less traffic in the area compared to if NEL wasn’t constructed.

Strict noise requirements for the busway are in place as part of the North East Link’s Environmental Performance Requirements (EPRs), which were set during the Environment Effects Statement (EES). The North East Link day-time noise standard is in line with the toughest in the state and additional noise requirements also apply at night.

New noise walls along Kampman Street will help protect nearby properties from noise during construction and operation.

The buses that use the Eastern Freeway today are among the busiest in Melbourne, with 6 million passenger trips per year and a bus on average every minute in the peak. North East Link Program has worked closely with the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) to design Bulleen Park & Ride so it can cater for additional bus services.

DTP – with support from North East Link Program – is leading work to plan improvements to bus services, which would be staged as the North East Link Busway infrastructure is put in place. This includes looking at passenger numbers, service frequency and routes as well as broader network connections. Feedback and questions about bus services during exhibition of the design for Bulleen Park & Ride is being considered as part of this work. More information will be available before the new park and ride opens.

The new site for the Bulleen Park & Ride is approximately 100m from the original location proposed in the EES and will not substantially change the walking distance.

Upgrades to the Eastern Freeway being delivered as part of North East Link will include a new separated walking and cycling path across the freeway at Bulleen Road which will improve north-south connections between North Balwyn, Bulleen and the greater shared use path network. The community will be able to comment on designs for these walking and cycling paths when detailed designs for the Eastern Freeway upgrades are released.

Suggestions for an additional bridge over the freeway around 450m to the east between North Balwyn and the Bulleen Park & Ride green roof is not possible. The bridge would need to cross over the Bulleen Road interchange ramps as well as the busway, requiring it to be very long and very high. An area of Koonung Creek parkland would also be required to build it.

The new Bulleen Park & Ride, and upgrades to the existing Doncaster Park & Ride, will double the number of car parking spaces for express bus services along the Eastern Freeway and will be a premium facility for all users.

Bulleen Park & Ride has been carefully designed to include as much car parking as possible while providing connections to shared use paths and safe storage of bikes, as well as quick drop-off spots for those not parking. People will also be able to catch local buses to the park and ride, and then travel on to their destination.

Parking spaces have been laid out to make the most efficient use of all the space available and the slope of the site has been used to include a green roof, with two levels of parking underneath. This maintains a small surface footprint and sits the park and ride within the existing landscape.

Air quality modelling done as part of NEL’s EES process found that overall air quality is expected to improve along most surface roads due to a reduction in heavy commercial vehicles and traffic volumes along these roads once the project is complete.

At a more local level, the air quality impacts from vehicles using the Bulleen Park & Ride are not anticipated to have a high impact on the local environment.

North East Link's responsibilities in relation to EPRs for air quality will be verified by an Independent Environmental Auditor for compliance, in consultation with EPA Victoria.

The Victorian Government are investing $20 million to investigate solutions to achieve a zero-emission bus fleet that will deliver clean, sustainable public transport for bus passengers and residents, including those living in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

The finishes and materials for the Bulleen Park & Ride have been designed to be resistant to graffiti as much as is possible. The design includes climbing plants to not only provide a nicer looking facility, but these plants will also reduce surface areas that would be targets for graffiti.

Changes have been made since the UDLP was exhibited to reduce the amount of concrete panel near the pedestrian underpass to reduce the risk of graffiti and improve visual amenity. Sections of the concrete panel retaining wall will be replaced with a landscaped area that includes trees and shrubs to further reduce the potential for graffiti.

The proposed design for Bulleen Park & Ride was informed by the outcomes of the EES process, which included more than two years of consultation with the community to prepare the strict requirements that must be met for design, construction and operation of North East Link, as well as a detailed Urban Design Strategy.

The UDLP for the Bulleen Park & Ride was on exhibition for 36-days – 15 days longer than required to allow time for people to view the proposed design and make a submission. North East Link offered a number of engagement options to the community, including meetings with the project team where suggestions to refine the design were discussed.

Comments received during the UDLP's public exhibition period have been considered by North East Link and some design changes have been made based on these comments.

Through the EES process, the previous plans for Bulleen Park & Ride at the original location prevented drivers from turning right onto Thompsons Road and was highlighted as a concern by multiple expert witnesses. The need for a temporary Doncaster Park & Ride to upgrade the existing facility was also considered a significant issue for the project.

To address these issues, the alternate location for the Bulleen Park & Ride was proposed and will improve access from all directions. It will also be built in late 2022, 4 years earlier than originally planned, removing the need for a temporary Doncaster Park & Ride.

Additional bench seating and a bicycle repair station have been added to the Bulleen Park & Ride green roof design.

The type and range of facilities on the green roof have been carefully selected to create a space the community and commuters can use, while not encouraging anti-social behaviour, which was a concern for local residents.

Requested NEL explore options to redesign the facility, including:

Alter the bus and vehicle access point to be opposite Sandra Street.

Moving the access road through a single access corridor with Thompsons Road that goes underground and leads to the intermediate level of the car park.

Lower Buslink Road and possibly covering it with the green roof in part.

Move the whole facility towards the south-west corner of the site to increase distance from housing.

During the design development process, a number of options raised by the community were explored and found not to be possible, including these suggestions.

More than one new signalised intersection: (one for cars and one for buses) within a relatively short distance along Thompsons Road would not meet DoT’s performance requirements as queues of vehicles would spill into the adjacent intersection.

Placing a vehicle entrance at Sandra Street: it is not possible to locate a vehicle entrance opposite Sandra Street due to operational requirements for Thompsons Road, as well as safety issues caused by close spacing of the three signalised intersections where drivers may incorrectly interpret which set of traffic signals they should obey.

Creating an entrance for buses closer that leads to the intermediate level of the car park: bus vertical clearance is 5.4m, while car park vertical clearance is only 2.3m. To achieve this clearance and allow buses to enter the intermediate level, the roof of the facility level would need to be significantly higher and would not sit within the landscape as originally designed. There would also be potential flooding impacts from Koonung Creek if the bus access road was lower.

Lowering the level of Buslink Road: it is not possible as the level of the green roof would no longer match the height of Kampman Street and fit within the natural slope of the site. It would also result in a loss of car parking space due to requiring more space to accommodate turning buses.

Move the facility further south-west: the site is heavily constrained and not large enough to increase the facility’s distance from the local residences. The design also had to avoid locating permanent infrastructure over the Melbourne Water sewer easement which runs across the southern part of the site. The park and ride has been designed to sit mostly within the steep slope of the site to lessen its visual impact to nearby residences.