Construction crews are preparing for spring landscaping works to increase tree coverage in Deer Park and complement existing native plants following the removal of the level crossing at Mt Derrimut Road.
The level crossing was removed by building a rail bridge and a new Deer Park Station opened for commuters in April. Throughout May construction crews also upgraded the intersection of Mt Derrimut, Tilburn and Station roads.
More than 50,000 trees, plants and grasses will be planted, including more than 500 saplings that will grow into mature trees.
The project team has introduced measures to protect significant plants while works continue, including a giant succulent, which is almost half a century old and stands at the western entrance to the new rail bridge.
Located at the end of Railway Parade South at Deer Park, locals first informed the project team of the succulent’s significance when works started to gear up last year.
Also known as aloe arborescens, the four-metre-tall succulent was planted in 1975 by resident Douglas and will stand alongside a revitalised, greener station precinct when works are finished later this year.
Douglas moved to Deer Park in 1974 and soon created the rock garden that includes the plant at the end of his street.
Back then, his Deer Park home was surrounded by empty fields and development in the area over multiple generations has increased the amount of traffic, including at the level crossing at Mt Derrimut Road.
Douglas said he was pleased with the project team’s efforts to preserve the succulent and willingness to work with locals during the works.
'When all the landscaping is finished, when the station buildings are finished, it should look really good,' he said.
'When I moved here the rail line was there, and the station, but there was much less traffic. That has been the biggest change over the years.'
The project team has set up exclusion zones around native vegetation and grasslands, including the Spiny Rice Flower, and taken steps to protect local fauna.
When landscaping is finished the project will have increased the tree canopy coverage of Deer Park as part of the ‘Greening the West’ strategy to increase tree foliage and plant life in the western suburbs.
Meanwhile, crews are also upgrading and building 150 car parks on either side of the station, installing pedestrian paths through the area, and building the station forecourt and waiting room.
When the project is finished, both platforms will have ramp and lift access, better lighting and permanent seating installed to replace temporary seating currently in use.
Mt Derrimut Road was the 68th level crossing removed, with 70 level crossings in total now gone and 110 to be removed by 2030.
