Popular Cheltenham chicken shop The Hot Bird is planning to expand to Carnegie on the back of our business-boosting and suburb-enhancing works in Melbourne’s south-east.
Owner Alan extended his opening hours to feed our hungry crews during works next to his shop when we removed 2 dangerous and congested level crossings at Charman and Park roads and built a new Cheltenham Station in 2020.
Alan lives with his wife and 2 children in Carnegie, where an elevated rail bridge allowed for the removal of the level crossings at Koornang and Grange roads in 2018, creating 22.5 hectares of open space as part of the Caulfield to Dandenong project.
He said the improvements in Carnegie made it the perfect location to open a second shop.
‘Where level crossings are removed, you see the economy grow, so we’re going to open up in Carnegie too,’ Alan said.
His customers are currently making good use of the landscaped open space outside Cheltenham Station.
‘There’s been a lot of people grabbing food from myself and other traders, you see a lot of people having picnics on the grass, so it has been really cool,’ Alan said.
The works at Cheltenham are part of the Victorian Government’s more than $3 billion investment in the Frankston Line to remove 20 level crossings and build 13 new stations by 2025.
As part of the unprecedented transport infrastructure upgrade, our 50th level crossing has been removed this month during works at Edithvale, Chelsea and Bonbeach.
Another 4 level crossings are set go along the Frankston Line at Neerim Road and Glen Huntly Road in Glen Huntly; and at Warrigal Road in Mentone and Parkers Road in Parkdale, with new stations also being built at Glenhuntly and Parkdale.
