Station construction complete
Location and entry points
Parkville Station is directly below Grattan Street between Royal Parade and Leicester Street and has 4 entrances, each with accessible entry via escalators and lifts:
- Grattan Street opposite Barry Street (main entrance)
- corner of Grattan Street and Royal Parade
- Grattan Street outside the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre
- Royal Parade outside The Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Design
The main station entry, on the northern side of Grattan Street outside the University of Melbourne, will feature a 54m-long glass and steel canopy designed to draw natural light into the station concourse. The entrance has been designed to sit within the tree canopy to blend in with the surrounding environment.
Natural light is also maximised in the concourse via light wells that will allow light to penetrate from the surface to the station below. The station concourse features world-class artwork by Patrica Piccinini.
Grattan Street has been reconfigured to have 1 lane of traffic in each direction to allow for wider footpaths and dedicated bicycle lanes. The street will be landscaped with new trees and low-height landscaping to provide a green link between Royal Parade and University Square.
Changes to Royal Parade/Elizabeth Street include a new tram super stop, realigned traffic lanes, bicycle lanes, footpaths and pedestrian crossings.
Station precinct
Station precinct features include:
- priority for pedestrians, with a public underpass beneath Royal Parade, the closure of Barry Street to vehicles and a raised pedestrian crossing on Grattan Street linking Barry Street to the new station
- upgraded pedestrian crossings at the intersection of Grattan Street and Royal Parade, with crossing widths increased to 6m to improve safety
- fully accessible station entrances with escalators and lifts
- a new tram super stop on the corner of Grattan Street and Royal Parade, with shelters, service information and wheelchair access
- station entrances directly outside the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
- new bus shelters on Grattan Street to provide weather protection and travel information
- new wider bicycle lanes to improve cyclist safety
- more than 250 new bike parking spaces.
Other key features
Public space
The new station precinct will create 3500 square metres of new public space by reconfiguring road space. Grattan Street will turn into a grand promenade with a dense tree canopy to provide shade and wind protection.
Barry Street will remain closed to traffic at Grattan Street and landscaped to create a new public space that helps facilitate the broader vision for an upgraded University Square. The Barry Street space will be pedestrian and cycling friendly, and will include a series of ‘garden rooms’ for social gatherings, and a dense tree canopy.
Landscaping
Landscaping along Royal Parade will include bluestone pavements, street furniture and new tree plantings, with central vegetation plantings separating tram lines from through traffic.
Landscaping in the Parkville precinct will use leading water-sensitive design to reduce flood risk, reduce stormwater runoff and provide passive irrigation to plants.
Areas that receive high stormwater runoff will be landscaped to cope with heavy rainfall, and new tree pits will contain large soil volumes to provide passive irrigation.
Heritage preservation
The location of the station entrances has been designed to reduce visual and physical impacts on nearby heritage places, such as the Gatekeeper’s Cottage, the Vice Chancellor’s Residence and Royal Parade. Tree planting on Royal Parade will be in accordance with the heritage character of this grand boulevard.
Installing Parkville Station's blue entrance canopies
Entrance concept images
