Following the recent proposed design of the new Bell Station by the State Government as part of the Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP), Council is considering changes to the traffic movement in the Bell Station Precinct.

What is the Bell Station Precinct project about?

In October 2020, the State Government under the Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) released a factsheet for the new Bell station area showing that the commuter carpark would be accessed via local roads to the east of the Station.

The proposed State Government designs that were released are not the one Council has been advocating for as the proposed designs of the Bell Station precinct would change the current traffic movements towards the station carpark and negatively impact the local streets, including Railway Place East, Adeline, Esther, Gertrude and Garnet Streets.

Many community members have contacted Council to ask if there is anything Council can do to maintain the local character of the precinct.

What’s happened so far?

Officers have assessed the State Government’s station designs and new open space concepts that have been publicly released. Council has assessed how well they achieve Council’s objectives outlined in ‘Preston Reconnected’. There are several proposed design elements that do not meet Council’s objectives.

The most significant of these is the location of the commuter car park at Bell Station and the proposed access location.

Council continues to call for the Bell Station car park to be relocated to the west of the train line entirely and the space that it is currently proposed for be used as open space. Moving the access to the car park to the west, rather than the car park itself, would also be a significant improvement compared to the current design.

This area of the corridor is affected by intersections with major roads, tram routes and train lines, and has high levels of local walking and cycling activity by a range of people of all ages and abilities moving between homes, public transport, local business and schools.

In January and February 2021, officers collected community feedback about changing the way the local roads operate through public survey and public drop-in sessions.

In April 2021, Council considered community feedback and technical advice and made a decision about local road network changes.

The analysis of the feedback collected during the first round of engagement have now been released and the full report is available here.

What’s happening now?

On 26 April 2021,Council resolved to:

Seeks State Government approval to introduce no right hand turns signs on High Street for vehicles travelling south, on High Street into Adeline, Gertrude and Esther Streets, Showers and Warrs Streets.

Council’s urban design and transport experts will consider the community feedback and assess the site constraints. They will continue to consider different treatments identified as priorities by participants of the engagement phase, with a focus on creating a safer environment for people of all ages and abilities to walk, wheel and cycle. Detailed investigation will still be necessary, and it is possible that some things are found not to be feasible.

In addition, Council will continue to monitor the impacts of the changes on vehicle volumes and speeds in surrounding local streets.

If you have any queries about this project, you can email major.projects@darebin.vic.gov.au or call 8470 8888 and ask to speak to Quentin Mercier, Coordinator Major Projects.

If you would like to speak to someone in your preferred language about the Bell Station Precinct, please contact us or call 8470 8470 to be connected to a Language Aide or an interpreter.