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Subject: Sat.16.7.22 daily digest

Roderick

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Sat.16.7.22 Metro Twitter
Flinders St: still with a lane closed for tunnel works? [reopened by July?  Closed again by Nov.]
Campbell Arcade (Flinders St station) is closed until 2024. The exit from the Myki gates within the subway will also be closed. No pedestrian access between the arcade & Flinders St. Use Elizabeth & Swanston St entry/exits. Platform  interchange via that subway will be available until mid 2022.
Mernda line: Trains will run to an altered timetable until Sep 2022 (works).  Trains operate on a single track Thornbury - Regent, and trains will not stop at Bell or Preston.  Shuttle buses operate Thornbury - Bell - Preston - Regent - Reservoir. No access to station facilities during this time.
- Buses replace trains Clifton Hill - Epping until the last train of Sun 17 Jul (works).
Buses replace trains Heidelberg - Hurstbridge until the last train of Sun 17 Jul (maintenance works).
Buses replace trains on sections of the Lilydale & Belgrave lines until the last train of Sun 24 Jul (works).
Pakenham/Cranbourne lines: All trains direct to/from Flinders St all day (works). From loop stations, take a train from pfm 4 to Richmond.
- Buses replace trains Caulfield - Westall from 8pm Sat 16 Jul to last train Sun 17 Jul, while project works take place.
Frankston line: Trains will run to an altered timetable until late Aug 2022 while project works take place. Trains will stop all stations Caulfield - Cheltenham in both directions, all day.
15.07 Cranbourne/Pakenham lines: Major delays (police near Sandown Park).  
- 15.13 clearing
1.07 Hurstbridge line: Trains are SUSPENDED Clifton Hill to Heidelberg (police attending to a trespasser in the Heidelberg area).  Buses are on order, but may take up to 60 minutes to be in position.
- 1.33 Trains have resumed, but will approach Heidelberg station at extreme caution.
- 1.52 Trains have resumed normal operation.

Go west: Council unveils 20-year plan for inner Melbourne.  Rachael Dexter and Cara Waters July 16, 2022.  103 comments
KEY POINTS
The Municipal Planning Strategy forecasts 79 per cent population growth, or about 144,000 people,  many of whom will live in developed former industrial areas and the Hoddle Grid.
The City of Melbourne also wants 1.4 million people working, visiting and moving around the city on any given day by 2040 - a number which sat at 972,000 pre-pandemic.
The council’s vision is for a greener and more sustainable city with zero net emissions by 2030 and zero net waste by 2040.
The inner Melbourne of the future will be bigger, denser and greener as western parts of the city become the new Fitzroy and Collingwood and pedestrians and bikes are increasingly prioritised over cars.
A 20-year blueprint to be published by the City of Melbourne on Saturday lays out a vision for the growth of the municipality.
An artist’s render of the gutterless streets planned for Melbourne’s Chinatown and other “little streets” to encourage pedestrians and bikes. CREDIT:CITY OF MELBOURNE
The plan names the key areas expected to undergo the most dramatic residential change over the next two decades as Macaulay and Arden, nestled between North Melbourne and Kensington, as well as Fishermans Bend and Lorimer, south of the Yarra.
“The growth of the municipality is now moving west, onto the lower, wetter plains,” it says.
Shift to the west
Acting Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece said the blueprint was the most extensive plan for the city since the 1990s. The “transformative vision” set out in the Municipal Planning Strategy and City Spatial Plan envisaged new suburbs to the west and to the north of the Hoddle Grid, he said.
Acting Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece said the plan would be transformative for the west and north-west of inner Melbourne.CREDIT:JASON SOUTH
“These are the biggest urban renewal projects in Australia and they will be transformative for the west and north-west of inner Melbourne. The plans are for a new vision for the transformation of West Melbourne into the next Fitzroy or Collingwood as a mixed-use area that is respectful of the industrial heritage of the area.”
Reece said the council envisaged Arden and Macaulay developing as mid-rise residential and office areas.
“We see them becoming the Barcelona of the south in terms of the sort of built form and streets that we’re looking for.”
Fishermans Bend does not have any residents at the moment but by 2040 the City of Melbourne forecasts 21,089 people will live in the area.
West Melbourne and the area next to North Melbourne dubbed City North will continue to experience “infill” development as old industrial buildings are converted to apartments, stores and offices, while the report has flagged renewal of E-Gate, Dynon and the Maribyrnong waterfront into more open space and “industrial areas that support the knowledge economy”.
The city says West Melbourne alone will need 6700 more homes.
The Municipal Planning Strategy is to go before the City of Melbourne’s Future Melbourne committee on Tuesday. The council will then request authorisation from the planning minister to amend the Melbourne Planning Scheme to include the strategy. The state government does not sign off on the City Spatial Plan.
Associate Professor Andrew Butt, of RMIT’s Centre for Urban Research, said the reasons for “reusing” former industrial areas to the west of the city were obvious.
“From an overall perspective of metropolitan Melbourne planning, inner and middle Melbourne still needs to do much more of the heavy lifting of growth if we’re going to prevent the sorts of sprawling and poorly serviced neighbourhoods we’re seeing on the fringe of Melbourne,” he said.
“[But] it’s politically challenging to try and grow into any heritage areas like Carlton, North Melbourne or East Melbourne.”
While he welcomed the focus on areas such as Arden and Macaulay, he said the city needed to ensure it had learnt lessons from the redevelopment of industrial areas in the past.
“The lessons from Docklands [for example] is simply parceling land out to different developers to work with really doesn’t end up with a comprehensive idea of [a suburb]. So we’ve ended up in Docklands where it took close to 20 years to build a school.”
Butt said Melbourne City Council had been given an opportunity in the fallout of the pandemic to create more considered development in the renewal areas where housing could be built for larger families and retirees and where buildings had mixed uses, rather than being solely office buildings.
Prioritising pedestrians and bikes
Despite the drop-off in public transport use during and after lockdowns, the council is pushing ahead with a vision of far fewer cars in the city, listing car dominance as one if its key challenges.
An aerial view of Melbourne.CREDIT:ISTOCK
Reece said introducing gutterless roads along the “little” streets and laneways of Melbourne, such as Flinders Lane and Little Bourke, Little Collins and Little Lonsdale streets, would be one way to discourage cars.
Cars would still be allowed in the streets but removing gutters would encourage more pedestrians and bikes, he said.
“They have a positive, traffic calming effect; it does tend to slow everyone down,” he said. “Cities like Rome, Milan, Paris, London, you’re really seeing this rollout of these gutterless streets.”
City of Melbourne wants to redress the imbalance in the Hoddle Grid, where 60 per cent of street space is allocated to vehicles despite private cars accounting for only a third of all trips.
Butt welcomed the gutter removals and said Melbourne’s “little streets” were “much more valuable to us as places to be and inhabit than they are as places to drive through”.
But he said it would take an intervention from the state government to drastically reduce car traffic in the CBD and stop roads such as Spencer Street, King Street, Flinders Street and Exhibition Street being used as thoroughfares for drivers to cross town.
“With the new West Gate Tunnel, for example, the state government needs to be serious about the fact that it should divert traffic [out of the city centre], and they should assist that traffic to be diverted.”
The plan also outlines a new tram route from Fishermans Bend and Spencer Street to West Melbourne.
A rising population
Despite the setbacks of the pandemic, the Municipal Planning Strategy forecasts 79 per cent population growth - or about 144,000 people - many of whom will live in developed former industrial areas and the Hoddle Grid.
City of Melbourne wants 1.4 million people working, visiting and moving around the city on any given day by 2040. The number sat at 972,000 before the pandemic.
The council forecasts the number of residents living in the Hoddle Grid will more or less double to about 100,000, while the number of workers will grow from 211,000 in 2020 to 310,000 in 2040.
Reece said the pandemic had not changed the long-term trajectory for Melbourne’s growth.
“In many ways, the things that made Melbourne so attractive to immigrants from interstate and internationally before COVID will be even more so post-COVID,” he said.
Listed among the city’s other big challenges are poorly designed buildings, buildings not designed to withstand increasingly extreme weather as a result of climate change, the need to bring back international students and thwarting high rates of loneliness and isolation for more than half of the population who live alone.
A greener city
The council’s vision is also for a greener and more sustainable city with zero net emissions by 2030 and zero net waste by 2040.
“We will achieve zero net emissions by rewiring and electrifying the city and moving the entire municipality over to renewable power,” Reece said. “We’ll achieve zero waste by stepping up our waste management and recycling programs and introducing comprehensive lifecycle programs around waste.”
RELATED ARTICLE Block Arcade seen here connecting with one of Melbourne's popular city laneways. Melbourne’s plan for the future will transform the CBD and surrounding suburbs
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/go-west-council-unveils-20-year-plan-for-inner-melbourne-20220714-p5b1rn.html>
* What happened to the whole plan to decentralise to activity centres in Sunshine, Box Hill etc? COVID did more than any government ever did in terms of decentralisation, so now their plan is to go backwards to please the commercial property sector?
* Interested to know who the backroom people / consultants were who came up with this plan to fix everything. Also the geniuses who are suggesting to extend into the "lower, wetter plains". That should tie in nicely with rising sea levels. Imagine the drainage guru's will be rubbing their hands. And all in the name of never ending population growth. Wow, can't wait!
* My work office overlooks one of these famous “gutterless roads” in London - Exhibition Rd. Contrary to Mr Reece’s comments, they do not by themselves act to slow traffic. Drivers quickly get used to them and drive at their normal speed, tooting pedestrians to get out of the way. People with children find it very stressful as there is no longer a “safe space” - the pavement - where cars will not go. They drive everywhere. This *can* work - but only if through-traffic is completely prevented, so that cars are going in only for access, not to rat-run through.

As Brisbane slept, the future of state’s train travel passed crucial tests.  Toby Crockford July 16, 2022
As commuters slept one night last week, a coastal track in Brisbane’s north-east played host to crucial testing of the future of Queensland’s train travel.
A train equipped with new rail control technology – set to be part of Cross River Rail and then the broader Queensland Rail network – was successfully tested on the Shorncliffe line.
New technology was tested on a Brisbane railway line last week to enable the replacement of current signalling systems.CREDIT:JORGE BRANCO
The European Train Control System is used on rail networks around the world, including extensively across Europe and the United Kingdom.
It relays information between the train and the rail control centre via a radio system, trackside technology and onboard equipment.
Transport Minister Mark Bailey said the system was “more efficient, reliable and safer”.
“This technology allows a continuous flow of information of the train – its direction, its speed, all those sorts of things – to the control centre, so we can run more trains more often and more tightly together, and it’s much safer than the current signalling system,” he said.
“To the untrained eye, a slow-moving train [at Shorncliffe] in the middle of the night might not look like much. But for the dedicated team implementing this world-class digital signalling technology, the testing provides them with a wealth of information.”
Cross River Rail Delivery Authority chief executive Graeme Newton said the technology would be crucial for running trains in the project’s twin underground tunnels.
“There is a range of technology beside the track and within the track, and then also on the trains. It allows the train to know its position precisely,” he said.
“When you’re in the tunnel, you can’t have the lights [signals] that you see on the side of the tracks; what you need is this digital technology, which allows the trains to know their exact location.”
Bailey said the new signalling system was part of the build up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
He added that the technology was needed to enable trains to line up with planned platform screen doors when stopping at Cross River Rail stations – another safety feature.
The $5.4 billion Cross River Rail project will overhaul public transport in the south-east, with twin tunnels running trains from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills.
It promises to deliver an extra 18,000 seats on Brisbane trains, take 14,000 drivers off the roads, cut travel times on existing south-east Queensland train lines, and create more than 7700 jobs.
There will be four new underground stations, eight existing train stations will be upgraded, and three new stations will be built on the Gold Coast to improve the intercity connection.
RELATED ARTICLE Cross River Rail community tunnel walk on Sunday. A glimpse into south-east Queensland’s future 30 metres below ground
RELATED ARTICLE Brisbane Subway homepage image. ‘The next big project’ after Cross River Rail: Is it time to dust off the Brisbane Subway?
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/as-brisbane-slept-the-future-of-state-s-train-travel-passed-crucial-tests-20220716-p5b23z.html>
* Does it dispense with the VERY LOUD 'the next station is' 'the button to open door is in the middle' ' mind the gap' 'door closing' ?
* No more funding should be spent on roads apart from basic maintenance
Brisbane needs to develop a subway/overland network that stands alone as its north, south, east and west network.
Existing transport Corridors should be protected and extended so that any further planned residential and commercial development can be serviced by the new rail network.
* This isn't journalism. It's a train.
* Ah yes...QR implementing a system rolled out in 1996. As is normal with labor and railfail, only 28 years too late. Mind you; the gushing reprint of a government press release resembles what Russian media must be like...
* This is advertorial to promote cross river rail.
* Can we now get some honesty from this government. If this new technology reduces the train congestion as stated it makes the business case for the cross river rail a joke.
* It seems we are going to have to put up with 10 years of Olympic selling. The new signalling system is not part of the build up to the olympics but appears to be an essential system for the functioning of cross river rail which opens in 2024. Do the politicians seriously expect us to believe that without the olympics there would be no new digital train signalling system. As I said it’s going to be 20 years of this nonsense selling
* The uncritical rebranding of labor press releases as "news" just shows how shallow journalism at Fairfax has become..

Sat.16.7.22 Melbourne 'Herald Sun'.  Letters.
* Forget responsibility.  OUR hospital system is again near breaking point and we have citizens selfishly concerned that they may have to wear a mask during a 30- minute trip on public transport.
But why should they Worry? Let’s hand back responsibility to our masked medicos who remain near exhaustion — and an ambulance system in distress.
Personal and collective responsibility? Too hard.
* Councils’ ill will.  THE more I see the behaviour of inner-suburban councils, the more I’m convinced they despise people who aren’t rich. They go out of their way to make their lives more difficult. For most inner-suburban drivers, the car is a necessity for work/ living. Get rid of these heartless, self- indulgent councils.

Sat.16.7.22 Melbourne 'Herald Sun'.  Urban renewal.  JOHN MASANAUSKAS
A “WORLD-leading” renewal precinct has been identified on the city’s doorstep, but there will be no welcome mat for cars and parking spaces.
A key City of Melbourne planning blueprint says that E-Gate, just north of Docklands, could become a high-quality mixed-use neighbourhood with links to other renewal areas such as West Melbourne, Dynon and Arden.
Under the Municipal Planning Strategy to be considered by councillors on Tuesday, E-Gate would be “a world-leading renewal precinct with best practice water management, waste minimisation and energy efficiency”.
“(It would) enable the revitalisation of Footscray Rd as a tree-lined boulevard with sustainable and active transport, increased urban canopy, and at-grade connectivity to Docklands and the Hoddle Grid,” it says.
E-Gate, which is currently a state government-owned railyard, would be a “connected network for people walking and riding bikes”.
But the goal would be to “minimise trips by motor vehicle and avoid carparking”.
The report says E-Gate and the Dynon and Maribyrnong waterfront precincts are active industrial areas, with investigation needed over how they can support the growing knowledge economy.
“Detailed investigation is also required to determine the potential for future urban renewal as these areas have significant flooding and contamination risks,” it says.
The report says the emerging Fishermans Bend urban-renewal precinct must be part of a future metro tunnel rail line, and should have a tram route along Turner and Lorim- er streets, providing a direct link to Docklands.
“(And) support the creation of new or upgraded bridges over the freeway at Ingles St and Graham St, to provide public transport, bike and pedestrian access to Sandridge.”
The strategy says transport decisions are needed to “enable all Melburnians to transition to less car-dependent lifestyles”.
It also says Melbourne is an Aboriginal city, and council seeks “to build respect for Aboriginal heritage, culture and knowledge as we strive for reconciliation, recognition, respect and truth telling”.