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Wurundjeri Way between Bourke St. & Collins St. must be roofed.
The area behind Southern Cross Station between Bourke St. & Collins St. is a prominent "wind-tunnel' motorway known as Wurundjeri Way.
At present this area is sadly under-utilised and there is an urgent need to better integrate this space into the surrounding built environment.
The Docklands area has certainly come a long way in recent decades, but there is still no easy way to traverse from Bourke St. to Collins St. or vice-versa short of walking back into the city and walking up and down Spencer St, or walking towards Victoria Harbour and then traversing past Platform 28 which requires walking up and down several sets of stairs or taking a variety of lifts.
The solution is clear to anyone who stands on the Bourke St. concourse of the Collins St. bridge over Wurundjeri Way - the two need to be linked by an elevated and extended concourse covering the area and linking Collins St. with the Bourke St. concourse as indicated below.
There are many ways such a concourse could be designed, but the purpose of linking through to Collins St. isn't merely a matter of aesthetics.
If you've ever been to a large sporting event, or musical concert of cultural event of some sort at Etihad/Marvel Stadium you will be well aware of the crush that develops on the Bourke St. concourse as those departing Etihad/Marvel Stadium either travel back to the city or head towards Southern Cross Station.
Building a concourse along the length of Wurundjeri Way between Bourke St. & Collins St. allows for many exciting design possibilities as well as providing a functional purpose by alleviating crowd pressures on the concourse by providing an alternative exit path which also leads more directly through to Melbourne's cultural amenities available at Southbank & South Wharf.
As Melbourne's first (of many) elected Female Lord Mayors Sally it is incumbent upon you to provide forthright and visionary leadership to provide inspiration and confidence to other Women aspiring to leadership positions.
As part of this agenda making and implementing policies that better integrate Melbourne is of vital importance to the residents of the Southern Capital.
The area indicated in the image above is the minimum that should be covered by such a concourse connecting Bourke St. & Collins St. but there are good reasons to make this concourse as extensive as possible rather than coming back in five or ten years to increase the size of the concourse.
As shown in the image below the area indicated in blue if implemented will allow the concourse to potentially be integrated through to the historic shed at Platform 28.
There are several commercial opportunities that would arise from roofing Wurundjeri Way in this way that should enable this project to be completed and implemented with minimal cost to ratepayers.
However in addition to commercial possibilities surrounding this area there are opportunities over the next few months in the run-up to the Victorian Election to get buy-in from state political parties on developing this area and to get the next State Government on board with ideas for action over the next two years.
Looking further ahead in time there may be a possibility to extend this concourse northwards along Wurundjeri Way towards La Trobe St as indicated below.
The urgency of developing a concourse above Wurundjeri Way mirrors the long-sought, and seemingly finally delivered, need to integrate the Southbank precinct properly into the Arts precinct along St. Kilda Rd and around Sturt St. & Southbank Boulevard.
Further details on what needs to be done in relation to Sturt St. & Southbank Boulevard here.
Photos of Wurundjeri Way requiring a concourse to connect Bourke St. through to Collins St.
Photo from Bourke St. concourse looking East towards Victoria Harbour along Bourke St.
Visible is the Channel 9 building and also the Northern End of Platform 28.
The opportunity here lies in extending the concourse over this end of Bourke St. towards Platform 28.
Photo from Bourke St. concourse looking directly East down Bourke St. towards Victoria Harbour
Visible on the left is the Channel 9 building and (just barely) also the Northern End of Platform 28.
The unremarkability of this intersection lends weight to connecting the Bourke St. concourse properly with Platform 28.
Photo from Southern Cross Station end of Bourke St. concourse looking down Bourke St. towards Victoria Harbour with the edge of the concourse clearly visible on the right of the picture.
As mentioned, the unremarkability of this intersection lends weight to connecting the Bourke St. concourse properly with Platform 28 by roofing this area and opening up space.
Photo from Bourke St. concourse looking southward along Wurundjeri Way towards the Channel 9 walkway and Collins St. bridge in the distance.
There appears no logical reason why this whole area isn't roofed and turned into a proper concourse opening up a great degree more open space - particularly for crowds exiting events at Marvel Stadium.
Similar photo from Bourke St. concourse looking southward along Wurundjeri Way towards the Channel 9 walkway and Collins St. bridge with a tram on it in the distance.
As already mentioned this wasteland is crying out to be covered up and turned into an extended concourse by creating space and reducing the visual (& noise) pollution of a busy roadway below.
Photo looking southward along Wurundjeri Way from beside the current AGL building on the walkway to Channel 9 off picture on right.
This photo clearly illustrates the barren visual wasteland of Wurundjeri Way. Though the median strip is green - it is not a place anyone is every going to enjoy and is more likely to be developed into extra traffic lanes.
Photo looking southward along Wurundjeri Way from from the Channel 9 walkway and besides the entrance to
Channel 9 off picture to the right.
This photo again clearly illustrates the barren visual wasteland of Wurundjeri Way. The possibilities that would be opened up by extending the concourse through to Collins St. are legion and obvious.
Photo looking northward along Wurundjeri Way outside the Australian Bureau of Meteorology building with Southern Cross Station clearly visible directly ahead.
A concourse constructed between Bourke St. concourse/ Marvel Stadium and the Collins St. Bridge could also involve further integration with Southern Cross Station with shops and open space.
Photo looking northward along the median strip in the centre of Wurundjeri Way from the middle of the Collins St. Bridge.
This photo clearly illustrates the huge amount of under-utilised space between Collins St. Bridge and the Bourke St. concourse that could be far better utilised when properly connected through.
Photo looking northward from the city-side of the Collins St. Bridge near South Cross Station back across the wasteland of Wurundjeri Way.
This project needs a push from the Melbourne's first popularly elected Female Lord Mayor to get it started and as anyone can see there is a huge amount of space to be opened up right on the doorstep of Melbourne.
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