My Suggestion Of A Docklands Super Car Park Connected To A CBD Elevated Walkway

The Western Distributor Project (currently under construction) - which will create an alternative and faster link between the West Gate Freeway and the CBD has the potential to dump a large number of vehicles onto Wurundjeri Way between the Marvel Stadium and the Southern Cross train station.

To alleviate such traffic congestion and to take a large number of cars off city streets, I suggest a supersized car park facility to be built with its entrances on Wurundjeri Way right next to the Marvel Stadium. This facility would take many cars off the road heading into the CBD during the weekday mornings.

But where could it be built? Perhaps we could learn a lesson from Manhattan’s Hudson Yards, the largest mixed-use private real estate venture in American history, built directly on top of a railyard. It is currently under construction and will soon be completed. The tallest of its sky-scrapers is 395 meters high, significantly taller than Melbourne’s impressive sky-scrapers. Hence, I suggest decking the railyard next to Southern Cross Train Station.

The car park would be built on top of this decking between the Marvel Stadium and the Spencer Street Factory Outlets which are adjacent and connected to the Southern Cross Train Station. This decking could also be activated with open spaces as well as cafes and eateries. A footbridge over Wurundjeri Way could connect this car park with the Marvel Stadium for large events.

At the other end of the decking a large hole would be punched through the wall of the Spencer Street Factory Outlets. This would allow for a short walkway (through the outlets) that takes one from my suggested car park through to Spencer Street. (In my opinion the Outlets are a real barrier between the CBD and the Docklands. Creating such a passageway through the outlets would fix this problem). Now you have entered the CBD and you are staring down onto Lonsdale St which runs perpendicular to Spencer St. I say staring down because you are one story high.

This is where the fun begins. An elevated walkway could be built from the Spencer Outlets all the way down Lonsdale Street to the Emporium Shopping Centre which is in the middle of the CBD. This could be done by removing the parallel parking that runs along the middle of Lonsdale Street. The elevated walkway would then be built in its place. At the Southern Cross end, the walkway would align with one of the entrances to the Spencer Outlets (which currently have escalators taking people down to Spencer St).  

At the other end of the walkway where it would intersect with the Emporium shopping Centre, the elevated walkway would intersect with the short elevated walkway that currently exists between the Melbourne Central and the Emporium shopping centres. After intersecting with that walkway between the two shopping centres, my suggested walkway would ideally continue along Lonsdale St and perhaps end after crossing Swanston St which puts it outside the QV mixed use precinct. Swanston St also happens to be part of the world’s busiest tram corridor. The walkway would have numerous entrances and exits along the way.

This Lonsdale St elevated walkway would allow for a safe and fast way of moving from Southern Cross Station and my suggested Docklands Super Car Park to the centre of the CBD, connecting to a safe and weather proof north to south walkway by means of The Melbourne Central, The Emporium and David Jones which currently takes pedestrians through to the busy Burke Street Mall. My suggested walkway would also be beneficial for getting pedestrians to the future State Library underground train station quickly. As was recently announced, the future train route to the airport will run from the Melbourne Metro Tunnel which this station is part of.

I have walked the elevated walkways of Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. They are vibrant, they attract life, they truly activate their surroundings. But more importantly they get pedestrians from A to B safely and quickly without having to be stuck at busy road intersections and be exposed to bad weather or overcrowded pedestrian crossings. In Hong Kong where there is a huge network of elevated walkways, some of the elevated walkways even have travellators on them which would be quite appropriate for my suggested walkway due to the distance to be travelled.

So, in summary, a new motorway which connects with other high traffic motorways could potentially land vehicles at a super car park just outside the CBD – which would stand between a football stadium, a factory outlet and one of Melbourne’s two large train interchanges. This car park then becomes a transport hub in itself by connecting drivers to an elevated walkway which could take multitudes into the CBD.  

All of this would do wonders for Melbourne’s workers commuting into the CBD from the west and the northern suburbs. Additionally, it would benefit tourists as well as Melbourne CBD’s sky-rocketing residential population, such as those who will live in the 2,600 residential apartments at the soon to be completed West Side Place apartment complex, right on the corner of Spencer St and Lonsdale St where my suggested walkway would begin.