Comments on: A walk around Carnegie: apartments and skyrail

By: Marcus Wong

Marcus Wong — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 03:14:05 +0000

In reply to ozman. Roller coaster grades aren't really a problem - the rail under road grade separations at Ormond, McKinnon and Bentleigh do just that.

By: ozman

ozman — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 19:52:28 +0000

I’ve lived in Carnegie since 1982 and my one regret is that they have not put in provision for 4 tracks instead of 2. It is much easier and cheaper to do it in 2017. Do it once and do it right. In 10 years the residents and commuters will have to go through this whole disruptive process again to put in the extra tracks. The sky rail should have extended over Warrigal and North Roads. The aging road over passes could have been removed and the bottlenecked roads widened.
The Glenhuntly and Neerim Road crossings should have had sky rail as well. If the problem is that the 3 times a day steel goods train to Hastings can’t cope with gradient change with sky rail, then leave one rail line at ground level(for the goods), then swing it back onto the main lines at either end of the elevated section. There is ample room at both ends on Royal Ave and Leamington Cres. to accomodate this.
There were calls for the Koornang Road rail crossing to be removed in 1950!
I bet they would not believe its taken almost 70 years to happen.
The sooner all these rail crossing are removed the better.

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 09 May 2017 07:33:32 +0000

All the rich people who complained are moving out now any way. Is just that one bloke with his bike left. I live right next to the railway line and hear all the trains. Will be much better once Skyrail is completed.

By: Marcus Wong

Marcus Wong — Tue, 09 May 2017 06:09:07 +0000

In reply to iso. The desire for local residents to fight to keep for what they already have isn't unexpected - the reason they live there is because they like it! The problem comes when change is inevitable, but those affected want everyone else to bend over backwards to soften the blow.

By: Marcus Wong

Marcus Wong — Tue, 09 May 2017 06:06:40 +0000

In reply to rohan storey.

Another way to think about it is that apartment development are happening all across Melbourne, but there isn’t a way for local residents to push back – only VCAT objections. They are just an inevitable conclusion.

Meanwhile level crossing removals are a government project, so screaming at the government via the Liberal opposition might change their mind, especially when you paint the rail under road alternative as technically possible.

By: iso

iso — Sun, 07 May 2017 11:09:18 +0000

I’ve got pretty strong opinions about their opinions… I find their concern about their ‘property values’ particularly repugnant. I have almost no hope of owning a property thanks to those that aim to squeeze every last dollar out of their investment. In an ideal world it’d be enough that they at least have a roof over their head.

Political persuasion aside (sort of), NIMBYism of this type always seems to showcase the average resident’s shortsightedness. ‘Put it underground.’ Wait, won’t that cost more whilst delivering effectively the same service? ‘I don’t care as long as it’s not peering into my back yard!’

I rather like the elevated rail, it’s a nice bit of engineering.

I also wholeheartedly endorse exposing the hypocrisy… Most of those apartment developments are downright offensive. Complaining about the Skyrail is a bit rich coming from those willing to accept those hideous concrete and render blocks. Yeesh.

By: rohan storey

rohan storey — Thu, 04 May 2017 01:57:55 +0000

I get your point, that the suburb is getting a lot of 4-6 storey apartment buildings (which are pretty ugly), but I suspect what they’re really arguing about is that they think a rail viaduct is ugly, while the apartments are more or less expected (though they probably think they’re ugly too). I guess its seeing a big difference between residential construction vs ‘engineering’ or ‘industrial’ construction.