Parkville Station will be built directly below Grattan Street between Royal Parade and Leicester Street and will have 4 entrances.
Two entrances will provide direct access to the University of Melbourne – the main entrance on Grattan Street opposite Barry Street, and a second entrance on the corner of Grattan Street and Royal Parade.
Two further entrances will provide direct access to the hospital precinct on the western side of Royal Parade, with 1 entrance located outside Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the other located on the doorstep of the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
The design of the new Parkville Station precinct will turn Grattan Street into a ‘grand promenade’ situated among some of Victoria’s most prominent institutions.
The main station entry, on the northern side of Grattan Street outside the University of Melbourne, will feature a 50m-long glass and steel canopy designed to draw natural light into the station concourse. The entrance has been designed to sit within the tree canopy to blend in with the surrounding environment.
Natural light is also maximised in the concourse via light wells that will allow light to penetrate from the surface to the station below. The station concourse will feature world-class artwork developed as part of the Metro Tunnel Legacy Artwork Program.
A reconfigured Grattan Street will have 1 lane of traffic in each direction to allow for wider footpaths and dedicated bicycle lanes, linking the precinct’s medical and educational institutions. The street will be landscaped with new trees and low-height landscaping to provide a green link between Royal Parade and University Square.
A reconfigured Royal Parade/Elizabeth Street, between the Haymarket Roundabout and Story Street, will include a new tram super stop, realigned traffic lanes, bicycle lanes, footpaths and pedestrian crossings.
The broader Parkville precinct is currently serviced by 11 tram routes and 6 bus routes. Station precinct features will include:
- priority for pedestrians, with a public underpass beneath Royal Parade, the closure of Barry Street to vehicles and a raised pedestrian crossing on Grattan Street linking Barry Street to the new station
- upgraded pedestrian crossings at the intersection of Grattan Street and Royal Parade, with crossing widths increased from 3m to 6m to improve safety
- fully accessible station entrances with escalators and lifts
- a new tram super stop on the corner of Grattan Street and Royal Parade, offering higher levels of passenger amenity including shelters, service information and wheelchair access
- two station entrances directly outside 2 of Melbourne’s biggest hospitals – the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
- new bus shelters on Grattan Street that will provide weather protection and travel information
- new wider bicycle lanes to improve cyclist safety
- more than 250 new bike parking spaces.
Greening the area
The new station precinct will create 3500 square metres of new public space by reconfiguring road space.
Grattan Street will turn into a grand promenade with a dense tree canopy to provide shade and wind protection.
Barry Street will remain closed to traffic at Grattan Street and landscaped to create a new public space that helps facilitate the broader vision for an upgraded University Square. The Barry Street space will be pedestrian and cycling friendly, and will include a series of ‘garden rooms’ for social gatherings, and a dense tree canopy.
Landscaping along Royal Parade will include bluestone pavements, street furniture and new tree plantings, with central vegetation plantings separating tram lines from through traffic.
The new station precinct will sit within a broader network of other parks in the area including Lincoln Square, Royal Park, Argyle Place and Carlton Gardens.
Water sensitive urban design
Landscaping in the Parkville precinct will use leading water-sensitive design to reduce flood risk, reduce stormwater runoff and provide passive irrigation to plants.
Areas that receive high stormwater runoff will be landscaped to cope with heavy rainfall, and new tree pits will contain large soil volumes to provide passive irrigation.
Preserving our heritage
The location of the station entrances has been designed to reduce visual and physical impacts on nearby heritage places, such as the Gatekeeper’s Cottage, the Vice Chancellor’s Residence and Royal Parade. Tree planting on Royal Parade will be in accordance with the heritage character of this grand boulevard.
