Community fears that elevated rail would create unsafe
graffiti-covered spaces were taken seriously in the design
process, and a recent article published in The Age suggests
that many locals who originally opposed the project have
now embraced it.^2 Yet it’s likely too early to say whether these
concerns were entirely unwarranted. Ongoing maintenance
along the Caulfield to Dandenong underline is clearly a real
concern, with $15 million of the project budget set aside for
this in 2017. I spotted two private maintenance contractors
washing graffiti off on the day of my visit and one wonders
how long this level of care will be kept up.
The Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project
demonstrates that big ticket infrastructure projects can
deliver huge public benefits when urban design thinking
and outcomes are fully integrated from the get-go and aren’t
value managed out along the way. With many removals yet to
come within the wider initiative, this project will serve as an
important reference and hopefully allay some remaining fear
in the community toward so-called “skyrail.”
- Craig Guthrie, “Leveling on the landscape value of rail corridors,” Landscape Australia
website, 15 September 2016, https://landscapeaustralia.com/articles/Levelling-on-the-
landscape-value-of-rail-corridors/ - Paul Sakkal, “More than a year on, has ‘sky rail’ turned suburbs into ghettos?” The Age
website, 12 May 2019, https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/more-than-a-year-
on-has-sky-rail-turned-suburbs-into-ghettos-20190509-p51lqm.html
09
PROJECT
Level Crossing Removal Project – Caulfield to
Dandenong
DESIGN PRACTICE
Aspect Studios
LEAD ARCHITECT
Cox Architecture
PROJECT TEAM
Kirsten Bauer, Heath Gledhill, Kate Slade, Nelson Gomes,
Lewis Wright, Richard Grocke, Daniel Drummond, Brett
Frost, Christian Lundh, Yuchen Su, Ruben Eelbode, Miki
Matsuka, Niki Schwabe, Shimon Regev, Nicholas Torney,
Zoe Loomes, Siobhain Murphy, Blake Farmer-Bowers,
Warwick Savvas, Tim Fowler, Paul Pilcher, Duyen
Nguyen, Chris Flawn, Nick Jenkinson, Natasha Watkins,
Yi Song, Lucius Yin, Maroof Ansari, Anat Katz, Kate
Dekok, Adam Kiekebosch, Matthew MacKay, Joey Hays
CLIENT
Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Alliance
CIVIL AND STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Aurecon
SERVICES ENGINEERING
WSP
ROAD SAFETY
Road Safety AuditsDDA
Disability and Safety Audits
ARTISTS/GRAPHICS
Double-A
SOIL CONSULTANT
SESL Australia
HORTICULTURAL ADVICE
John Raynor (Green Infrastructure Research Group)
PIER GREENING
Fytogreen Australia
HEAD CONTRACTORS
CPB Contractors, Lendlease
LANDSCAPE CONTRATORS
Recoland, Landscape Plus, Ecodynamics, PTA
Landscapes, Civilex
TIME SCHEDULE
Bid design: 6 months
Design development and documentation: 24 months
Construction: 12 monthsPLANT LIST (TREES ONLY)
Acacia implexa (lightwood), Acer campestre ‘Evelyn’
(Queen Elizabeth maple), Allocasuarina littoralis (black
sheoak), Brachychiton populneus x acerifolius ‘Bella
Pink,’ Butia capitata (jelly palm), Camellia sasanqua
‘Setsugekka,’ Corymbia citriodora ‘Scentuous’ (dwarf
lemon-scented gum), Geijera parvifolia (native willow),
Eucalyptus leucoxylon ‘Euky dwarf’ (Euky Dwarf
yellow), Eucalyptus mannifera ‘Little Spotty’ (dwarf
brittle gum), Eucalyptus scoparia (Wallangarra white
gum), Melaleuca ericifolia (swamp paperbark), Melia
azedarach ‘Elite’ (white cedar), Tristaniopsis laurina
‘Luscious’ (Luscious kanooka)P R O J E C T
LANDSCAPE ISSUE 163 032 — 033