Harbour Esplanade Redevelopment
Project summary
The Harbour Esplanade redevelopment has seen key areas of public space transformed into a major waterfront destination, creating a unique harbour-front park for Melbourne and completing the city’s inner ring of parks. The new green spine will also better connect the precincts within Docklands.
The first stage of works, between Bourke St and Docklands Drive, has seen the creation of a tree-lined boulevard, dedicated bike and pedestrian paths, and the realignment of tram tracks into the roadway to provide additional parkland and recreational space.
The project work package included the relocation of the light rail tracks to the middle of Harbour Esplanade, the construction of four raised light rail platform stops, the upgrades of five traffic signal intersections and the extension of the light rail tracks to Footscray Road creating a new light rail terminal to service major events at the stadium.
…what we did on this project
The redevelopment of Harbour Esplanade at Docklands is a project that has transformed the CBD fridge and provided improved ambience and accessibility to this area
This was a fully funded project delivered for Public Transport Victoria (PTV) on behalf of VicUrban that has transformed Harbour Esplanade into a destination and has provided a great connection between the city and Docklands precinct.
The construction works were split into two separate contracts, light rail works and road works, both of which were delivered in parallel, forging a strong interface between the two contractors.
Urban design, traffic engineering, signalisation and other road interfaces had to be carefully managed to ensure that the project delivered on all its objectives minimising the impact on the local community and business.
John Christou was the Project Manager that managed the development and delivery of the project on behalf of Yarra Trams
The high profile of the many large and small businesses based in the Docklands precinct increased the sensitivity and importance of this project across government and transport agencies alike.
The stakeholder and community engagement strategy that was developed was crucial to the successful delivery of this project. The programme of work was developed taking into consideration feedback provided by the stakeholders considering their operational requirements. One of the main challenges in this project was to meet the programme millstones while maintaining access to all businesses minimising the impact on their day-to-day operations.
The scope of the light rail works included the following:
- Relocation of existing utility services
- Repositioning of over 3km of tram tracks
- Construction of four fully accessible tram platform stops
- Installation of new street lighting
- Installation of new pedestrian-operated signals
- Upgrade of all traffic signals at three intersections along Harbour Esplanade
- New footpaths and open spaces across this precinct.
One of the main challenges in this project was to meet the program millstones while maintaining access to all businesses minimising the impact on their day-to-day operations.
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