The Yarra Ranges will be home to two new stations and a large section of ‘Sky Rail’ by the mid-2022. With the preferred designs now being released and already being put forward for tender it seems that Mooroolbark and Lilydale’s future are all but confirmed. Both locations will get new elevated stations as part of the removal of level crossings on Manchester Rd and Maroondah Highway and will be designed to accommodate for future duplication of the line. As part of the works, Lilydale’s station will be moved closer to shops in the town centre, while a new multi-deck 450-space carpark will be built at Mooroolbark. There have been major concerns raised over a number of issues by public: •Four new sets of traffic lights on Maroondah Hwy and John St are a major concern and a number of people are worried that these will impact traffic flow more than the current level crossing. •No increase to parking at Lilydale Station •Future use of the old heritage listed station building •Lack of elevators in the current designs •Increased noise from the elevated rail bridges The ‘Sky Rail’ designs have been preferred mainly for cost and time, reducing the construction time by as much as 18 months, but also reduce the need for land acquisition, removal of trees and reduced flooding chance. The design is being pushed heavily after 13 crashes in the last decade and over 53,000 vehicles using these intersections each day. The estimated cost of these works has net been released however with the project already nearly at tender stage it wont be long before we find out.
