Suburban Rail Loop in focus: Glen Waverley

Maps of the Suburban Rail Loop released by the state government thus far have featured a notable kink in the line in Melbourne's east - a kink that seeks to connect the new SRL directly with the suburb of Glen Waverley.

While the localities in which SRL stations will be located have been announced, the exact location of stations will be determined in early 2020.  However, it's a safe bet in Glen Waverley's case; the underground SRL platforms will be located adjacent to or near the Glen Waverley line terminus.

When the business case for the SRL is released, Glen Waverley's station will be the only terminus the new line will interface with.  

Glen Waverley is also a major rail and bus interchange with over 10 bus routes terminating or passing through the station precinct.  Specifically, buses to and from Glen Waverley connect to suburbs further east through High Street Road and Ferntree Gully Road as well as the orbital 902 start bus other local routes which reach Glen Waverley along Springvale Road.

Glen Waverley is home to a large retail precinct anchored by The Glen shopping centre and Century City Walk retail and hotel complex. The suburb has long since started changing from a relatively low-rise eastern suburb to an increasingly higher-density activity centre.

The area houses the Victoria Police Academy and is located midway between the Tally Ho business park to the north on the corner of Springvale Road and Burwood Highway and Brandon Park and the wider Monash NEIC to the south.

One of VicTrack's earliest experiments relating to selling surplus railway land for development is present in Glen Waverley.  The 10 level IKON tower, sitting above an entrance to Glen Waverley station, was completed in 2011 and set a height precedent for the suburb.

Since then the recently completed 15-level Galleria residential tower has had its first residents move in, and the pipeline is aflush with other larger-scale projects.

Most projects in the pipeline are concentrated in or around the station and retail precinct and that's best explained by the liberal application of the Commercial and Residential Growth zones in Glen Waverley.

In 2016, the City of Monash adopted the Glen Waverley Activity Centre Structure Plan which has guided the most recent projects to have been proposed and approved in the area. 

Yet the plan has its origins from an even earlier timeframe and given the Suburban Rail Loop was not on the radar when these structure plans were being devised, it would not be surprising if the City of Monash embarks on a journey of updating existing plans to enable the precinct to grow with the introduction of the SRL.

The City of Monash completed a community consultation round in mid-2019 that would aid in developing a structure plan for Mount Waverley, two stations closer to the city along the Glen Waverley railway line.

The discussion paper released as part of the consultation round highlighted opportunities of consolidating retail on the western side of Stephensons Road and likewise discussed the opportunity of introducing diverse housing options, including introducing apartments above retail components in Mount Waverley village.

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Lead image credit: Wikipedia