Community being dudded on Blackburn underpass

Very disappointing news about the Blackburn level crossing removal this week, with the Andrews government still refusing to enlarge the pedestrian underpass at Blackburn Station and still planning to run a bike path right across the busy underpass entrance.

Premier Andrews promised last year the government would look at how to change its flawed design to fix these problems, but now the government is saying it doesn’t intend to fix the problems after all.

If the government won’t change its mind, it will leave the community with a narrow, cramped underpass that will become increasingly inadequate with the growing number of apartments being built on the north side of the railway line.

This is not good enough.  This project was fully funded under the Napthine government in 2014, and the Andrews government needs to implement it properly instead of cutting corners.

The underpass needs to be widened, with entrances opened up in a way that gives better visibility and “see through”, provides a welcoming link between north and south of the line and helps integrate the Blackburn Station Village.

This would also allow the bike path to be routed over the top of the enlarged underpass, instead of forcing cyclists and pedestrians to cross between each other on the busy South Parade footpath in front of the subway entrance.

If you’d like to see a better outcome for this project, sign the petition at Fix the Blackburn Underpass to tell the government to stop short-changing the community, do the job properly and fix the Blackburn underpass.