With the weather starting to warm up and the start of daylight savings, the opportunities that the KWR transformation will provide are starting to be seen.
As the paving work continues on both the eastern and western side, new elements are being installed including, bollards, lighting multipoles and, soon, the trees! The recent work at the Park/Mitchell Street intersection saw the new traffic lights and multipoles installed and paving commence on the four corners of the intersection.
It is great to look back at what was before and see what has been achieved. In the below photos you can see the difference, of what was (top) and what has been achieved (bottom). While the photo on the right is during construction, parking will be available on-street once complete.
Trees
This week, we expect to see the first of the trees planted on the western side of King William Road. Planting will continue on the western side and throughout the precinct as works progress. This is a huge project milestone. Prior to the Upgrade, there were very few trees within the precinct, with these mainly at the ends of the upgrade zone or in the side streets.
Over 80 trees will be planted throughout the Upgrade zone, both along King William Road and in the side streets. There is one main type and four complimentary types of trees that will be planted throughout the precinct and these will be further supported with under-story planting, additional vines and planter boxes.
With the introduction of greening into King William Road, the required on-going maintenance programs will be in place to ensure the precinct and plantings are appropriately maintained.
Nightworks will continue to be undertaken to prepare the tree pits and planting beds.
Trees along King William Road – Urbanite Ash: Urbanite Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica ‘Urbanite’) trees will be planted the length of the King William Road upgrade zone. This will be the single tree variety on King William Road itself. Urbanite Ash are an attractive and tough deciduous tree which will provide canopy cover and shade in summer and sunlight in winter. It has a pyramid shape with a strong, upright trunk, yellowish-green flowers in spring and in autumn, the dark green, glossy foliage turns a beautiful bronze colour before falling.
Trees at the Park / Mitchell Street Intersection – Autumn Blaze Maple Autumn Blaze Maple (Acer x freemanii 'Jeffersred') trees will be planted at the Park/Mitchell Street Intersection. These trees will provide great shade in summer and the traditional maple-shaped leaves turn vibrant red in the autumn. This will create a point of interest at the intersection and entrance to King William Road from the South.
Trees in the side streets – Ginko and Chinese Elm To compliment existing trees within the side streets, Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) trees will be planted in Walter Street and Bloomsbury Street and Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia ‘Todd’) trees will be planted in Opey Avenue. There will be instances where these trees are replacing existing trees that have been damaged. Reinstatement of Pencil Pines in Walter Street To assist with access, the Pencil Pines at the western end of Walter Street that provided a traffic barrier were removed. These will be replaced once access is reinstated to Walter Street via King William Road.
Bollards and Light Poles / Mulitpoles
Light Poles / Multipoles Over the last couple of weeks the new light poles / multipoles were installed through the upgrade zone. The new lighting is more pedestrian friendly and will use LED to increase efficiency and lighting quality. The multipoles have the ability to support digital infrastructure and smart technology. Once the new lights have been commissioned, the old lights and poles will be decommissioned and removed.
Bollards This week the bollards have also started to be installed. Throughout the precinct there are a combination of fixed and movable bollards. The bollards installed in the new flexible spaces are movable to allow these spaces to transition between uses. You will notice there is a bollard sleeve (this will look like a metal plate) at both the front and back of each flexible space. If the space is to be used for outdoor dining or trading, the bollard will be placed kerb-side. If the space is to be used as a car park, the bollard will be placed between the flexible space and footpath. To install the bollards and bollard sleeves, isolated pavers may be removed, the infrastructure installed and pavers re-instated.
Driveways
Paving is progressing well on both the eastern and western sides of King William Road and work has now commenced on the individual driveways. This work will include the inverts and paving. Work on the driveways will commence this Sunday and progressively move along King William Road through to the end of November with a small number worked on at one time. There may be a short period of time where vehicular access to properties via the driveway will be restricted whilst these works are being undertaken. BMD’s Community and Stakeholder Engagement team will be in contact with businesses to work with them and to confirm the exact timing of the works.
Staying in Touch
We are working to keep the community up to date on the upgrade. If you would like to speak to a member of the community and stakeholder team about construction works please:
Call 1300 617 363
Email KWREnquiries@bmd.com.au
For more information regarding the King William Road Upgrade, please continue to check the website.
