View MeBUG’s proposals for this project:
Bridging the Gap – Connecting Box Hill to the Anniversary Trail
Addendum – Continuation of the BHRSUP through Box Hill CBD
MeBUG submission to the Box Hill Integrated Transport Strategy
Latest News:
October 2021. Department of Transport has issued a summary update on the progress to date with defining the path alignment. The next steps will focus on the connection between Box Hill and Mont Albert. An important component of this is the need fro a bridge across Elgar Road.
September 2021 The LXRA has released details on the design of the Surrey hills and Mont Albert grade separations. The local residents association and MeBUG have considerable reservations about the plans. The bicycle path is currently planned to be on the southern side of the rail line. This is non ideal, especially at the Surrey Hills end where the path crosses the car park entrances and a messy at grade crossing of Union Road,
MeBUG’s preferred route is to switch to the North side of the line at one of several possible crossing points around Mont Albert and further West.
December 2020: We have reviewed LXRA design as of 2nd December 2020 and submitted an initial response to Mr Paul Hamer MP (member for Box Hill) on 8th December 2020. In particular, we strongly advocate for:
- Shared path underpasses at Mont Albert and Union Roads; and
- Pedestrian/cycle bridge across Elgar Road in Box Hill.
See also, latest plans from the Level Crossing Removal Authority.
November 2020: Department of Transport has now completed its feasibility study. It has identified a number of route options and has evaluated these against criteria including safest, directness of route, cost and others. MeBUG, with Boroondara BUG (BBUG), has been party to the feasibility process. We have some detail on the proposed routes and analyses but are not able at the moment to make these public.
We have been advised that DoT intends to focus initially on the segment between Box Hill and Surrey Hills where much of this will be delivered as part of the level crossing removal projects. A particular challenge is to identify a practical route through Box Hill. This in turn leans heavily on the Box Hill Integrated Transport Study, a focus of another MeBUG project.
We will be working with BBUG in the weeks ahead, for further funding to advance detailed design and if possible, a start on construction.
June 2020: The Department of Transport has engaged consultants AECOM to conduct the study funded by the state government in May 2019. MeBUG is among various stakeholders participating in consultations on the route planning.
For further information, see DoT website here.
- An initial route proposal has been developed for consideration and discussion.
- We have reviewed the proposal and submitted a response to Department of Transport.
May 2019. The state government has allocated a sum of $370,000 in its 2019-20 budget, to proceed with initial planning and design of the project. This has come about by the active lobbying of both MeBUG and Boroondara BUG and especially, the collection of hundreds of signatures on a petition backing the project.
in June 2020, the Department of Transport commenced initial planning of the route and is consulting various interested groups including MeBUG.
Earlier background and details:
The state government announced on October 21st 2018 that if re-elected, it will remove a further 25 level crossings over and above the 50 already done or in planning. These further 25 include Mont Albert Road, Mont Albert and Union Road, Surrey Hills.
Removal of these crossings provides a once in a lifetime opportunity to implement a high quality shared user path (SUP) from Hawthorn to Box Hill, to connect with the almost complete Box Hill to Ringwood Shared User Path (BHRSUP). This would largely complete the concept of the Eastern Rail Trail going back to 1996.
We will be working with other interested groups such as Boroondara BUG to advocate to both state and local government to include a high quality shared path as an integral part of these level crossing removal projects.
We have prepared a detailed proposal for the segment between Box Hill and the Anniversary Trail, ‘Bridging the Gap‘. A follow up ‘Addendum‘ has also been prepared detailing the recommended arrangements for cycling through Box Hill linking the BHRSUP with the planned Hawthorn to Box Hill path.
This project has a history dating back to 1996 with the publication by Whitehorse and Boroondara councils and the state government of a Feasibility Study for the Eastern Rail Trail. In 2005, cycling advocate Peter Campbell published an Eastern Rail Trail bicycle path proposal showing suggested route details from Surrey Hills to the Yarra at Swan Street.
Metro East Bicycle User Group Inc. 
