Scotch College

Tollway widening update

The School seeks fair compensation for compulsory land acquisition.

Words and Photography: Mr Ross Congleton

Since the last update Transurban have continued working on widening the viaduct roadway around the Southern perimeter of School. Additional beams are now in position and the deck of the new road is slowly being integrated with the existing structure. This noisy work has continued beyond Transurban’s initial work schedule and should have been completed before the commencement of this year’s examinations. Once the School was advised of the change to the schedule and recognised the potential disruption to student examinations Transurban undertook to re-schedule these works outside of the school day. Also during this time new acoustic panels have been lifted into position along the viaduct adjacent to the School. These compose the lower level of the new noise wall that will ultimately reach a height of 7 metres except towards Glenferrie Road and the Yarra River. Transurban have advised the School that construction of the new noise wall should be completed in January next year. Other Tollway widening works are continuing. Once the new noise wall has been completed work will then commence upon reinstatement of the area occupied by contractors during construction.

You may recall that widening of the Tollway was made possible after VicRoads compulsorily acquired a portion of land from Scotch College. In October the School elected to seek resolution of its compensation claim for the acquisition and damages in the Supreme Court of Victoria. The application received some publicity however this was merely a procedural matter. The outcome of the compensation claim is unlikely to be known for some time as the School continues to assess the full impact of the Tollway widening. GS