[Video] Hot, Wet & Disconnected - Chelsea's walking access and why it should be better

Level crossing removals are supposed to be all about improving connectivity across rail corridors. These have undoubtedly happened for those driving cars, and, at some locations, those in buses as well. 

Train to bus connectivity has been a mixed bag. Projects like Nunawading, St Albans, Lilydale and Ormond improved connectivity while the new stations associated with the level crossing removals at Mentone and Edithvale have made it worse.  

The extent of walking improvements have also been mixed. It's often been a matter of 'swings and roundabouts' than unambiguously good. In some cases some of the more important access points have been treated very poorly indeed with inferior connectivity compared to what was there before. 

Below is a mini documentary about connectivity across the rail corridor to Chelsea shops. Improvements may be possible for both motorists and walkers. The Level Crossing Removal Authority was warned in 2018 (via an EES submission) about the importance of local connectivity but as you'll see from the video this insight was not always incorporated in what got built. 

What are the lessons? What if a level crossing in your community is to be removed soon? How will your local shopping strip be affected? 

Experiences will vary by area but one pattern is that level crossing removals are very much a car and motoring project. They've made driving easier. At some locations they've delivered benefits for buses and access to the station. Walking, especially where it involves access across the rail corridor, has not always been accorded due priority. The concept of the human scale, where every step counts, is often quite foreign to engineers more used to designing for maximum car traffic throughput. What looks like a small kink on an engineering drawing may be a highly inconvenient, shadeless, wet, narrow and exposed detour that locals will curse forever more. 

Locals, traders and councils must therefore be wary when plans for grade separations are presented. You might not get quite what you bargained for, especially at sites with trench rail of varying depth where direct at-ground walking access is harder to arrange than elevated rail options.