Draft:Bell Street
Bell Street Bell-Banksia Link | |
|---|---|
  West end East end | |
| Coordinates | |
| General information | |
| Type | Road |
| Length | 11.6 km (7.2 mi)[1] |
| Route number(s) |
|
| Major junctions | |
| West end |  CityLinkPascoe Vale South |
| |
| East end |  Banksia StreetHeidelberg/Eaglemont |
| Location(s) | |
| Major suburbs | Pascoe Vale South, Coburg, Preston, Heidelberg West, Heidelberg Heights, Bellfield, Heidelberg, Eaglemont |
Bell Street is an arterial road in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. The road begins at CityLink in Pascoe Vale South, traversing the suburbs of Coburg and Preston, acting as the border between Heidelberg West/Heights and Bellfield, before turning into Banksia Street, which is the border between Eaglemont and Heidelberg. The section linking Bell Street and Banksia Street is known as the Bell-Banksia Link, to distinguish it from the former alignment of Bell St in Heidelberg Heights, which is a shopping district. The route is a straight line in an easterly direction until Darebin Creek, then heading slightly southwards in a curve towards Heidelberg. The road is 4-6 lanes, carrying heavy traffic.[2][3][4][5][6]
Under the VicRoads Register of Public Roads, Bell Street is part of the State (Bell/Springvale) Highway, allowing management of the road to be under VicRoads' overall management and development. The State (Bell/Springvale) Highway is split into two sections. One contains the entirety of Bell Street, Bell-Banksia Link, Banksia Street, and a small portion of Manningham Road up to the intersection with Bulleen Road, and the other contains Springvale Road from the Eastlink/Eastern Freeway interchange to the Mornington Peninsula Freeway interchange.[7]
History[edit]
The Country Roads Board (later VicRoads) declared Bell Street a Main Road in August 1947,[8] heading west from Main Heidelberg-Eltham Road (today Rosanna Road) along Burgundy and then Bell Streets in Heidelberg through Preston and Coburg to Moonee Ponds Creek at Pascoe Vale South.[8] This was extended further west via a new bridge over Moonee Ponds Creek to connect directly to the Tullamarine Freeway extension when it opened in 1970 (plans to do so had existed since 1950[8]).
Work on the direct link between Bell and Banksia Streets (the "Bell-Banksia Link") in western Heidelberg, built to relieve traffic congestion and improve safety around the Burgundy Street shopping precinct, started in December 1988[9] and was completed on 1 July 1992, at a total cost of $40 million.[10]
Bell Street was connected to the newly created CityLink in 1999.[11] As part of the CityLink–Tulla Widening project which completed in 2018, a dedicated lane from the Tullamarine Freeway to Bell Street was created to reduce weaving. Controversy arose due to the proximity of Strathmore Secondary College to the new ramp at Bell Street.[12]
Level crossings[edit]
Bell Street formerly had two level crossings, one at Coburg station on the Upfield line, and one at Bell station on the Mernda line. As part of the Level Crossing Removal Project, both stations were rebuilt as overpasses, with Coburg complete in 2020[13] and Bell complete in 2022[14]
Major intersections[edit]
| LGA | Location[1] | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merri-bek | Pascoe Vale South | 0.0 | 0.0 |  CityLink (M2) – Tullamarine, Melbourne Airport | Western end of Bell Street |
 Pascoe Vale Road (Metro Route 35) – Coolaroo, Moonee Ponds | Entry from Pascoe Vale Road eastbound via CityLink ramp | ||||
| Coburg | 2.9 | 1.8 | Upfield railway line | ||
| 3.3 | 2.1 |  Sydney Road (Metro Route 55) – Craigieburn, Brunswick, Docklands | No right turn westbound to Sydney Road northbound | ||
| 3.5 | 2.2 | Elm Grove, to Sydney Road northbound – Craigieburn | |||
| 4.4 | 2.7 | Nicholson Street – Brunswick East | |||
| Darebin | Preston | 6.1 | 3.8 |  St Georges Road (Metro Route 45) – Reservoir, Fitzroy | |
| 6.3 | 3.9 | Mernda railway line | |||
| 6.6 | 4.1 |  High Street (Metro Route 29) – Epping, Richmond, St Kilda | |||
| 6.9 | 4.3 |  Plenty Road (Metro Route 27) – Preston, Bundoora, Mernda | |||
| 8.2 | 5.1 |  Albert Street (Metro Route 21) – Reservoir, Kew, Burnley | |||
| Banyule | Bellfield–Heidelberg West–Heidelberg Heights–Ivanhoe quadpoint | 10.5 | 6.5 | Waterdale Road – Heidelberg West, Ivanhoe | |
| Ivanhoe–Heidelberg Heights border | 11.3 | 7.0 | Bell Street shopping district, Heidelberg Heights | Route continues as Bell-Banksia Link (also signed as Bell St), eastbound slip lane and westbound U-turn to access Bell Street shopping district, north of Bell-Banksia Link. | |
| Ivanhoe–Heidelberg Heights–Heidelberg–Eaglemont quadpoint | 11.5 | 7.1 |  Upper Heidelberg Road (Metro Route 46) – Carlton, Greensborough, Diamond Creek | Westbound entrance only | |
| Eaglemont–Heidelberg border | 11.9 | 7.4 | Studley Road – Heidelberg, Eaglemont | ||
| 12.0 | 7.5 | Hurstbridge railway line | |||
| 12.0 | 7.5 | Banksia Street – Bulleen, Doncaster | Eastern end of Bell–Banksia Link, road continues as Banksia Street | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
References[edit]
- ^ a b Google (22 April 2024). "Bell Street" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ Hansen Partnership Pty. Ltd. (December 2006). "The Bell Street Corridor Strategy". City of Darebin. Archived from the original on 7 April 2024.
- ^ Build, Victoria’s Big (21 April 2023). "Bell Street, Preston". Victoria’s Big Build. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ Build, Victoria’s Big (22 June 2022). "Bell Street, Coburg". Victoria’s Big Build. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ Robb, Kirsten (31 July 2018). "Bell Street bingo: Which northern suburb will be next to get hip?".
- ^ "42 new homes for vulnerable families in Melbourne's inner north". unison.org.au.
- ^ VicRoads. "VicRoads – Register of Public Roads (Part A) 2015" (PDF). Government of Victoria. pp. 955-957 (971-973 in pdf file). Archived from the original on 1 May 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
- ^ a b c "Country Roads Board Victoria. Thirty-Seventh Annual Report: for the year ended 30 June 1950". Country Roads Board of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 4 December 1950. p. 35.
- ^ "Road Construction Authority of Victoria. Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 1989". Road Construction Authority of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 14 November 1989. p. 45.
- ^ "VicRoads Annual Report 1991-92". VicRoads. Melbourne: Victorian Government Library Service. 30 September 1992. p. 37.
- ^ "Project Overview : CityLink". VicRoads. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
- ^ "Strathmore school says CityLink Tulla project a risk to health and safety". The Age. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
- ^ Build, Victoria’s Big (14 December 2020). "Coburg and Moreland stations now open". Victoria’s Big Build. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ "New stations open to passengers today in Preston". Victoria's Big Build. Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
