The State Government is removing eight level crossings in Brunswick between Park Street in the south and Albion Street in the north. This project is expected to be completed by 2027.

The project is being delivered by the State Government through the Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) and will see an elevated rail line built to replace the existing train line and boom gates. This will connect with the Coburg-to-Moreland elevated rail section that was completed in 2021.

This project will have a much larger impact to Brunswick than just the removal of boom gates. It will also open up new east-west routes across the suburb, create major new areas of open space and new landscaped areas, bring new public art, new station precincts, and impact the Upfield Shared User Path.

Although we are not delivering this project, Council has an important role to play in advocating on behalf of our community, and to work closely with the Level Crossing Removals Project throughout the life of the project.

In April Council officially adopted Reshaping Brunswick – a document that outlines Council’s vision for the Brunswick Level Crossing Removal Project for the life of the project.

What we've done so far

Since November 2022, council has proactively engaged with residents to hear a broad spectrum of views and issues which are important to them.

• Council engagement included:Eight 90-minute roaming conversations around the Upfield line with 144 people
• Face to face meetings and phone calls with key well-networked local stakeholders, such as members of Brunswick Residents Network, Merri-bek BUG, Council’s First Nations Advisory Group, Sydney Road Brunswick Association, Brunswick Community History Group, and more
• Three round table meetings with 80 residents
• A public Town Hall meeting on March 2 attended by over 200 residents
• An interactive map on the Conversation Merri-Bek Project Page that invited community members to tell us what they loved and what isn’t working within the rail corridor heard responses from over 120 people
• Using Council’s Community Connectors to speak to local communities about the Brunswick Elevated Rail in their own language

This period of engagement led to the adoption of Reshaping Brunswick, which will guide Council’s actions throughout the life of the project.

Public meeting

On Thursday, 2 March 2023 we held a public meeting at the Brunswick Town Hall. The purpose of the meeting was to bring everyone together to hear from each other, share what we'd heard so far, compare views and thoughts on the information collected and agree as a collective on what was most important to inform Council’s advocacy position.

This meeting, combined with Council's other engagement activities, formed the view presented in Reshaping Brunswick.

Advocating on behalf of our community

The removal of these level crossings in Brunswick brings the potential for many local benefits and the community’s voice has been critical in providing the detail that is needed to achieve this.

Our priority is to ensure the project realises these benefits, is well-planned, delivered to the highest quality, and constructed with the least possible disruption to our community.

We have listened to our community about what is most important in the design and delivery of this project, and articulated this in Reshaping Brunswick which has been submitted to the LXRP for consideration.

The LXRP has indicated it is in the early project planning stages of the project, with some early site investigation works ongoing on the Upfield rail line.

We will continue to talk to our community throughout the delivery of the project, to identify and address any areas of concern, and continually feed this back to the LXRP.

Interactive map

The interactive map is now closed, but you can view the responses below: