The saga of Waverley Park — Melbourne's car-dependent suburban AFL stadium with a planned seated capacity of over 150,000 (not a typo!)
The saga of Waverley Park — Melbourne's car-dependent suburban AFL stadium with a planned seated capacity of over 150,000 (not a typo!)
The saga of Waverley Park — Melbourne's car-dependent suburban AFL stadium with a planned seated capacity of over 150,000 (not a typo!)
A really good run down by @philip on the plans by the AFL (and its predecessor, the VFL) to build the world's largest stadium in outer-suburban Melbourne.
Unfortunately, a planned railway line past the stadium to Rowville was never built. That meant a massive 25,000-spot car park as the only real means to get there.
While most of it has been demolished and redeveloped for housing, the oval itself still used by Hawthorn Football Club as a training and administration centre.
https://youtu.be/LvvLwiRCx4s?si=x2QvxepgPtBtJZfx
@fuck_cars #AFL #Urbanism #UrbanPlanning #cars #stadium #stadia #Melbourne #sport #footy #football #stadiums #history #Victoria #VicPol #Australia #planning #Hawthorn #AusPol #CarBrain
@philip @fuck_cars And a little post-script: It's now 2024, Waverley Park is now long gone, and the long-promised Rowville railway still hasn't been built.
Here's some background info on it from Melbourne's Public Transport Users Association ( @ptua and @danielbowen ).
@ajsadauskas @philip @fuck_cars Caribbean Gardens now a victim of the same problem, with them attempting to make it an event space suitable for music festivals. Thousands of people trying to catch buses up and down Stud Rd to Dandenong or Ringwood.
@nictea @philip @fuck_cars Pretty much the whole City of Knox (a large chunk of outer-eastern Melbourne) is 1970s and 1980s car-centric suburbia at its worst.
The only rail in the whole area is basically Bayswater and Boronia stations on the Belgrave line. And trains only run every 30 minutes, aside from the morning and evening peak.
Other than that, you have the SmartBus from Ringwood to Frankston, the Rowville SmartBus, and a bunch of infrequent suburban busses.
And the stroads! There's literally a stroad called High Street Road (which is quite possibly the stroadiest name ever invented).
And all of them — Boronia Rd, Stud Rd, Wellington Rd, Burwood Hwy, Wellington Rd, Dorset Rd — are a nightmare during peak hour.
There's whole housing estates with detached residential homes where the only practical way to get anything is to drive.
If anyone says Melbourne does planning well, take them out to Knox (you'll need to drive) and they'll come away with a different opinion.
#Knox #Melbourne #Urbanism #UrbanPlanning #Bayswater #Boronia #Planning
@ajsadauskas @philip @fuck_cars And in my mind the "Smart Bus" is useless enough they may as well not exist. On more than one occasion my partner or I waited until we had missed not one, but two of the connecting trains we intended to connect with. So walked home and drove into the city instead.
@ajsadauskas @nictea @philip @fuck_cars has anyone ever said melbourne does planning well?! i reckon it's top contender for most thoughtless sprawl, and sydney and Brisbane put up a fight!
@ajsadauskas @philip @fuck_cars "planned railways" to significant locations are never built. Take the airport as an example.