The Campbell Arcade (aka the Degraves St subway) re-opened this week, and I just thought I’d post the quick video I did for the PTUA social media feeds. (Yes of course it’s got an advocacy message.)
Thirty seconds after I filmed this, the Metro Tunnel project director came past. I didn’t ask him, but I doubt he’d have wanted to go on camera!
As shown in the video, the key change is the connection through to Town Hall station.
The shop spaces are ready to go, but currently empty. Hopefully they get filled soon.
Some people have been asking why they didn’t fix up the arcade a bit more. The asphalt floor certainly doesn’t look any cleaner than when the work started, and nor does the grout around the tiles. Truth is they were mostly working on the Town Hall connection, not the arcade itself, but yes I’m surprised they didn’t fix it up a bit more.
That said, they did do a nice restoration job on the street level signage, though there’s still no signage at the northern end indicating it’s the way to the station.
I was surprised to see the Opposition’s Matthew Guy’s “colourful” reaction to the arcade reopening: “It’s just another location in Melbourne for us to go and get mugged by people who are out on bail”.
Mr Guy is a smart bloke, but surely he must realise that trying to shoe-horn the state’s crime issue into this will appeal to the Coalition’s rusted-on supporters and his devoted Facebook followers, while risking putting off swinging voters, including any who actually use this part of the rail network.
Victoria could really do with a viable competitive Opposition party for the November 2026 election.
Politics aside, it’s good to see progress towards the Metro tunnel being open.
18 replies on “Campbell Arcade has reopened”
Matthew Guy is such a dill. A terrible planning minister and a hopeless Opp Leader. The bare-faced cheek.
Iâm actually really glad the arcade has been kept basically as it was. This whole time I was worried that they would completely renovate it out to be a soulless walkway. I think itâs a beautiful little spot thatâs peak Melbourne for me
Why didn’t they install lifts on flinders & degrade streets
I think it was announced today that another piece of the Metro Tunnel puzzle is about to go into place with Franklin Street (one of the first streets to close for Metro Tunnel works) is about to reopen. When combined with the opening of Campbell Arcade, it is not long now until we finally get to have services in the Metro Tunnel (which is some way off though).
Guy was banging on about something and said, ‘For goodness sake, just get the tunnel open’, which was quite inappropriate to whatever else he was saying. That, and what you quote, just makes him looks ridiculous.
The pink tiles look nice, and the asphalt looks all new, with the newest very fresh and yet to age a bit. It should look better once that happens.
When the underpass within the station reopened I was surprised to see how dirty it was / despite being closed for so long no one had thought to clean the walls and floors. There was still gum stuck to the steps and dirty marks on the wall.
And now the rest of the arcade has opened. Yes itâs been redone and the walls and roof look great; but as you saw the flooring is as cheap as possible with asphalt patching. At least it wonât be as slippery as the Elizabeth Street underpass when wet!
The main bit of the Metro could be world-class but the budget cuts or cost over-runs are showing via the rough edges.
@Andrew, here’s the quote from Mr Guy about the Metro tunnel:
“You’ve had eleven years, almost, in government, and it’s still not finished. Open the bloody thing.”
With the Metro Tunnel and demands for it to be opened now from Matthew Guy, apparently 10 years to build one section of Suburban Rail Loop is too long and needs to be axed according to the Liberal Party and their media arm the Herald Sun. I would rather it is done right rather than open it with flaws, and no doubt many people will agree. And from what I have been hearing, it is almost ready to open, but apparently that won’t be enough for Matthew Guy who has almost no credibility here in Victoria.
And remember that with City Link, there was so much pressure to open it that it was opened and there were leakage coming into one of the tunnels, requiring it to be closed for repair work, knowing that it was opened when it wasn’t ready to open.
To the Liberals, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones when some of their own projects got delayed, or costings were not released (such as the Liberals’ version of Airport Rail or East West Link didn’t have their costings released).
The Liberals sat on southland station for four years doing nothing in 2011-2014. Voters have long memories.
Looks horrible. Its still dirty and the floor is terrible! It could have been made much nicer looking
Matthew Guy is disappointed because it was reopened by Labor instead of the Liberals.
@Nick: The Liberals sat on Doncaster rail for over a decade too. 1969 (transport plan) through to the early 1980s when the public finally had enough of them and voted Labor for the first time in nearly 30 years. Of course, Labor didn’t do anything either, shafting both Doncaster and the newly-built suburbia in Rowville. Now that there’s a busway on the rail reserve, there is no hope of ever getting Doncaster rail.
Lest we forget that the Suburban Rail Loop (which the Liberals and their media arm the Herald Sun are so opposed to) will eventually service Doncaster (but not for a long time though). But with the busway, I think it is on the side of the Eastern Freeway and not on the rail reserve which is in the centre. Anyone can correct me if I am wrong.
@indigohex3 – I remember the Citylink tunnel leaking issue was noticed at about the same time as the Collins submarines were encountering problems for being to noisy … my solution at the time was to let the tunnel flood and run a Collins shuttle service …
Indigohex3, you are correct about the Doncaster busway being on the side of the upgraded Eastern Freeway, rather than in the rail reserve. The rail reserve in the centre is in the process of disappearing for most of its length to accommodate new traffic lanes.
And to your other comment, it’s worth noting The Age is also strongly opposed to the Suburban Rail Loop, not just the Herald-Sun.
As a Melburnian who is currently living overseas, I can’t wait to get back and try out the tunnel and Campbell Arcade again. As for Matthew Guy, he’s a clown, and his opinions on anything to do with public transport are laughable. The Viclibs did almost nothing in this space when they were in power. At least Labor us actually getting stuff done. (Having said that, I think there are lot of problems with the outer rail loop project.)
Why didn’t they install a lift at degrave street entrance
Or have toilets
Why didn’t the SRL diviate under chadstone SC since it is running near Monash
Shut ‘y hole PINCHY!
Let’s see if you can lose a 5th election a row!
I had the opportunity to have a look at the arcade last week. I’m quite disappointed to see it hasn’t had a full makeover. Bad grout on the tiles and the floor not fully asphalted with new material. Yes the shop fronts look good but it’s somewhat lacking after all that time. I wonder was the full makeover sacrificed in budget overruns ? Another week or grouting and asphalting wouldn’t have hurt.