Removal of infamous Haymarket “roundabout of death” on the cards

Melbourne’s notorious “roundabout of death” is being considered for removal, following a near decade-long campaign from stakeholders in the Parkville biomedical precinct.

The Haymarket roundabout, located at the heart of the precinct, at the intersection of Elizabeth and Peel streets and Flemington Rd, has drawn public criticism since the 1980s for being unsafe for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.

It has been known colloquially as the "roundabout of death" for many years.

Inner City News can reveal that key stakeholders – including CSL, the Peter Doherty Institute and the University of Melbourne – have been in consultation with both the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Department of Transport and Planning since 2017.

They have formed the Haymarket Stakeholder Group, which includes around 20 companies, universities and organisations within the precinct. Members are concerned the roundabout is preventing the area from reaching its potential as a “world-class” precinct.

The group has lobbied for the roundabout’s removal and commissioned designs that would see it transformed into a signalised intersection, creating additional public space at a cost of just over $100 million.

According to CSL, the proposal would improve the configuration of the tram tracks in the area and would not require any changes to existing tram routes.

However, progress has stalled. Successive governments have failed to allocate funding for the project, despite backing from leading biotech companies, research institutions and the University of Melbourne.

“Precinct residents, including CSL, are promoting a reform concept which would markedly improve traffic flows, car-tram interactions and the safety of pedestrians and cyclists,” a CSL spokesperson said.

It would free up the open space stranded in the middle of the roundabout, creating four parklets and an iconic centrepiece of the precinct; safe, globally recognisable and synonymous with the Australian health and medical research excellence.

There are also growing fears that once the Parkville Metro Tunnel station opens, thousands of pedestrians will be forced to navigate the already precarious intersection.

In 2019 the Victorian Government created the Biomedical Precinct Shared Transport Vision, which recommended that design work should be undertaken for the roundabout. However, this did not occur.

A spokesperson from the Department of Transport and Planning said that "while there are currently no plans to remove the Haymarket Roundabout, we’ll continue to consider possible upgrades at this location as part of future network planning.”

“We’re always looking at ways to improve safety across the transport network,” the spokesperson stated.

Although the department will continue exploring upgrades in the area, it remains unclear whether the roundabout will be removed – or how such a project would be funded.

A source familiar with discussions between the Victorian Government and stakeholders said that with multiple ministers involved, responsibility for the issue had become a game of finger-pointing.

According to the source, The Minister for Transport, the Minister for Roads, and the Minister for Medical Research are all connected to this issue – and no-one is taking responsibility.

The source said that the bureaucratic mess combined with Victoria’s state debt expected to reach $194 billion by 2028, makes the likelihood of the proposed roundabout slim.

The state government has not committed to allocating to the funds to future works or the removal of the roundabout.

However, when asked by Inner City News to whether money from the Transport and Amenity Fund will be used, the Department of Transport and Planning did not respond to the question.

The $100 million Transport and Amenity Program (TAP) was announced in 2018, with the money used to mitigate the impacts of the West Gate Tunnel on neighbourhood streets in North and West Melbourne and Docklands.

However, with the tunnel expected to open by the end of this year, the program has come under scrutiny due to a lack of transparency around how the money will be spent and delays to project delivery.

The City of Melbourne said that the removal of roundabout will not be considered as a part of TAP, however, they did not rule its removal out.

While it remains unclear as to when and how the roundabout’s removal would be achieved, mounting pressure from powerful stakeholders in the precinct suggests that its days are numbered. •