Portal to Portal

This stage of my Mullum Mullum Creek trek includes a long but important diversion.

Last time I finished just over Deep Creek Road. Now I am backtracking a little and starting on the north side of the freeway, just below the Loughnan Road bridge. As you will recall this is the same road, just a different suburb so different name.

Right in the centre of the photo, glimpsed through the gap between the bridge pier and noise barrier is the ventilation stack of the Melba Tunnel entry. This is where I am headed, but not following the traffic down into the tunnel, instead there is a part of the EastLink Trail that goes over the top of the entry.

When the EastLink Freeway was planned there was a huge outcry over the extension of the Eastern Freeway into the creek environment. Fortunately the protesters and environmentalists were heard and two 1.6 km tunnels were dug for the road at a cost of $400 million. They go down to 53m below the surface at the lowest point.

The valley’s value, ironically, lies precisely in its preservation on a designated corridor for the road, because the State let it revert to near natural condition around the creek running through it. Its retention now is a prime example of the “law of unintended consequences” in human affairs, with strong passions raised around the idea of concreting over it. 
Eastlink: Melbourne’s Motorway Masterpiece, World Highways magazine, undated

My reason for starting at the tunnel goes back to June 2008 when I walked through the tunnels and back again on the public open day before the freeway was opened to traffic. Now I am going to walk the route that was saved from destruction.

Up on top of the Eastern Portal there is a large garden area. This was redeveloped in 2019 following a student competition. The winners were Angus Houghton and Janette Wilson, landscape design students from Swinburne University. Their design and plantings can be found in this 2018 EastLink Sustainability Report.

The viewing platform overlooks the Mullum Mullum Creek, trail and parkland near Schwerkolt Cottage. There are steps, path and bridge leading down to join the trail, not far from where I left it last time.

The creek bubbles through the Chaim Court Bushland and on into the Yarran Dheran Reserve. Here you can continue on the shared walking/cycle trail, or take the quieter Schwerkolt Track through to Quarry Road.

Formerly a quarry and then a tip, Yarran Dheran Reserve is 7.4 hectares of original indigenous bushland and reconstructed bushland. It was declared a reserve in 1963 and named in 1970, taking the Wurundjeri name meaning Wattle Gully. Ponds were created in the upper area and a waterfall takes any overflow down through several stages to the creek. Pathways zig zag up the escarpment and through the bush.

Back on the EastLink Trail and aproaching the Quarry Road bridge traces of quarrying can the seen on the northern side of the creek.

Once over the road the trail enters Hillcrest Forestway and a new local government area. We are now in Manningham, a council that has recently completed the trail along the remainder of Mullum Mullum Creek. Fortunately someone has annotated the core flute so you can figure out where you are. It is rather confusing with all the pathways as you will discover in my next post.

But for now I am going to continue following the road tunnel which is far below.

Looking back to the road bridge this is the last sight of the creek for now.

The trail is paved the whole way with strict keep left and walkers have to be on a constant look out for cyclists whizzing by. The bush slopes done to a small tributary of Mullum Mullum Creek. Houses that back on to the Forestway take advantage of the view and there are very few fences.

At the Mullum tunnel entry the trail climbs up above road level and is protected by sound barriers. After crossing Park Road, the trail is on both sides of the Freeway. There is a lovely reserve with a remnant orchard but the trail that continues beside the Eastern Freeway to the city is probably more attractive to cyclists than walkers.

At Mitcham Road I turned back, this time walking on the Donvale side. It was here I came across one of EastLink’s environmental initiatives.

This good looking herd of goats is used to manage woody and noxious weeds in areas where it is too difficult or steep and rocky to use machinery. They were clearing the blackberry between the sound wall and the boundaries of private properties near Park Road.

From the Park Road Bridge there is a clear view of the Western Portal.

This is actually the Eastern Portal during construction, but they are pretty much the same. The ventilation stacks are 47m tall and the only exits for fumes or smoke from the tunnels. All sorts of clever engineering make this work in order to have no impact on the bushland above. The cladding and landscaping soften the entry.

On my return trip I stopped off to see what was happening on the top of the Western Portal.

The design is much more formal, lots of circular beds and stepped paved areas. There is a good view down onto a small wetland next to the trail.

I much prefer the overland route and I am very glad the cars and trucks go underground.