We’re creating a new link between the heart of the CBD and the Queen Victoria Market along Franklin Street - paving the way for the landmark Gurrowa Place development.

Along with a new Market Square, the transformation of Franklin Street will continue City of Melbourne’s investment in the Queen Victoria Market precinct.

This project will provide more open space for the growing community and improve safety and accessibility for all road users.

A key part of this project is replacing the roundabout at Franklin and Queen streets with a signalised intersection. The roundabout removal component of this was completed in mid-2024, and the signalising of the intersection will take place at the end of the Gurrowa Place development. These changes will create an east-west corridor, unlocking the Gurrowa Place development and Queen Victoria Market Precinct Renewal.

The removal of the Franklin Street roundabout follows community engagement in 2019 and the formal discontinuance of Franklin Street between Queen and William Street in 2020.

In line with City of Melbourne’s Community Engagement Policy, we run public consultations on projects that impact public spaces, or the wellbeing of residents, businesses and visitors. We recognise and value the vast knowledge and experiences within diverse communities and are committed to placing the community at the heart of what we do.

Community consultation on the transforming Franklin Street project was an opportunity for the community to have a say on the draft concept design for stage two of the project. We asked the community to share their feedback and let us know what they would like to see the project deliver.

According to City of Melbourne’s Population and Jobs Forecasts report, Melbourne (CBD) will continue to be the most attractive location for residential and employment growth, adding 45,000 residents and 76,000 jobs by 2041.

Allocating sufficient resources and services to support our fast-growing city is essential. The draft concept design for the Franklin Street transformation will provide 1250m² of open space for residents, workers and visitors to enjoy, better connections for people moving between the CBD and Queen Victoria Market and improved safety for the community with new pedestrian crossings, lighting and reduced traffic flow.

Yes, community engagement has informed the planning, design and delivery of the Queen Victoria Market Precinct Renewal Master Plan. This includes engagement on amending our Planning Scheme to facilitate the renewal program and the QVM People’s Panel.

The removal of the Franklin Street roundabout follows community engagement in 2019 and the formal discontinuance of Franklin Street between Queen and William Street in 2020. To find out more, please visit City of Melbourne’s Council resolution page.

We engaged with the CBD community in 2021 and 2022 to develop Neighbourhood Priorities.

The community told us that they want more urban green spaces with diverse flora and fauna to spend time, and highlighted the need for safer bike lanes, improved public transport connections and enhanced pedestrian access - many of these features are included in the draft concept design.

As part of the Franklin Street concept plan, a total of 31 parking spaces will be retained between Queen and Stewart streets – with a more considered distribution of spaces to meet the needs of local residents and businesses.

Parking availability around Franklin Street includes 500 spaces at the nearby Munro car park, alongside more than 1200 on-street parking bays within 250 meters of Franklin Street. An additional 220 spaces will also become available at the completion of the Gurrowa Place development.

As part of the community consultation for Franklin Street, we heard that people want a safer, more accessible design including wider footpaths and raised pedestrian crossings – which can limit the space for parking.

This concept design proposes to turn four lanes of traffic into two, maintaining access for motorists in both directions, enabling footpath widening, the installation of protected bike lanes and increased public space along the southern side of the street.

The traffic flow in Franklin Street has reduced significantly due to works on the Metro State Library Station towards Swanston Street. This change in traffic volume has given us the opportunity to convert two underutilised road lanes into public space, without any significant impact on traffic flow.

Once complete, the Franklin Street transformation is predicted to bring more people to Franklin Street and businesses should see an overall increase in foot traffic.

During the construction phase businesses will be impacted, but we will work with them closely to understand their trading requirements and try to minimise the impact as much as possible.

The Franklin Street transformation will improve safety for pedestrians and people riding bikes. The project includes safety features such as protected bike lanes, improved lighting, raised intersections and raised pedestrian crossings which will help to protect pedestrians and people riding bikes from traffic.

This project delivers on key outcomes of the Transport Strategy 2030 including Outcome 1 ‘safe streets for people’, Outcome 2 ‘safe streets for bike riding’ and Outcome 3 ‘transport interchanges as welcoming people-places'.

We’re working with City of Melbourne’s Disability Advisory Council to ensure the design meets accessibility requirements.

The design considers sustainability and environmental opportunities that address climate change impacts. These include managing stormwater flood through drainage upgrades and water sensitive urban design solutions, increasing green open space, increasing the canopy cover along Franklin Street by approximately 40 per cent and allowing more people to use active transport through improved connections.

To deliver the new public open space, wider footpaths and protected bike lanes, some trees may be removed. However, the project will seek to retain as many trees as possible and a significant number will be planted with improved growing conditions. They will create increased canopy coverage, and respond to the Urban Forest Strategy by exploring opportunities for increased biodiversity.

The design has been developed to reduce flooding, in particular at the intersection of Franklin and Elizabeth streets. The introduction of the linear park space provides more opportunity for permeable surfaces and water sensitive urban design solutions that will help manage storm water runoff in the area.

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is the design of buildings, subdivisions and works to minimise the impact of development on the surrounding environment and waterways. WSUD involves treating and reducing stormwater flows, increasing soil moisture, urban greening and providing an alternative water source.