Under Kings Way, the soundscape is all concrete hum and traffic roar, but park is now at the center of a new plan for Southbank. The City of Melbourne has unveiled a proposal to turn the City Road Undercroft into a 5, 000-square-metre public space that aims to replace neglect with activity, light, and greenery.
What is planned for the park beneath Kings Way?
The site is a short walk from Boyd Community Hub and sits between the CBD, Crown Melbourne, and the Arts Precinct. For years, it has been described as a place people move past quickly, or avoid altogether. The new design tries to change that by keeping the concrete structure but softening it with plants, lighting, and places to stay.
Plans for the park include a street-style skate plaza, a winding roller rink, a teen-oriented play space, bouldering walls between concrete columns, basketball and netball courts, and greenery-filled pockets with seating. Upgraded lighting and CCTV cameras are also part of the proposal, with the goal of making the area feel safer and more welcoming at all hours.
Why does this park matter for Southbank?
This is more than a redesign of unused space. The proposal reflects a broader urban question: what should happen to the awkward, overlooked places beneath major roads when a city grows around them? In this case, the answer is not to hide the underpass, but to make it useful.
Lord Mayor Nick Reece said the plan is about “transforming an underutilised eyesore into a game-changing asset in the heart of Southbank. ” That language captures the project’s ambition: to move the site from an empty passageway to a place where people might linger, play, and meet.
The park also carries a practical promise. By adding visible activity and basic safety features, the project seeks to change how the space is experienced after dark and during quieter hours. For nearby workers, residents, and visitors, that shift could matter as much as the new amenities themselves.
How much will the park cost and when will work start?
The project has $9. 5 million in funding already earmarked, and construction is slated to begin late in 2026. The first build phase is expected to cost $8 million, making it a significant public investment in a site that has long been treated as leftover space.
That timing leaves a long runway before the undercroft changes for good. But it also suggests a measured approach: keep the structure, add the features, and turn a forgotten stretch beneath the overpass into something that serves more than cars moving overhead.
For now, the promise of the park is still on paper. Yet the plan gives a concrete place in Southbank a different future — one where people might stop, skate, sit, climb, or simply see the space differently than they did before.
