Koonung Creek Reserve

Koonung Creek Reserve
Grassed informal open space in the reserve looking west
Location	Melbourne, Australia
Coordinates	37°46′51″S 145°05′44″E / 37.780891°S 145.095517°E / -37.780891; 145.095517Coordinates: 37°46′51″S 145°05′44″E / 37.780891°S 145.095517°E / -37.780891; 145.095517
Area	313,352sqm
Operated by	City of Boroondara
Paths	Mix of formal and informal pathways
Terrain	Linear park
Water	Wetlands
Vegetation	Australian Native
Connecting transport	Bus routes 207, 284, 285, 309, 907, 908
Facilities	Playground, barbeques, toilets, dog off-lead

Koonung Creek Reserve is a linear park in the suburb of Balwyn North, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It follows the path of the Eastern Freeway from Bulleen Road in the west to Doncaster Road to the east.

The area has been green open space since before European settlement, being situated in a valley near the Yarra River. It was not formally declared as parkland as late as 1966, and its exact date of proclamation is unknown.

It remained relatively unaffected by suburban development in its immediate vicinity until the construction of the second stage of the Eastern Freeway in 1982. To provide some compensation for the significant loss of green space by the construction of the freeway, the Country Roads Board and the affected municipalities of Camberwell and Doncaster & Templestowe planted over 12,000 trees, primarily on the North Balwyn side of the freeway. The works also included undergrounding Koonung Creek for 2.4 km to allow for construction of the freeway. These works formed the basis for the use of the area as parkland.

The construction of the freeway through the area also sparked the commencement of a long-standing issue between local residents and the state government on traffic noise. Residents and the local council have lobbied the state government for many years to improve noise attenuation measures, particularly on the stretch of the road in Koonung Creek Reserve. The lack of any artificial noise barriers, relying instead on small dirt mounds and vegetation, has resulted in noise levels well above the 63 decibel limit for new freeways.

More recently, the reserve and surrounding parklands were involved in the East West Link project. Proposed works for the project included widening the Eastern Freeway by one lane in each direction up to Tram Road. The City of Boroondara strongly objected to any potential for parkland to be used in the widening of the road reserve in numerous submissions in 2013 and 2014.