The massive project to give the Yarra river a major makeover has been delayed

While it may not be the prettiest body of water, we couldn't imagine Melbourne without the Yarra River. She may be muddy brown in colour, but we don't think that should detract from her worth as the centrepiece of our city. When we heard the north side of its CBD banks will be getting a nice facelift, we were all for it, because we want the Yarra's edge to live up to its full potential of being a beloved waterfront area to enjoy. Now, there's news that the much-anticipated improvements have been pushed back. A tale as old as time. 

The City of Melbourne kicked off construction on the transformation, called the Greenline Project, last year. It's a grand plan to spruce up the CBD part of the Yarra's banks, with the makeover consisting of 4 kilometres of interconnected promenades, parks, open spaces, native plants, cultural activations and environmental renewal between the section of the river's banks between Birrarung Marr and the Bolte Bridge.

The plan was to finish construction on the first part of the project before the end of 2024, so it didn't clash with the Australian Open and Moomba Festival taking over Birrarung Marr for summer. But unfortunately, this didn't happen. Due to this setback, it'll take until the end of 2025 to finish this first part of the project, which includes making changes to the eastern part of Birrarung Marr, with the construction of a new boardwalk, seating and shady trees to attract people for a nice riverside stroll.

This is the easternmost section of the stretch to be renovated – with four more "precincts" running along the river also set to get big makeovers. Basically, the river's banks from Birrarung Marr running westward all the way to Victoria Harbour and North Wharf are getting a swanky revamp. But we're not just talking about some new walking paths, we're talking public parks, boardwalks, wetlands, gathering spaces and heaps more.

The aim of the Greenline project is to improve the health and well-being of the river water, somewhat restoring it to its former glory, as well as creating new and better public spaces. It's been a long time coming, with the project born all the way back in 2019. You might have seen what look like floating patches of grass on the Yarra towards the Docklands part of the river – these are floating wetlands, a trial of how native plants could be incorporated into the river's ecosystem as part of the plan.