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.HistoryThe 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.