Police believe the truck was exiting a driveway when the woman was fatally struck, at about 11.10am on Thursday.

She died at the scene, near a CatholicCare office on busy Plenty Road between Grimshaw Street and Settlement Road.

Staff at nearby businesses said the woman was probably walking to the nearby Bundoora Square shopping centre, as she had a canvas trolley that was squashed in the collision.

"It was pretty sad, they had her covered up," said a receptionist at a nearby office. She said police had asked her for the business' CCTV footage.

Goodstart Early Learning centre director Mayda Kahkedjian said the incident had caused traffic chaos for about three hours while a stretch of Plenty Road was closed to northbound traffic up to 2pm.

Ms Kahkedjian said police told her the deceased was "unfortunately … an old local lady".

"Obviously she was just doing her grocery shopping in the morning," she said.

The driver of the truck, a man, was assisting police with their inquiries.

Police from Greensborough Highway Patrol are investigating and are keen to speak to anyone who witnessed the incident.

Route 86 trams have resumed normal running through the intersection.

Victoria's provisional road toll for the year so far is 50 deaths, three worse than this time last year.