Road closures and tram disruptions are continuing to cause headaches for commuters, workers and tourists in Melbourne’s CBD.
Traders are also feeling the pinch, with foot and road traffic in the area affected by construction work.
Work to build a $4.5 million level-access tram stop near the intersection of Flinders and Spencer streets began on Friday, forcing the closure of high-traffic sections on both roads.
Spencer Street is closed from Collins Street to Normanby Road at Southbank, while Flinders Street is closed from King Street to Wurundjeri Way.
That part of Spencer Street is a major arterial road normally used by an average of 23,000 to 27,000 vehicles a day, second in volume only to King Street in the CBD.
Several tram routes have also be heavily disrupted, including route 96 between East Brunswick and St Kilda Beach, Melbourne’s busiest. The route has been split in two: East Brunswick to Southern Cross Station, and St Kilda Beach to Port Junction near Crown Casino.
At the 7-Eleven on the corner of Flinders and Spencer Streets, the Slurpee machines were almost idle on Monday. Cashier Kushan said only four drinks had been sold, a fraction of typical sales for this time of year.
The closures have also caused headaches for staff and guests at the Wharf Hotel on Siddeley Street.
“It’s pretty annoying. It’s very, very difficult to get here,” one patron said.
“You can’t actually drive directly into the hotel. You have to take a 10-inute drive all the way around to Wurundjeri Way and then you come to a ‘local access only’ sign, which is really confusing.
“I noticed it causing problems for the staff and delivery drivers this morning too.”
Shailender, the owner of OM Laptop Repair Centre on Flinders Street, was late for work for the first time in five years on Monday morning. The disruption meant he arrived at work 20 minutes after his store was due to open.
“I’ve been running this business for five years, but I’ve never had this kind of problem before,” he said.
The owner of Flinders Street sushi restaurant Tokyo Maki, Sehyuu Kim, said at this time of year he would ordinarily be getting reliable business from tourists, but they were staying away from the area.
“Who’s going to pass this way now? With all the noise and the construction going on, tourists don’t want to come here.”
He said business had been down 50 per cent: “Lunchtime today was terrible. It’s normally a really busy time.”
There are also disruptions to other major tram routes, including 12, 30, 70, 75, 109 and the City Circle. There are no trams running along Harbour Esplanade in Docklands, between La Trobe and Flinders Street.
Construction of the level-access tram stop outside the World Trade Centre on Spencer Street is scheduled to continue until Sunday.
The stop is part of the $800 million project to transform route 96, between East Brunswick and St Kilda, into Melbourne’s first fully accessible “premium” tram route.
Announced in 2012, the project was meant to have been completed in 2014, but has suffered delays because of community and trader resistance to proposed changes at several points along the route, which is used by more than 55,000 passengers each weekday.
Yarra Trams chief executive Clement Michel said the work was happening in early January to minimise disruption.
“An upgrade of this size and significance inevitably means there will be some short-term disruption, but we have chosen this time because it will minimise the inconvenience as much as possible,” Mr Michel said.
TRAM DISTRUPTIONS
Route 96 trams are not running through part of Spencer Street and will operate as route 96a in two sections, from East Brunswick to Southern Cross Station and from St Kilda Beach to Port Junction near Crown Casino. Commuters have to walk between Southern Cross Station and Port Junction to catch the connecting trams.
Route 12 trams are not travelling through part of Spencer Street and will be replaced by low-floor buses between St Kilda and Whiteman/Clarendon streets. City-bound travellers also have the option of walking from Whiteman/Clarendon streets to Collins Street to connect with route 109a trams.
Route 109 trams will operate in two sections between Box Hill and Southern Cross Station (then Victoria Harbour Docklands) and between Port Melbourne and Port Junction near Crown Casino. Commuters have to walk between Southern Cross Station and Port Junction to catch connecting trams, although extra services have been put on.
City Circle trams will operate between Docklands and Flinders Street Station, Elizabeth Street via La Trobe Street and Spring Street.
Route 30 trams will be extended to operate as route 30a between St Vincents Plaza and Waterfront City Docklands.
Route 70 & 75 trams will operate as route 70a and route 75a between Wattle Park/Vermont South and stop 2 King/Flinders Streets.
Extra route 16 trams will operate between Melbourne University and Luna Park from 8am to 8pm on weekdays.
For more information visit the Yarra Trams website.
This story first appeared in The Age
