Flinders Street Station will be safer than ever in 2019 with the City of Melbourne announcing more security upgrades to the station and surrounding areas.
From Wednesday, January 9 work will commence on the new security upgrades, which include the construction of 20 bollards and an eight-metre barrier. As part of the works the Flinders Street Station forecourt will be expanded, as will the pedestrian crossing between the station and Young and Jackson – the pub on the corner of Flinders Street and Swanston Street.
The works will also include the removal of the garish orange barricades on Princes Bridge. These water-filled barricades have separated road and pedestrian traffic for over a year but were only ever intended as a temporary measure.
The new upgrades will replace the current garish orange barricades with 88 reinforced barricades that have been designed with assistance from Heritage Victoria – so hopefully they’ll be easier on the eyes than their gaudy predecessors.
To minimise disruption most of the upgrades will take place between 8pm and 6am, long after the commuter crowds have gone home. There are a few closures to be aware of, though. On January 9 to 10 and 14 to 15 the Swanston-Flinders Street pedestrian crossing will be closed at night along with the westbound lane on Flinders Street.
Works on Princes Bridge will happen during the day with only one side of the bridge open to pedestrians, and the bicycle lane closed (it will be open during peak hours and overnight).