Removal of a Preston tram stop hurts local businesses, traders say

A PASSIONATE group of residents and business owners is calling for the replacement of a tram stop in Preston, telling authorities its removal in 2016 has cost the area dearly.

Joe Tarantino, Charlotte Tizzard and Michael Pratt are among the people who want a tram stop at the corner of Tyler St and Plenty Rd replaced. Picture: George Salpigtidis

A PASSIONATE group of residents and business owners is calling for the replacement of a tram stop in Preston, telling authorities its removal in 2016 has cost the area dearly.

Public Transport Victoria slipped flyers under doors in September 2016 to tell the community the stop at the corner of Tyler St and Plenty Rd would be removed due to safety issues. The removal has created a 700m gap between stops and isolated a business hub.

Discography Records owner Joe Tarantino said the community was disappointed in the lack of consultation and his business was hurting due to the lack of foot traffic. Mr Tarantino said many either couldn’t walk up a hill to the stores or found it too difficult, and skipped the area altogether.

“I could leave the door open and go for a walk and no one would come in,” he said.

LABOR PROMISES TRAM EXTENSION

MYKI ON THE WAY OUT

SKY RAIL AN OPTION FOR INTERSECTION

PTV spokesman Tim Clare said the stop was removed because the new trams were 10m longer than the old ones and would hang out into traffic, creating a safety hazard.

But the group has rubbished the claims, and said the “short sighted” decision could have been solved by moving the stop from the middle of the road.

This Borderland owner Xavier O’Shanassy said reducing the intersection to four lanes and putting the stop on the footpath, like others along Plenty Rd, would solve the issue.

“I could fix that corner myself if you gave me a week and enough concrete,” he said.

Charlotte Tizzard said her bar, Hard Rubbish, had been open for six months before the flyer came and since the stop’s removal, it had become “too hard” for people to visit. She said customers who came from Thornbury and Preston now had no option to get there other than drive, or take a long walk.

“It was a derelict, rundown area for ages and they probably just thought ‘who cares’,” she said.

Mr O’Shanassy believed since the tram line was extended from Tyler Rd into Reservoir in the 1980s the strip had suffered, but it was starting to pick up again.

Tram 86 Studio owner Andrew Bianco said the area was similar to Thornbury more than 10 years ago and needed better infrastructure to cope with the population pushing out into the area.