Flinders St to shut eastbound for up to three years as Metro Tunnel work ramps up

Motorists, pedestrians and cyclists will be hit with up to three years of disruption as half of one of Melbourne’s busiest streets closes for Metro Tunnel works. Here’s how your commute will be affected.

Parts of one of Melbourne’s busiest city thoroughfares will be shutdown as work on the $11 billion Metro Tunnel works ramps up.

Detours will be put in place for road, foot and bicycle traffic eastbound on Flinders St for up to three years from September 2.

The closure will be in place between Elizabeth St and Swanston St as part of the Town Hall Station works.

Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan said the closure marked the move to a “quite intensive phase” of construction for the major project, that would displace a lot of traffic and pedestrians.

“This is a significant closure, but we need to do it — it’s the only way to build this vital underground connection between Flinders Street and the Metro Tunnel Station,” she said.

Ms Allan urged commuters and drivers who use the thoroughfare to plan accordingly.

Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan inspects work under Franklin St and Bowen St Melbourne for the construction of the Metro rail tunnel. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Modelling shows the detours will add an extra five minutes to the average journey and compensation for small businesses impacted by the shutdown will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Rail Projects Victoria CEO Evan Tattersall said the closures allowed workers to work 30m underground by allowing access to a large volume of trucks and machinery.

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Pedestrians will still have access to Degraves St.

Trams will continue on the street except for a short shutdown from October 2 to 7.

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