‘Horrendous concrete park’: New calls to fix botched Melbourne CBD upgrade: See the

Melbourne residents are calling for the $2m upgrade at the Flinders St end of Elizabeth St to be ripped up due to concerns closing the road to traffic has attracted anti-social behaviour. Watch the video.

Residents are complaining about the botched safety upgrade to Elizabeth Street. Picture: Mark Stewart

Growing fears for public safety in one of the state’s most famous streets has prompted Melbourne City Council to lead a new push to clean up the city eysore.

Drug use, violence and homlessness at the southern end of Elizabeth St has sparked concern among resudents and businesses who have told the Sunday Herald Sun they do not feel safe.

Acting Lord Mayor Nick Reece said the area needs to be fixed

“The current situation is not acceptable, everybody acknowledges that.’’ he said.

“We know how important it is to feel safe in the city, it is the most fundamental aspect of a liveable city.”

A roundable meeting of council, police, state governemnt, traders, residents and transport operators will be held shortly to discuss options to clean up the street such as increased policing, more CCTV and more homless support.

“Finding a fix is complex and we need a combined and targeted approach from multiple agencies to find an ongiong solution for safety and amenity,’’ Mr Reece said.

Businesses and residents have told the Sunday Herald Sun they want the cars brought back to the end of Elizabeth st after The City of Melbourne spent more than $2 million removing bitumen and replacing it with pavers and open-space for pedestrians.

The “upgrade” has been harshly criticised by local residents and shop workers who claim the changes have made the area less safe and more of a magnet for anti-social behaviour.

Two years ago the Sunday Herald Sun revealed the street had becomd a haven for drug users and this week locals said anti-social behavior had continued.

Leicester House owners corporation chair Paul Crapper said he and many other residents warned council axing the cars for “

Traffic can no longer travel through the southern most block of Elizabeth Street in Melbourne CBD. Picture: Mark Stewart

The upgrade was meant to improve pedestrian safety, but residents and local shop owners claim it has caused more issues. Picture: Mark Stewart

their horrendous concrete park would only attract more anti-social behaviour and that is exactly what has happened since the day it was opened,” he said.

“The area needs to return to being a traffic lane because it would at least reduce some of the issues that we see every day on that street.

“The City of Melbourne needs to deliver a comprehensive solution to improve the area and make it safer but until that can be done properly they should rip up that awful concrete park and return it to a functioning road.”

The closure of the southbound lane of Elizabeth St near the corner of Flinders St was the only work done following the council’s 2019 Elizabeth St Strategic Opportunities Plan.

CBD resident Matt Collins told the Sunday Herald Sun that in Elizabeth St “The homelessness is out of control”

“No police here, I feel bad for the workers”

“It can be pretty intimidating for everyone else, For the young kids it would be pretty scary.”

“For us who drive and live in the city it’s a bit of a nightmare.’’

This week the Sunday Herald Sun spent time on Elizbeth St following a recent stabbing on the street that left a man with critical injuries.

Desi Adda restaurant manager Amit Bhatia said the southern end of Elizabeth St continued to get worse for anti-social behaviour.

“There are lots of fights in the area and it has scared off some customers because they don’t want to come to this part of the city,” he said.

“Returning (Elizabeth St south) to traffic would make it better because there would be less space for all the people who are drunk or on drugs to come together and cause problems.

“Sometimes there may be as many as 50 or 60 of them late at night.”

Another Elizabeth St retail worker, who did not wish to be named, said he saw a brawl on the council’s concrete at least once a week.

“I see big groups of people fighting at least once a week and sometimes it is closer to every day,” he said.

“They need to remove that park, whatever it is meant to be, and make it a road for cars again because that would make the area a bit safer.

“I’m always looking over my shoulder working on this street.”

The work done by Town Hall was so poor quality that the area is riddled with cracked pavers, which have been patched in with bitumen.

“There are so many cracked pavers on the new pedestrian area that it has become a safety issue for the public,” Mr Crapper said.

Mr Crapper also said that the removal of the traffic lane has caused huge traffic issues in Flinders Lane.

“Closing one lane of traffic and its associated truck delivery parking in front of retail outlets has sent large trucks all day and night to unload in Flinders Lane outside apartments, and has resulted in major traffic jams outside those apartments in the morning, during the day and at night,” he said.

A City of Melbourne spokeswoman said “There are no plans to return vehicles to this section of road.

“Council has improved the streetscape on the southern end of Elizabeth Street – including new public space to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians, an expanded footpath, upgrades to street furniture, new bluestone paving and landscaping.’’

This week, the council installed temporary flower beds and concrete planter boxes in an attempt to spruce up the area.