‘Too steep’: Locals furious as new Montmorency path ripped up in Big Build bungle, set to be rebuilt

The bungle has been blamed on the steep gradient of the new walkway and will add tens of thousands of dollars to the Hurstbridge line project.

Montmorency station, where a walkway was built next to the car park on the Were St side of the station. Picture: Supplied

A new path recently built as part of a $530m rail line duplication in Melbourne’s northeast has been ripped up and will be rebuilt, sparking anger from the local community.

The bungle, which has been blamed on the steep gradient of the new walkway, will add tens of thousands of dollars to the Hurstbridge line project, which includes new stations at Montmorency and Greensborough and 2km of extra track.

Residents posted online images of a digger ripping up concrete that was recently laid next to the Montmorency railway station, and said they had been told steps would be installed instead of the wheelchair and bicycle-friendly path that was there.

The path was built and then ripped apart Picture: Supplied

The Government said accessible car spaces were in another section of the car park, so changing the design to steps wouldn’t impact how people got to Montmorency station.

Opposition public transport spokesman Matthew Guy said it was an embarrassing and costly cock-up that would add to the projects’ big bill.

“Incompetence knows no bounds with Labor, particularly on Big Build sites,” he said.

“If Labor can’t lay a footpath correctly, no wonder they can’t manage the budget on billion dollar projects.”

Lauren Sandars, who is running for Banyule Council, said the “debacle” had angered families and businesses that had been patiently waiting for works to wrap up.

“They just want it finished,” she said.

“We are so sick of seeing witches hats and road closures. And as taxpayers, now we wear the cost of the mistake.”

Locals were furious about the mixup. Picture: Supplied

Ms Sandars said the gradient of nearby pedestrian paths was even steeper, so people were perplexed by the need to rip up this one.

A level crossing removal spokesperson declined to provide an expected cost of the rebuild, and said the contractor was responsible for fixing any issues on the project.

They said the path works would be finished by “early November”, but there would be ongoing works on another nearby shared use path into 2025.

“Any rectification works are the responsibility of the contractor,” they said.

“These works will not affect access to Montmorency Station because the dedicated accessible car spaces are in the Binns Street car park and the Mayona Street car park.”