Article: Manually operated gates on New St, Brighton to close permanently

[ozbob]

From the Herald Sun click here!

Manually operated gates on New St, Brighton to close permanently

Manually operated gates on New St, Brighton to close permanently

    * Ashley Gardiner
    * From: Herald Sun
    * April 21, 2010 11:23AM

Former gate keeper Tony Ryan at the New Street, Brighton railway crossing. Picture: Darren Tindale Source: Herald Sun

PUBLIC Transport Minister Martin Pakula has ordered the closure of Melbourne's last manually operated railway gates.

The gates on New St, Brighton, have been in limbo since late 2007 after a train went through the crossing while they were open.

But instead of replacing the old facility with modern boom gates, the crossing will be closed permanently.

More than a dozen incidents had been recorded at the site in the preceding three years.

A new turning lane, from Beach Rd into South Rd, will be built in its place and the historic gates will remain at the New St site.

Mr Pakula said the wooden gates, watchman's hut and signal box would be restored, and new automated pedestrian gates would be installed at the site.

He said the decision to permanently close the crossing was made for safety reasons.