With preparatory works now completed, specialist contractors and V/Line crews will be able to begin the final steps to install temporary boom gates at the Lydiard Street crossing this weekend.

To begin in the early hours of Saturday morning, it is expected the work will take about 48-hours.

Once completed, the plan is traffic will once again be able to travel over the rail lines from Tuesday, November 16. Though it is only a temporary solution to allow traffic to flow through the crossing once again.

Lydiard Street businesses have long been vocal in their demands to get the key thoroughfare back open to traffic, while simultaneously Ballarat heritage advocates have called for the swing gates to be reinstalled.

But the system has posed problems for the Department of Transport due to a historic mechanism and the delays its closing causes compared to the modern style of boom gate.

The department has confirmed the damaged heritage-style gates and posts will be removed and "safely stored" in line with a Heritage Victoria permit granted in late October.

Temporary boom gates will then be installed and tested to ensure they function safely.

These gates will be connected to a new signalling box, which was built and tested at V/Line's Wendouree depot.

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While the installation and testing takes place, trains will not be able to travel through the crossing.

This means passengers wishing to travel on the Ballarat, Wendouree, Ararat and Maryborough trains will need to take a bus for all or part of their journey from Saturday, November 13 until Monday, November 15.

Today marks 526 days since the frightening accident where a train crashed through the heritage-style gates in May 2020, with the crossing closed since.

In the months since an interim safety report has been released, which blamed the train's brakes and not the gates for the incident, while there have also been community protests in the street.

Yet there is still no permanent solution and nor is there a time frame for one to be delivered.

The Department of Transport and V/Line said they would continue to work with stakeholders to deliver a permanent solution.

While the historic gates are kept in storage, V/Line has been tasked with preparing a comprehensive report about the feasibility of returning the gates.

Meanwhile, the final report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau is due in mid-2022.

During a visit to Ballarat last week, Premier Daniel Andrews reiterated the situation was "complex" but said the heritage values in the city were "second to none, an amazing asset and they need to be protected".

"The history of this city is impressive, critical to our state's history, but it's the future that we're focused on, and I think you can be respectful of the past but also have something that's safe, I don't think they are mutually exclusive."

Minister for Public Transport, Ben Carroll, said it was well-known the closure had been "frustrating for the Ballarat community and we thank everyone for their patience as we worked towards safely re-opening the street".

"Re-opening Lydiard Street is the next step towards a long-term solution that will ensure the crossing meets modern safety standards, while still recognising the heritage of the surrounding precinct."

Member for Wendouree, Juliana Addison, said many businesses and residents had been inconvenienced by the street's closure so would welcome its reopening.

"The Ballarat community will be pleased to see this work being completed."

As part of its permit for allowing reopening works on Lydiard Street to begin, Heritage Victoria has included a condition for a $600,000 security deposit to ensure works are completed "in full within the term of the permit".

READ MORE: Lydiard Street level crossing plans given heritage approval

The Heritage Victoria permit, released last month, will see the damaged swing gates removed and all remaining heritage components - including the original cast gate posts and mechanisms and the replica timber sector gates which were not destroyed by the crash - to be photographed and catalogued before they are securely stored in Wendouree for no more than 18 months.

They will be subject to regular inspections to ensure they do not deteriorate and must not be stored for longer than 18-months.

The $600,000 payment will be released "subject to the completion of the works approved by this permit to (the Heritage Victoria) Executive Director's satisfaction".

The Courier has previously reported that the project will cost about $10.5 million in total, including the new signalling.

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