Cars would be banned from the bottom end of Elizabeth Street, which would be converted into a pedestrian mall between Flinders Street and Flinders Lane, under a Melbourne City councillor's proposal to "clean up" one of the city's grungiest corners.

Cr Richard Foster said turning over the southern end of Elizabeth Street to foot and tram traffic would help revive a troubled part of the CBD and have little effect on vehicle flows elsewhere in the city, as the intersection of Elizabeth and Flinders streets was already badly jammed.

Closing two blocks of Elizabeth Street to cars would create a pedestrian corridor that linked the street to Bourke Street Mall and Swanston Street. Credit:Rebecca Hallas

"It's known to police and it's known to [council] as a significant trouble spot late at night and early in the morning, with incidents of alcohol-related violence and some drug problems," said Cr Foster, who has asked council officers to brief him on options for closing off Elizabeth Street.

"This is a move to try to clean up that area, to completely redesign it and bring it back to being an open pedestrian space."