'I just feel better': Collingwood resident Nuray Benek takes a walk down a deserted Hoddle Street, normally teeming with traffic. Credit:Eddie Jim It's a peculiar week for users of one of Melbourne's busiest roads, which is closed to general traffic until 11.30pm on Sunday, to remove the median strip to eventually add a traffic lane; strengthen the bridge over the Eastern Freeway; and reconfigure right hand turns. Ms Benek, 55, who is originally from Turkey and has lived in nearby Perry Street for 35 years, said "it's the first time I've seen it like this". "No traffic. Hoddle Street – it's always noisy, and too much cars, always a busy road," Ms Benek said. "Too much dust, and noise. The quiet is better for walking. Now I'm feeling the fresh air. I just feel better."

New Horizons shop owner Erez Baron says the roadworks have been bad for business. Credit:Eddie Jim Vicki Sakoulas​, 84, taking her regular Tuesday morning walk near Collingwood Town Hall, said traffic noise had never bothered her in her 50 years living in Abbotsford, but noise from the roadworks had made it hard to sleep. But Mrs Sakoulas believes that the works will benefit drivers. Less appreciative were business owners including Erez Baron, owner of New Horizons sports medical equipment near Johnston Street, who was "angry" that his retail customer numbers were down to almost zero and stock deliveries were difficult. This motorcycle showroom has closed during the Hoddle Street shutdown. Credit:Eddie Jim He found out about the closure from the media, four days before his Christmas shutdown on December 18. "It was a hell of a shock."

Many nearby businesses such as a Shell Coles convenience store, a plumbing supplies business and a motorbike salesroom are closed during the roadworks. Longtime Abbotsford resident Rosemary Lovett enjoys a peaceful walk to Clifton Hill station. Credit:Eddie Jim Peng Lin, owner of the Clifton Hill 7-Eleven, said business had been "terrible" since the closure. Normally they would have at least 800 customers a day, but on Monday it had been a few hundred. "And there's no compensation from the government at all. It sucks," he said. Outside the store, local Rosemary Lovett, 61, on her way to work in Brunswick, was enjoying walking up Hoddle Street to the station from her home.

She lives in Abbotsford between Hoddle Street and the train line, and as a child, she lived close to Clifton Hill station. So traffic and noise has never bothered her. Loading On Tuesday, it was the sudden peace that made a big impact. Looking south down Hoddle Street towards the Eastern Freeway, she said: "It's unbelievable. The road looks wider. Very quiet and a bit eerie. It looks like a ghost town down there".