Planning Minister Richard Wynne has sidelined the Heritage Council in deciding whether century-old signal boxes on the Upfield rail line should be saved from demolition to make way for sky rail.

Residents and the Moreland Council want two early 20th-century signal boxes and more than 100 trees at Gandolfo Gardens heritage protected.

Marilyn Moore from Coburg's Historical Society in front of an old signal box set to be demolished to make way for sky rail. Credit:Eddie Jim

The signal boxes and the trees are set to be bulldozed when the government replaces four level crossings with a 2.5-kilometre elevated rail line from Tinning Street in Brunswick to O'Hea Street in Coburg.

Marilyn Moore, vice-president of the Coburg Historical Society, questioned why the government could not relocate the signal boxes on Munro Street and Tinning Street and later return them to the site or somewhere nearby.