After nearly two years of one of Ballarat's main roads being closed, Lydiard Street has reopened with temporary boom gates at the train crossing.

The central street has been shut off since May 2020 after a train crashed through its wooden gates. 

"We're witnessing history," one of the construction workers yelled as the white wooden gate was lifted onto a waiting truck.

The precinct reopened following a 72-hour program of works by V/Line crews and contractors testing new boom gates to ensure safe functionality.

The gates are operated through a new signalling control cabinet.

The replica gates from the 1800s were a point of pride for the historical city, but took two full minutes to open and were operated from Melbourne.

The Department of Transport previously said they had to be monitored via CCTV and were responsible for 60 per cent of delays on the Ballarat line.

The state government announced $10.5 million in May for temporary boom gates while a new system was being built for mid-next year.

The historic replica Lydiard Street gates are removed in central Ballarat.(ABC Ballarat: Rhiannon Stevens)Businesses relievedSimon Coghlan, who owns The Provincial hotel on Lydiard Street, said his business had been "enormously" impacted by the street closure.

"Just to have the precinct moving again will be fantastic," Mr Coghlan said.

The Road Safety Transport Authority is still investigating the May 2020 crash at the crossing.(Twitter: Alistair Finaly)When the V/Line train smashed through the gates last year it also hit Mr Coghlan's hotel, causing damage to the building.

He said he was reluctant to see the replica gates reinstalled after the incident.

"I'd need to be convinced that they'd need to work efficiently, or as efficiently as a boom crossing," he told Stephen Martin on ABC Radio Ballarat.

"I think there's certainly room to pay homage to the historic nature of the railway station and the crossings … [but] I think whatever is there, in 2021, it's important that it's practical and functional.

'Tragedy for Ballarat'The Save Our Station group has fought to keep the old white crossing gates.

"I think it's a tragedy for Ballarat that we're losing the last operating [railway] gates in the Southern Hemisphere," member Lorraine Huddle said.

She said she was grateful that businesses affected by the protracted closure would benefit from the reopening, however she was concerned she would never see the gates again.

The replica gates have been catalogued and stored in a safe place in Wendouree, to the north-west of Ballarat.

In March, Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll told the ABC the old-style gates could not be replaced and a new system needed to be built.

Mr Carroll said his department was working hard to ensure the historic gates remained part of the station precinct.

"It's very well to have a static display, but that's never the same as something operating." 

The temporary boom gates at the Lydiard Street level crossing.(ABC Ballarat: Laura Mayers)Mayor Daniel Moloney said the council would be pushing to preserve Ballarat's beloved past.

"We also need to be really clear: the expectation is that we see heritage gates reinstated unless V/Line and other authorities can prove to us there is safety reasons as to why not," he said.

Want more local news? Sign up to ABC Ballarat's weekly email newsletter.Permanent solution in worksThe Department of Transport's chief of rail services, Ian Cushion, said the next priority was working with the community, Heritage Victoria, Ballarat Council, and V/Line to find a safe solution that honours the heritage of the crossing.

"Having gates go across the tracks is not a modern solution," Mr Cushion said.