The stainless steel and fibre-reinforced plastic stairs have replaced wooden structures that had suffered erosion at McGennan Car Park and the Surfside Holiday Park.

Warrnambool City Council project planner Jen MacMillan said the stairs would last 50 years.

"Timber doesn't last as long in a coastal environment, we needed to look at something with improved asset life," she said.

"Durable materials means it isn't a burden for future ratepayers."

While the stairs are not all-access, they do have features to help low-vision, elderly and young people walk them.

At McGennan Car Park there are two flights of stairs with the lower angling beach access away from the wash zone.

The stairs were manufactured in Queensland and assembled in Melbourne before arriving in Warrnambool.

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning contributed $150,000 to the project and the council a further $100,000.

Mayor Vicki Jellie said she liked the design and believed it "should last the test of time".

"It fits really well into the whole look of the place," Cr Jellie said.

She said there would likely need to be more plans to renew other access points along the beach.

"There will be a big thought ahead about what can be done. It is the crowning jewel of who we are," Cr Jellie said.

She said the infrastructure anticipated the consequences of climate change including the likelihood of intense storm and tidal activity that damaged the previous structures.

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