Community opening of the St Kilda Road bike lanes!

Join us to celebrate the long-awaited bike lanes! 11am Sunday 27th August. Location: the park next to M-pavilion, opposite the National Gallery of Victoria.

Please come and celebrate. If you can, bring fun things to share (cake, kids activities, things to decorate our bikes…). This event is hosted by Port Phillip Bicycle Users Group, Stonnington Bicycle Users Group, and Bike Melbourne. The event doesn’t have government or corporate sponsorship so the celebration is up to us!

Ride in together from Brunswick with Merri-bek BUG: details here.

Ride in together from St Kilda with PPBUG, leave 10.15am from Cleve Gardens (bottom of Fitzroy St).

Ride in together with GEBUG, leave 9.30am Glen Eira town hall.

After the opening, there will be a ride down to the junction and back.

FLYER to print and share.

Update on Shrine to Sea project, July 2023

In May, the Shrine to Sea project announced that they were separating the protected bike lane from the project:

In reviewing the draft masterplan, the Victorian Government considered a number of issues, including the Department of Transport and Planning’s decision to remove temporary Pop-Up Bike Lanes from the City of Port Phillip, and decided that further targeted engagement is required for a safer active transport solution along Kerferd Road. For this reason, the protected bike lane is being separated from the Shrine to Sea masterplan to be considered at a future time.

Recall that the community consultation panel recommended the separated bike lane, and the objectives of this project were to:

• Enhance the green boulevard

• Create safer and clearer links and connections for walking and cycling

• Celebrate local stories

• Improve usable open space

In June, the Port Phillip Bicycle Users Group met with the project team to find out more about this decision and the way forward.    These are our questions and the answers.

What happens next?

The draft plan will be released for public comment as soon as possible.  It will not include the separated bike lane. 

How can the separated bike path be built?

There will be a targeted "robust engagement process" around the bike lane at a future time and the State government is currently discussing the pathway forward.  The design proposals included in the draft plan have been carefully considered to make sure they don’t restrict future options that could be included in the engagement process. The $13M budget was never intended to cover all the masterplan costs.  It will help deliver many elements in the plan but there will be a need for additional funds.  This is also partly due to the increase in costs since the start of the project.   

Usability of footpaths and use of the footpaths by scooters/bikes are key concerns of pedestrians, particularly disabled users (per Vision Australia) and older people (per Victoria Walks).  Pedestrians currently have difficulty crossing Kerferd Rd.  How are these concerns being addressed under the revised plans?

The masterplan can’t address use of existing street footpaths as these are matters for the Council or relevant land managers. Nonetheless accessibility and safety principles are key to the designs in the draft. The proposed protected bike lane design did include improved accessibility solutions and safer crossings on Kerferd Road, and this will now be dealt with in the future engagement process.  

Kerferd Rd, looking towards the sea

What happens to the design work undertaken on the 5 options for the bike lane that S2S has done, including the Healthy Streets assessment, the Shrine to Sea metric criteria assessment,  community feedback, and traffic modelling--- will this be released?

Reports and assessments completed for the 5 options, including all the renders, plans etc will be passed on to the next state government project team that gets the responsibility for progressing this. DEECA had intended to release the reports with the draft masterplan when it included the protected bike lane, but these will now form part of the next engagement process.  The state government wants to make sure there is an engagement process in place for this as some of this material is technical and requires support in explaining or interpreting the information.

Current plans are to re-open the Herbert St crossover when the S2S plan is complete.   This is one of the identified high crash locations.   Will this stay closed or re-open?   

The proposed design solution for the Herbert Road crossover will be in the draft plan so everyone will be able to provide feedback at that time. DEECA has worked with Council closely on the design proposal.

What will the "robust engagement" process be?  

There will be a targeted engagement process, with opportunity for some mythbusting and shared information.  More info about car parking, bins, traffic flows. The precise nature of the engagement is not yet known.

Critical Mass June 2023: text of the speech by Dr. Paula Hanasz

June’s Critical Mass started at Fed Square. Image credit: Faith Hunter.

I'm not here because I'm a cyclist.

I'm here because I'm a citizen.

Because I'm a taxpayer.

Because I'm a parent.

And because I'm outraged that our state and local governments continue to endanger me and my family by refusing to invest in separated bike lanes and accessible public transport. 

I'm outraged by the hypocrisy of government rhetoric about active transport and no meaningful expansion of people-centric infrastructure.

A video showing bikes from behind with blinking red lights. In the centre of the shot is a woman on a trike. Credit: Faith Hunter.

My family and i are doing our bit for this city by deliberately not having a car,

by living in and contributing to a 20-minute neighbourhood.

But the state and local governments do not make this easy for us.

They do not make it affordable. 

And they do not make it safe.

For all the money being pumped into roadworks and the level crossing removal projects, the narrative is still around improving safety and convenience for cars.

But my bike IS my car.

I use my bike - this bike - to take the kids to and from school and daycare every day.

I ride this bike to and from work.

I ride this bike to and from the shops.

I ride this bike to and from parks and picnics and parties.

I ride this bike for exercise.

I ride this bike to clear my head.

And i ride this bike as a statement of my commitment to being the change that i want to see in the world.

I'm riding for my kids, for my girlfriend who's too scared to ride, for the climate, for fun, for exercise, for transport, to save money, 'cos I want to live without a car.
So many reasons to ride #criticalmassmelb goes #shrinetosea pic.twitter.com/Rtoaj3aLm3

— Port Phillip BUG (@PortPhillipBUG) June 30, 2023

But i ride scared.

I ride scared of being hit by a car on Melbourne's major thoroughfares that do not have separated bike lanes.

I ride scared of being doored on smaller, residential streets that i need to ride on to get to the major thoroughfares.

I ride scared of hitting a pedestrian on the shared bike and pedestrian paths.

I ride scared of getting pulled up for riding on a busy footpath because i have no safe alternatives.

But this isn't about me.

This is about us all Melbournians, whether we are here tonight or not.

Separated bike lanes protect everyone. 

Nobody wants to be the cyclist hit by a car.

But also nobody wants to be the driver who hits a bike.

Even if you yourself have no interest in riding, chances are you order food or groceries that are delivered on a bike or scooter. Don't you want them to get to your door safely?

Traditional bike lift down at Kerferd Rd Pier! Image credit: Freya Clough.

More separated bike lanes means fewer bikes and scooters weaving in and out of traffic, endangering us all.

And there are going to be more and more bikes and scooters on our roads.

There already are!

View fullsize

Janet Bolitho addresses Critical Mass at Kerferd Rd Pier.

The increase in bikes and scooters in our city is not just because of greenies like me wanting to reduce their carbon footprint.

It's because of everyone who can no longer afford to have a car.

It's because of the boom in businesses using bikes and scooters for deliveries.

It's because of the expansion of ebike and escooter rental schemes. 

It's because having wide-spread, accessible, and safe active transport options makes sense for a dense, modern, and flat city like Melbourne.

This shouldn't be a problem.

This should be an opportunity.

It should be an opportunity for our state government and local councils to put our money where their mouth is; 

to prioritise active transport;

to listen to us citizens, us voters, us taxpayers, us drivers, when we say we need an extensive fit-for-purpose network of separated bike lanes across all of Melbourne.

Paula giving her speech at Kerferd Rd Pier. Photo credit: Danielle RG.

And we need it now!

Thank you.

Community support for separated bike paths on Kerferd Rd

Press release here.

A diverse range of community and not-for-profit groups are calling on State Government to construct a safe bike lane on Kerferd Rd.   This would have many benefits for the whole community.

A separated bike lane would

• Encourage scooter users off the footpath, ensuring that footpaths remain usable for pedestrians, particularly older people and people with a disability 

• By making it possible for more people to ride, play an important role in improving cardiovascular health

• By making it possible for more people to ride, reduce transport emissions that contribute to climate change

• Enable kids and young people to make safer independent journeys to school and around town

A separated bike path along the length of Kerferd Rd-Albert Rd corridor was a key recommendation of the community panel for the Shrine to Sea project.  The panel made their recommendations after a year-long deliberative process.

A separated bike path on this corridor is supported by:

• The Heart Foundation

• Victoria Walks

• Port Phillip Emergency Climate Action Network (PECAN) 

• Bicycle Network 

• Port Phillip Bicycle Users Group

• Disability Resource Centre

• Better Streets Australia

• Port Phillip Ecocentre and Port Phillip Baykeeper

Supporters of a protected bike lane gather on Kerferd Rd.

QUOTES:

“Kerferd Rd is an extraordinarily wide corridor, with ample room for people walking, on bikes, driving and parking.  A separated bike lane would be a wonderful community asset that gives people more options for sustainable travel.  It would connect Anzac station and the new St Kilda Rd bike lanes, Albert Park, and the beach.”   

Port Phillip Bicycle Users Group president, Julie Clutterbuck.  

“The Heart Foundation supports the construction of protected bike lanes on Kerferd and Albert Roads. Active transport plays an important role in improving cardiovascular health. However, many are put-off cycling on busy roads with high levels of traffic where there is a greater risk of collision between cyclists and vehicles. Installing a separated cycle lane on Kerford and Albert Roads would help reduce potential collisions and provide cyclists with a safe and convenient way to travel by bike, making cycling a more attractive option for everybody.”

Peter Thomas, Heart Foundation National Manager,  Public and Local Affairs

“Victoria Walks supports the construction of protected bike lanes on Kerferd and Albert Roads. Research has demonstrated that people walking, especially older people and those living with disability, are often intimidated sharing paths with bikes. When we surveyed seniors on walking – generally, not specific to shared paths or cycling – and asked what measures might improve feelings of safety, the top rating suggestions were:
1. Better cyclist behaviour on shared paths
2. Reduce cycling speed on shared paths

The reasons for providing separated paths are further explained in Victoria Walks’ position statements on shared paths and footpath cycling and associated background research.

The increasing popularity of e-scooters, e-bikes and other emerging devices means that attractive, separated bike lanes will only become more essential to support those transport options and ensure that footpaths remain usable for pedestrians, particularly older people and people with disability.”

Dr Ben Rossitor, Executive Officer, Victoria Walks 

“The Port Phillip Emergency Climate Action Network (PECAN) supports the construction of protected bike lanes on Kerferd and Albert Roads. This very wide corridor has ample space to share for people walking, cycling and driving safely.  We know that well-designed and networked bike lanes will increase cycling, giving Melbournians more options for sustainable active transport.   

With the recent boom in e-scooters, attractive, separated bike lanes are also essential for ensuring that footpaths remain usable for pedestrians, particularly for older people and people with disabilities.”

Rhonda Small, for PECAN Co-ordinating Group    pecan.org.au@gmail.com

“Kerferd Road is a broad boulevard through the beach-side suburb that has plenty of road space for high quality bike infrastructure.   And just as critically, the route is also mapped as a Strategic Cycling Corridor (SCC) in the government’s plan for Melbourne’s arterial bike facility network.  It runs from the Albert Park Beach to the future new Metro underground station, which is just a few years from being operational.

Bike transport is no longer discretionary.  The Kerford and Albert Road corridor has been years in the planning and is part of multiple strategies which have been subject to much review and consultation.  It is incumbent on the government to proceed swiftly, efficiently and with singular purpose.”

Bicycle Network, www.bicyclenetwork.com.au

"The BetterStreets for Victoria and Australia coalition supports the construction of protected bike lanes on Kerford and Abbott Roads. These bike lanes would support our coalition members vision for safe, healthy, people-friendly, climate-friendly streets that are accessible to all of us, to give people more options to move around safely and enjoyably. When would be a good time to make streets safe for our children? If not NOW, when? The time to choose better is now. The benefits to the community go beyond just local children, teenager, and elderly independence - these corridors would elevate tourism, access to key destinations in Melbourne and Port Phillip generating significant economic activity to local businesses."

Dr. Megan Sharkey, Board, BetterStreets for Victoria and Australia

Port Phillip Ecocentre and Port Phillip Baykeeper

“Port Phillip EcoCentre wholeheartedly supports the construction of protected bike lanes on Kerferd and Albert Roads. Availability of well-designed and networked lanes for bikes and scooters will increase choice of these modes of transport, reducing our collective carbon footprint. 

Well defined lanes clearly separating transport modes will increase safety: reducing conflict between cyclists/scooters and cars on roads, and with pedestrians on footpaths; resulting in less stress for all concerned. Provision of sustainable active transport options to the beach, will also promote personal wellbeing through more time spent enjoying our beautiful Port Phillip Bay.”

Neil Blake, Port Phillip Baykeeper.

Background on the Kerferd Rd bike lane at the Port Phillip Bicycle Users Group blog.

Turning the corner on Chapel St

What a fantastic #criticalmass So many braved the elements to come out and advocate for safe active transport and had a blast. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/PUFAKfGEPR

— shane lee (@shavo27) March 31, 2023

Hopefully this is not just turning the corner literally—- from Chapel St into Alma Road, at the end of the March Critical Mass ride—- but we also turn the corner to a new direction for safe and fun riding on Chapel St!

Kerferd Rd bike lane (update April 2023)

TAKE action:

Write to your representatives! contact details are here.

The history

2018: The City of Port Phillip’s integrated transport strategy Move Live Connect designates Albert/Kerferd Roads as a priority bike route. CoPP prepares a Kerferd Rd safety trial, including a protected bike lane, supported by extensive traffic modelling.

However in the 2018/19 budget, the State Government committed $13m to the Shrine to Sea project, upgrading the Albert Rd/ Kerferd Rd boulevard including active transport links.

In the face of this, the Council decided not to proceed with their own trial.

The Shrine to Sea project has proceeded glacially, with extensive community consultation.

Over 2020-2021, a community panel met, considered evidence from subject matter experts, and together developed a vision for the boulevard. Among a suite of thoughtful recommendations: “Bike lanes to be interconnected for the entire length of the boulevard; Use landscaping to define a separate bike pathway on Kerferd Road to isolate bikes from cars.

Kerferd Rd bike lane, 2020

Pop-up lanes project

In 2022, VicRoads announced that as part of their pop-up bike lanes project, “40km of new and protected bike lanes” would be installed in the City of Port Phillip. Most of this was so-called “light touch” measures: renewing paint on existing on-road lanes, wayfaring signs, and speed humps.

The single substantive measure was a trial of a parking-protected bike lane on Kerferd Rd, between Richardson St and Canterbury Rd. This would include a bollard protected bike lane under the light rail near the Albert Rd/Canterbury Rd intersection. Protection from cars is essential on this stretch of road, as can be seen in the photo below.

In April 2022 VicRoads announced that following “community consultation” the trial would not go ahead.

Google streetview of lightrail underpass, showing a vehicle veering dangerously into the bike lane

Current situation:

The Shrine to Sea team is supposed to be releasing a draft plan in “early 2023”. They have been evaluating “5 different bike lane and road configurations”. As this is a Council road, council’s support is required for the project to go ahead. While some councillors have made their support for a protected bike lane clear, others are opposed to any changes. The support of Mayor Heather Cunsolo, who “talks the talk” on cycling, will be crucial.

Planning context

Kerferd Rd is an extraordinarily wide boulevard. At about 60m wide, it is similar to St Kilda Road, but has no tram lines or high density buildings. Few inner city streets offer such ample space for introducing simple safety improvements. There are two vehicle lanes in each direction, a very wide grassy median and a mix of angle parking and parallel parking against the curb. There are almost no driveways. After Canterbury Rd the boulevard is called Albert Rd, and runs alongside Albert Park, with service roads for much of the length. At the south-west end is the sea, at the north east end is the Shrine of Remembrance and the Domain. There are extensive sporting facilities in Albert Park, and nearby schools include Middle Park Primary, Albert Park Primary, South Melbourne Park Primary, and MacRob Girls High School.

Kerferd Rd is not a VicRoads declared road although Albert Road is. The Albert Rd/Kerferd Rd route is a State Strategic Cycling corridor, which are “the most important routes for cycling for transport”.

Strategic cycling corridors, December 2020

Albert Rd/Kerferd Rd is route 2 on the City of Port Phillip’s bicycle network, and has been identified as a high priority by Council for many years.

The need

Council’s original plan for Kerferd Rd identified the need for improvement here:

Kerferd Road has a very high number of crashes compared to other Council-managed roads in Port Phillip. Between 2016 and 2020, there were 24 recorded crashes along Kerferd Road. Of these, 11 involved cyclists; three received serious injuries. This site has the second highest number of crashes in the City of Port Phillip. This crash data has been provided by the Road Crash Information System (RCIS). This system is maintained and operated by the Department of Transport and Victoria Police.

Kerferd Road is a key link for bike riders and connects the Bay Trail bike path to the off-road paths in Albert Park Reserve, the new Anzac Station and to the proposed upgraded bike facilities on St Kilda Road and Moray Street.

Heat map from Strava shows existing heavy bike use of Kerferd Rd, similar to St Kilda Rd or Beaconsfield Parade

What the experts say

Separated bike lanes are essential for better mental and physical health: the Heart Foundation says that Victoria should be investing in separated bike lanes improve health, as well as support local businesses, save households money, and provide independence and freedom, especially for children, teenagers, the elderly and people with a disability. They estimate that $13 would be returned in value for every $1 spent.

Separated bike lanes make financial sense: Infrastructure Victoria says “if we provide alternatives that get more cars off the road, everyone benefits. For drivers, it means less time in traffic and travelling to the city becomes a better experience. For everyone else, the environmental and productivity benefits are huge.” An increase of 55% of people choosing to cycle is achievable and could save every inner Melbourne car driver around 18 minutes in traffic per week.

People with disabilities need bike lanes to get scooters off the footpath: Vision Australia advocacy manager Chris Edwards said vision-impaired Victorians were concerned about being hit by riders or tripping over parked hire scooters. “[In] our view there’s not the infrastructure that supports [scooters] – bike lanes, appropriate places where you can park the scooters so they’re not a hazard – still hasn’t caught up. Without [that]... they’ll be an ongoing issue.” Age article, Jan 2023.

Community views

Broad-based surveys of Port Phillip residents consistently reflect support for protected bike lanes (the pop-up painted bike lanes by the DoT in 2022, on the other hand, were controversial). For example, the most popular element of Council’s Integrated Transport Strategy was “Deliver a network of dedicated and continuous priority bike lanes to create safer routes for all ages and abilities”. Surveys completed in 2018 by the City of Melbourne found that 83% of respondents living in Melbourne and adjacent municipalities (including City of Port Phillip) would aim to ride if a protected bike lane was provided compared to 22% who say they would be confident to ride on conventional painted bike lanes (without buffers).

More community views (from Heart Foundation, Victoria Walks, PECAN, and others) in a joint statement here.

The concerns raised by the anti-bike lane lobby include: “Safety - a bike track between the walking path, nature strips and the road, puts the residents at risk of tripping over the concrete bollards. Many residents along this road are elderly and transition from car, pathway and then into their property and they would be at more risk if this plan goes ahead.  Duplication - There is already a bike path for our 'much loved' bike riders. Even bike riders will not benefit from these changes. Parking - Albert Park residents pay a fee to the City of Port Phillip council to park out the front of their own homes. Yet, this plan will reduce current parking for Kerferd Rd residents.  Traffic chaos- Kerferd Road currently does not have any traffic issues. One lane WILL cause traffic to bank up at the lights at Beaconsfield Parade. Expenses - it is believed that finance (in excess of $12-16m) has already been earmarked for this project with the Victorian State Government. “

These claims are either entirely without evidence, can be mitigated by good design, or are just the cost side of the ledger, without considering the benefit side. For example: while some car parks may be lost over a rather long stretch, car parking has been prioritised under most suggested plans, and almost all of it will be retained. For example: Kerferd Rd does have traffic issues, not only the safety issues mentioned above but also hooning. Traffic modelling specific to Kerferd Rd indicates that reducing the road to one lane will not induce “traffic chaos”. For example: the expense of cycle lanes is off-set by improved public health, reduced traffic congestion, improved air quality, and reduced greenhouse emissions.

Inkerman St safe cycling corridor background

TAKE ACTION!

Write to your Councillors and tell them you want a protected bike lane on Inkerman St.

Inkerman St is one of the routes identified in the City of Port Phillip’s Integrated Transport Strategy to be prioritised for protected safe cycling. It is also classified by the Victorian government as a strategic cycling corridor.

In May 2021 Port Phillip council officers prepared an update on the Inkerman Safe Travel Corridor. Inkerman St between Orrong Rd and Fitzroy St was identifed as the highest priority bike corridor for council delivery.

Factors influencing this include:

• As a connector between the (soon-to-be-completed) St Kilda Rd separated bike lanes and Caulfield station/ Monash Caulfield/the Djerring trail (under the skyrail on the Dandenong line), this is of high strategic value

• This street has a poor safety record, with 50 crashes recorded in the 5 years to 2019, 16 involving bike riders and 17 involving pedestrians.

• The existing narrow painted bike lanes do not mitigate the safety risks to bike riders.

• Usage of the corridor by people on bikes is high and increasing.

OPtions for the safe cycling corridor

This report presented three options for improvement. (A fourth option, a bi-directional path on one side of the road, was not pursued due to low safety benefits.) The italicised text and images following are from the report.

Option 1: Wide protected bike lanes with parking on one side of the street

Option 1 separates the bike lane from parked cars with metre wide islands at kerb height that provide a place for passengers to enter or exit a parked vehicle. This is the safest option for all users. Inkerman Street is wide enough so that, with the removal of the central median, the bike corridor can be included without reducing the number of cars that can drive on the road.

Option 1 will require 124 of 189 parking spaces to be removed.

Option 1 is the safest option for bike riders and Council officers recommend developing a concept for this option.

Option 1 is the preferred option for keeping the street open for everyone to use: people on bikes, scooters, and e-bikes, travelling at different speeds, can easily share the bike lane. By making the protected lanes attractive for all these users, it also keeps the traffic lane free for faster-moving (40km/hr) vehicles.

Option 2: Narrow kerbside bike lanes with parking on both sides of the street.

Option 2, like Option 1 is a kerbside bike corridor with a protective kerb. Option 2 retains more parking by reducing the width of traffic and bike lanes. This will limit areas where faster riders (including e-bikes and e-scooters) can overtake to breaks in the separator kerb including areas where there is no parking, at intersections, or they may ride in the traffic.

While Option 2 retains parking on both sides of the road, about 46 parking spaces will be removed adjacent to driveways to provide sightlines between drivers and bike riders. In addition, up to 20 spaces will be removed to support turning movements and avoid reducing intersection capacity.

Option 3: Painted buffers without a physical barrier.

The third option uses painted buffers rather than a physical barrier (low kerbs). While bike lanes with painted buffers on both sides are safer than the current painted bike lane, they do not provide a physical barrier between moving or parked cars and people riding bikes.

City of Melbourne surveys found that 22% of respondents would be confident to ride on typical bike lanes painted on roads, 46% of would aim to ride if double buffered bike lanes were provided while 86% of respondents would ride in protected bike lanes.

Buffered bike lanes require a maximum of 50 parking spaces to be removed to improve sightlines at driveways and intersections.

What about the glen eira section?

Inkerman St is in the City of Port Phillip up to Hotham St. Between Hotham and Orrong Rd it is shared between the City of Port Phillip (north) and the City of Glen Eira (south). East of Orrong it is in Glen Eira (and then named Inkerman Rd).

The City of Glen Eira’s transport strategy has a target of 50% of all trips to be taken by non-car transport by 2031. However this is purely aspirational, with few actions to support it. The main action for cycling was to “Plan and design a pilot cycle corridor improvement project with a protected cycleway to encourage an increase in cycling.” The location chosen for this corridor was Inkerman Rd, which shares the same strategic benefits as the connecting Inkerman St.

Anti-bike lane campaign Starting in 2019, there was a concerted anti-bike lane campaign by some residents of Inkerman Rd. Key concerns were safety and loss of parking (as well some other expressed concerns such as people from outside the area using “their” street). The campaign was very heated, with councillors requesting that they not be harassed by people opposing the bike lanes.

In November 2022 Glen Eira Council officers released a massive report (over 500 pages) on the Inkerman Safe Cycling Corridor Trial. They recommended a bi-directional bike lane on one side of the road. (This was probably due to it requiring fewer car park removals, despite this lay out being identified by Port Phillip as having lower safety benefits for bike riders).

On 22 November, the Council carried a motion that Council “Ceases all work on the project and no longer proceeds to community consultation”. The motion was carried 5/4 with the support of Crs Esakoff, Magee, Cade, Parasol and Zmood.

Current situation

While the eastern section in Glen Eira is a lost cause with the existing Glen Eira Council members, in Port Phillip between Hotham and Fitzroy St we can still choose to make a street that is open for everyone to use.

As of writing (March 2023) we are waiting for the Port Phillip Council to consider the concept designs prepared by Council officers. After that, it will go out to community consultation.

So called "independent expert report" on pop-up infrastructure trial is neither independent, nor expert.

 Summary: A so-called independent report claims to find that the pop-up trial of bike infrastructure is dangerous and should be removed. It is a privately commissioned piece of political advocacy that is neither transparent nor comprehensive, contains egregious errors throughout, and offers opinions not based on actual data or best practice knowledge. We stand by our call for the trial to run to completion, with a comprehensive data-driven review before deciding whether to keep or remove the changes.

Update: Since writing this article, some of our questions about the Traffix Report have been (partly) answered by PS Media article 25 November. So we suggest reading this first: https://news.psmedia.com.au/port-phillip/news/articles/2511-pop-up-bike-lane/

---

While the range of infrastructure implemented across 38 km of city streets is a bit of a mixed bag, our user experience survey and consultation identified no immediate safety issues [1]. We look forward to a full and proper review based on robust data at the end of the trial period.

RoPP-Traffix Report

The following is our review of the ‘Port Phillip ‘Pop-up’ Bike Lane Infrastructure Independent Transport Review’ by Traffix Group consultants, dated 27 October 2022 from the Ratepayers of Port Phillip (RoPP) Facebook page.

The Traffix report is partisan, not independent

The so-called "independent" Traffix report does not meet basic criteria for independent expert reports, such as the requirements listed in VCAT Practice Note for Expert Evidence.

The commissioning of the report lacks transparency and accountability. The report does not clearly state its funding sources, aims, methods, limitations, and assumptions. The Traffix report reviews only a small number of isolated sites within the 38 km pop-up trial and so can hardly be considered a comprehensive assessment. Yet, this does not stop the conclusion making sweeping recommendations about "the vast majority of the pop-up bike lane infrastructure.”

The consultant and client have worked together to form a closed feedback loop. An example of this can be seen in the Traffix report citing "community reporting" of "confused motorists" as a significant safety issue, which is then promoted by the RoPP spokesperson on their website and to the Nine media to claim an "independent" report has raised significant issues for motorists.

We conclude that Traffix are acting as an advocate for the political lobby group RoPP and that it is misleading to refer to their report as “independent”.

Misinformation Campaigns

If the RoPP political group had commissioned the report to address genuine safety concerns, they would have submitted it to the local and state governments for immediate action, instead of promoting it to the media.

 Like other conspiracies cooked up on facebook groups, it is alarming that real community safety issues are being deliberately misrepresented for political gain. For example, the "independent" Traffix report has been used by RoPP to try and wedge candidates for the state government election, refer to RoPP reporting on Albert Park candidates forum.

Safe cycling infrastructure

Central to all of the Traffix report's key findings and recommendations, is the fallacious opinion that "conventional" bike lane infrastructure (paint) is safer than physical separation. This opinion is directly contradicted by evidence from extensive research in Australia and internationally, such as:

·     The Conversation: 3 in 4 people want to ride a bike but are put off by lack of safe lanes

·     Separated bike lanes means safer for all users of the road: 13 year study across a dozen cities 

At Park Street, for example, Traffix consultants tie themselves in knots on this issue: acknowledging the new separated lanes are a clear safety improvement, yet also recommending extensive modifications to convert them to “conventional” painted lanes.

The Traffix report recommends this as best practice….

Traffix also makes an overly big deal about conflicts with left-turning lanes at the newly separated intersections on Marine Parade and Park Street, even though these conflict points now occur at much lower speeds. Traffix asserts that minor concerns like this make the entire separated trial unsafe for motorists and cyclists: this is not just over-egging the issue, it is directly contradicted by the extensive research cited above.

 We strongly support the retention of the Park Street pop-up separated bike lanes. We love the new St Kilda Road separated bicycle lanes and we look forward to the Kerferd Road separated lanes being implemented as part of the Shrine to the Sea project.

Traffic Congestion

The Traffix report does not find that the pop-up trial exacerbates traffic congestion, despite this being claimed by a RoPP spokesperson on their website. To be clear, the report does not make any findings or recommendations on the issue of traffic congestion and for RoPP to claim otherwise is blatant misinformation.

Motorist Safety

The report’s conclusion claims that the overall trial offers "an increased risk to road users" including “motorists”, yet evidence in the report in support of this for this bold claim is scant.

 The report's review of separated bicycle infrastructure greatly exaggerates the increased risk of conflict between bicycles and cars, as noted above for Marine Parade and Park Street.

 The report erroneously does not identify the asymmetric nature of conflicts between bicycles and cars, with the person riding the bike obviously much more at risk than the driver and occupants of the vehicle. Deliberately conflating the two risks as being equivalent is a misrepresentation of road safety issues.

The "community reports" of "confused" motorists driving on new separated bicycle lanes in Marine Parade is most likely a teething issue associated with the introduction of new infrastructure. There is no data supporting Traffix’s claim that the bicycle lanes pose any continuing safety risk to motorists. There is also evidence that the risk to cyclists is far greater for painted bicycle lanes than for separated lanes.

 The report only identifies one isolated instance of increased risk to motorists, which relates to the circumstances at Deakin Street in St Kilda West. In this case, the report identifies some simple ways to mitigate the increased risk, namely adding a painted centreline and road narrowing warnings. However, the report fails to mention these safety solutions, or any others, in its findings and recommendations. This is an extraordinary omission for a "safety" report! Given Deakin Street's wide pavements, low traffic speed and low traffic volumes, there are many simple safety solutions that could work well for all road users in this space.

 Who is cycling infrastructure for?

Traffix's strong preference for painted bike lanes reflects outdated engineering assumptions that all cyclists are fit, adult males in lycra. As per the research cited in The Conversation, 3 in 4 people want safe cycling routes, which particularly for women, means separated cycling infrastructure.

There is community demand for safe cycling routes that better suit a wider demographic: parents doing the childcare drop-off on the way to work, kids cycling to school, families going to the beach, and seniors who like getting around by bike 'cos it's easier on the old knees' than walking. 

 Marine Parade

Marine Parade is a central part of one of Melbourne's most popular and iconic on-road cycling routes. The road has well-known safety issues, including at the intersections targeted by the pop-up trial. We therefore disagree with Traffix's recommendation that targeting safety improvements at these notorious intersections is not worthwhile. As with the rest of the trial, we look forward to a complete review being made at the end of the 12-18 months period when more data is available. 

 Apart from intersections, we note the other significant safety issue for cycling on Marine Parade is the lane interruptions by on-street parking, such as at Donovan's restaurant and at Catani Gardens.  We would welcome RoPP making a positive intervention to address these issues, rather than the crocodile tears on display here.

Get off the Road!

For the section of Marine Parade between Fitzroy Street and Glen Huntly Road, Traffix claims that the ‘pop-up’ bicycle lanes on Marine Parade “are in locations where there is already an existing two- way off-road bicycle path that runs parallel to Marine Parade adjacent to the western side of the road. This path is fully separated from traffic.”  (As an aside: professional traffic engineers ought to know the difference between a shared user path and a bicycle path).

Apart from the middle third, this statement is incorrect for the majority of this 2.2km section, because:

a.      in the southern section, from Dickens St to Glenhuntly Rd, the off-road path detours through the marina car park – where it is a shared path with pedestrians – and then makes a long detour around Moran Reserve and Point Ormond. There is no direct connection to Glenhuntly Road from the Bay Trail.

b.     in the 850m long northern section, from Shakespeare Grove to Fitzroy St, there is no two-way off-road bicycle path at all. The popular St Kilda foreshore promenade is a shared cyclist-pedestrian space. This section is a high accident zone between pedestrians, cyclists and scooters. At its busier times, the crowded promenade is not a safe place for riding bicycles or scooters.

This is what Traffix and RoPP call an “off-road bicycle path”

 Traffix’s recommendations that no safety improvements for cycling infrastructure is required for Marine Parade appears to be based on their false belief in a safe and equivalent off-road route. This incorrect assumption is repeated by RoPP on their website: “The report also notes an existing bike path completely separated from Marine Parade traffic has already been in place for many years, raising questions about why new infrastructure is needed.”

 In summary, both RoPP and Traffix recognise that the popular Marine Parade cycling routes are unsafe. However, they do not recommend any safety improvements because cyclists should just get off the road!

Visual Amenity

Making "visual amenity" a key recommendation in a "transport safety review” is highly unusual but reflects the RoPP tactic of conflating “amenity” with “safety” issues. Why else would "independent" transport engineers be so troubled by orange paint, which is the standard colour for temporary road works? “Visually uncluttered” places like St Kilda Junction are paradise to traffic engineers but deadly to cyclists!

 While we agree that permanent garden beds are preferable to temporary concrete blocks, and white paint is preferable to temporary orange paint, we are quite happy to wait until an independent safety review at the end of the 12-to-18-month trial for any final decisions to be made.

 Pedestrian Safety 

We welcome the Traffix report's findings that the pop-up trial improves pedestrian safety at many intersections. However, we completely disagree with the recommendations that pedestrian safety improvements are "irrelevant" and should be removed. We recognise that pedestrians are the most vulnerable users of public spaces and must be considered as a priority in all decisions around road safety. 

 Incremental safety improvements

Despite finding that some trial interventions have overall safety benefits, Traffix still recommend their removal because "not every intersection has that treatment". This is illogical.

 Speed Humps

We support the introduction of speed humps to reduce vehicle speeds in residential streets, as they can improve safety and amenity for the entire community. We note some fine-tuning of placement and design may be necessary in a few places, particularly to avoid vehicles swerving around the speed humps.

 Sharrows

Painted sharrows offer little safety benefits to cyclists, but we are happy for the permanent status of this paintwork to be reviewed at the end of the trial.

 Wasteful Governance

The RoPP group claim to support fiscal responsibility, yet in practice are promoting the wasteful removal of temporary infrastructure based on flawed reasoning and incomplete data.

 Inherent Limitations of the Pop-Up Trial

Given the narrow parameters of the pop-up trial roll-out – doing what is quick and easy, rather than what is necessary – we note that wider safety issues have not been addressed in the trial. For example, in some targeted locations, removing or relocating on-street parking spaces would greatly improve safety much more than the pop-up installations.

[1] We note that members of BUG have since documented concerning incidents on Westbury St that should be investigated as soon as possible. The information has been passed on to the DoT Pop-up Trial team for action.

State election 2022: voting for cycling in Brighton

Both the Port Phillip BUG and the Bicycle Network have invited candidates to complete surveys about their plans for improving cycling conditions. We report on their answers, and general material, here. Responsibility for any comment is taken by Julie Clutterbuck, c/o Ecocentre 55A Blessington St, St Kilda.

Felicity Frederico - Independent candidate

Do you support separated cycling lanes on St Kilda Rd? YES.

Do you support upgrading the strategic cycling corridors to separated bike lanes? YES.

Other policies: I championed the Beach Road clearway while I was the Mayor and Councillor on Bayside Council, and also championed the missing link on the coastal shared bike path in Bayside. I also campaigned against bicycle registration - when there was a keen push from Bayside City Council councillors. I also ensured that all new larger scale developments (public and private) had adequate bike parking as part of their planning conditions. I am a keen cyclist and understand the importance of sharing the road amongst all user groups. I will continue to advocate for the safety of cyclists and their fair share of the road, and for more dedicated and shared bike paths and the upgrading of these paths so they are compliant with Australian standards.

Policy link: felicity4brighton.com.au

SARAH DEKIERE— THE GREENS

Do you support separated cycling lanes on St Kilda Rd? YES.

Do you support upgrading the strategic cycling corridors to separated bike lanes? YES.

Other policies: Apart from our Bay Trail the seat of Brighton has woefully inadequate bike lanes. We need to connect nearby suburbs to the Bay Trail so that when people want to bike ride to the beach they can. We need to establish separated bike lanes along the Nepean Highway and our major suburban streets to make commuting easier.

Policy link: https://greens.org.au/vic/platform/transport#safer-bike-lanes

Louise Crawford— Labor

Do you support separated cycling lanes on St Kilda Rd? YES.

Do you support upgrading the strategic cycling corridors to separated bike lanes? Yes but will need to work with the community as part of the process as we know it is difficult

State election 2022: voting for cycling in the Southern Metropolitan Region

Both the Port Phillip BUG and the Bicycle Network have invited candidates to complete surveys about their plans for improving cycling conditions. We report on their answers, and general material, here. Responsibility for any comment is taken by Julie Clutterbuck, c/o Ecocentre 55A Blessington St, St Kilda.

Katherine Copsey— THE GREENS

Do you support separated cycling lanes on St Kilda Rd? YES.

Do you support upgrading the strategic cycling corridors to separated bike lanes? YES.

Other policies: I'm an everyday cyclist myself and know the benefits that flow from getting on our bikes, from healthier communities to less traffic congestion and lower transport emissions. I've loved supporting Ride2Work and Ride2School days as a councillor plus other local programs that help more people try riding or gain confidence and skills - such as riding skills and maintenance workshops. We know though that the key to getting more people riding is providing well-designed separated infrastructure so the roads are safer for all users. I will continue to stand up for the big boost to cycling infrastructure we need to see. We have one of the most beautiful places to ride in Melbourne, I want to see if become the safest and most enjoyable place to get on your bike, too.

Policy link: https://greens.org.au/vic/platform/transport#safer-bike-lanes

State election 2022: voting for cycling in Prahran

Both the Port Phillip BUG and the Bicycle Network have invited candidates to complete surveys about their plans for improving cycling conditions. We report on their answers, and general material, here. Responsibility for any comment is taken by Julie Clutterbuck, c/o Ecocentre 55A Blessington St, St Kilda.

Sam Hibbins MP - Greens

Do you support separated cycling lanes on St Kilda Rd? YES.

Do you support upgrading the strategic cycling corridors to separated bike lanes? YES.

Other policies: The Victorian Greens have committed $2.5 billion dollars over the next four years to implement a ‘Big Bike Build’ with hundreds of kilometres of safe and separated bike superhighways across the state.

With transport as Victoria’s biggest growing source of emissions, governments must do more to support people to make the switch to climate-friendly transport like bike riding and walking. The Greens’ plan would move Victoria towards the goal of active transport funding being 10 - 20 per cent of transport capital funding as recommended by the United Nations.

I’ve successfully pushed for the construction of separated bike lanes on St Kilda Rd and for the installation of a pedestrian crossing at Yarra Street to serve the busy South Yarra station.

My priorities now are to extend the St Kilda Rd bike lanes to Elsternwick and create a bike superhighway through to the northern suburbs , install separated bike lanes on Chapel Street North which connects directly to the Yarra trail, and a number of other local separated bike lane projects to help make riding a bike safe for everyone

Policy link: https://greens.org.au/vic/platform/transport#safer-bike-lanes

State election 2022: voting for cycling in Albert Park

Both the Port Phillip BUG and the Bicycle Network have invited candidates to complete surveys about their plans for improving cycling conditions. We report on their answers, and general material, here. Responsibility for any comment is taken by Julie Clutterbuck, c/o Ecocentre 55A Blessington St, St Kilda.

Cassandra Westwood - Animal Justice Party

Do you support separated cycling lanes on St Kilda Rd? YES.

Do you support upgrading the strategic cycling corridors to separated bike lanes? YES.

Other policies: Provide financial incentives to both producers and consumers to switch to more eco-friendly land transport solutions, including cycling. Reduce inner-city traffic by reallocating road and car park space for cyclists.

Policy link: https://www.animaljusticeparty.org/land_transport.

Kim Samiotis— The Greens.

Do you support separated cycling lanes on St Kilda Rd? YES.

Do you support upgrading the strategic cycling corridors to separated bike lanes? YES.

Other policies: I'm proud to say that The Greens have committed $2.5 billion dollars over the next four years to our Big Bike Build with hundreds of kilometres of safe, separated bike superhighways that will cut emissions, improve safety and make it easier for people to get around. We know that the best way to encourage active transport is to invest in separated and safe bike lanes protecting riders, drivers and pedestrians and encouraging more cyclists to get around our beautiful precincts for leisure, errands, commuting and fitness. I look forward to working with my Greens colleagues and other members of parliament to implement our Big Bike Build plans to the benefit of Albert Park cyclists.

Policy link: https://greens.org.au/vic/platform/transport#safer-bike-lanes

Pop-up infra trial at the July 20th City of Port Phillip Council meeting

The VicRoads pop-up bike infrastructure trial has been controversial. For the 20th July Council meeting there were two motions on notice regarding the trial: Motion 14.1, asking for ripping up all the previously installed infra. Motion 14.4, asking for a review of the more controversial sections, removal of some bollards unless necessary, and reinstatement of the turning lane on Williamstown Rd.

Ahead of the meeting, the BUG convened a community ride to evaluate the different treatments, on Sunday 17th July. Councillors Peter Martin, Heather Cunsolo and MLC Nina Taylor spoke to us at the start of the ride. (We were also filmed and interviewed by Channel 7). We rode from Port Melbourne, through to St Kilda and Elwood then back around to Balaclave. Heather Cunsolo joined us for the ride. We collected evaluations in a survey form. Our report is here, it has some very mixed evaluations—- which makes sense, because the treatments are very varied, from re-painted lines and speed humps to experimental centre of the road bike lanes. (We raised questions about these treatments with VicRoads ahead of the trial, asking whether these had been previously successfully trialled elsewhere.)

The Council meeting was quite full, with many unhappy residents from Westbury St. The BUG submission to the meeting made the points

• This is a climate crisis, and making it safe for people who already want to cycle is low-hanging fruit to decarbonise our transport

• The best way to do this is protected bike lanes, which this trial does not include (since they removed Kerferd Rd)

• The community evaluation of the changes was very mixed, with some good and some not

• The trial should continue so we can continue to evaluate these treatments, and keep/modify/remove them in response. Removing all the changes wholesale now would be a waste of money. Hence we advised rejecting motion 14.1. We didn’t think the review proposed in motion 14.4 would add much to the existing process so we also advised rejecting that.

• Council’s own bike policy plans building 11 bike routes in the decade 2018-2028, they’ve only completed ONE so far and have another two in planning/construction.

The concerns raised by supporters of motion 14.1 included property prices, safety (including from some cyclists), aesthetics, the lack of consultation, and that it was unnecessary. There was also a bit of heckling from this group, which was disappointing to see.

We found out that after the trial, the yellow paint will be removed, since it is supposed to designate temporary markings only--- if the changes are made permanent then it would be replaced by white.

In the end, both motions were withdrawn, replaced by a compromise motion to work with DoT to review the installed changes, which passed. Westbury St, Bridge St and Williamstown Rd were singled out here, so I expect that these will be changed or removed fairly quickly.

Overall a reasonable outcome for cyclists--- hopefully we'll keep those parts of the program that do provide modest safety improvements.   We can also suggest more attractive alternatives such as planters and rain gardens instead of bollards.    

Send any feedback on specific parts of the trial to   PopUpBikeLanes@roads.vic.gov.au, or via the map at https://transport.mysocialpinpoint.com/pop-up-bike-lanes#/

The main game for improvement to safety and increased mode share for cycling remains protected bike lanes, which were not part of this program.    Council should get a move on with building these!

Residents ask for bike infrastructure trial to roll on

Local residents have asked that the VicRoads trial of bike lane infrastructure in Port Phillip contin- ues, with a full evaluation at the end.

“The VicRoads trial has the potential to deliver modest safety improvements, so we should let the trial go ahead and evaluate it at the end. However, the program does not deliver what people on bikes really need: protected bike lanes,” Julie Clutterbuck, President Port Phillip Bicycle Users Group (PPBUG).

In recent months VicRoads have been trialing interventions on streets from Port Melbourne to Elwood. These include yellow painted bike lanes, speed cushions, and plastic and concrete bollards.

Only one section of the trial included a separated bike lane, on Kerferd Rd in Albert Park. However this section was cancelled following agitation by some City of Port Phillip councillors. In response, the PPBUG has collected over 750 signatures in a petition asking for the Kerferd Rd trial to be reinstated.

Councillor Andrew Bond now plans to introduce a motion to Council on Wednesday, requesting the remainder of the trial be removed, citing concerns about visual amenity and safety.

On Sunday 17th July, the PPBUG led a community bike ride through the municipality to review the changes. We met with Councillors Heather Cunsolo, Peter Martin, and MLC Nina Taylor. We found that some of the interventions were positive for safety, some had little impact, and some were confusing. However the overall response from the community was to let the trial go ahead.

If specific elements are found to improve safety, they can be upgraded to more attractive permanent versions, such as planters.

We also call on the Port Phillip Council to stop dragging its heels on its own program of protected bike lanes. Council planned to build 11 routes in the decade 2018 to 2028, and has only completed one so far, with another two in planning stages.

“If the Council were serious about keeping people on bikes safe, they’d be getting on with building their own bike infrastructure, not obstructing VicRoads’ trial.”

Link: USER EXPERIENCE SURVEY results, evaluations made by the community 14th-17th July

We need a protected bike lane trial on Kerferd Rd

Sign our petition to reinstate the bike lane trial on Kerferd Rd

The history

2018: The City of Port Phillip’s integrated transport strategy Move Live Connect designates Albert/Kerferd Roads as a priority bike route. CoPP prepares a Kerferd Rd safety trial, including a protected bike lane, supported by extensive traffic modelling.

However in the 2018/19 budget, the State Government committed $13m to the Shrine to Sea project, upgrading the Albert Rd/ Kerferd Rd boulevard including active transport links.

In the face of this, the Council decided not to proceed with their own trial.

The Shrine to Sea project has proceeded glacially, with extensive community consultation, and a draft design expected to go out for consultation in 2022.

Kerferd Rd bike lane current condition

Pop-up lanes project

In 2022, VicRoads announced that as part of their pop-up bike lanes project, “40km of new and protected bike lanes” would be installed in the City of Port Phillip. Most of this was so-called “light touch” measures: renewing paint on existing on-road lanes, wayfaring signs, and speed humps.

The single substantive measure was a trial of a parking-protected bike lane on Kerferd Rd, between Richardson St and Canterbury Rd. This would include a bollard protected bike lane under the light rail near the Albert Rd/Canterbury Rd intersection. Protection from cars is essential on this stretch of road, as can be seen in the photo below.

In April 2022 VicRoads announced that following “community consultation” the trial would not go ahead.

Google streetview of lightrail underpass, showing a vehicle veering dangerously into the bike lane

Planning context

Kerferd Rd is an extraordinarily wide boulevard. Few inner city streets offer such ample space for introducing simple safety improvements. There are two vehicle lanes in each direction, a very wide grassy median and a mix of angle parking and parallel parking against the curb. There are almost no driveways. After Canterbury Rd it becomes Albert Rd, and runs alongside Albert Park, with service roads for much of the length. At the south-west end is the sea, at the north east end is the Shrine of Remembrance and the Domain. There are extensive sporting facilities in Albert Park, and nearby schools include Middle Park Primary, Albert Park Primary, South Melbourne Park Primary, and MacRob Girls High School.

Kerferd Rd is not a VicRoads declared road although Albert Road is. The Albert Rd/Kerferd Rd route is a State Strategic Cycling corridor, which are “the most important routes for cycling for transport”.

Strategic cycling corridors, December 2020

Albert Rd/Kerferd Rd is route 2 on the City of Port Phillip’s bicycle network, and has been identified as a high priority by Council for many years.

The need

Council’s original plan for Kerferd Rd identified the need for improvement here:

Kerferd Road has a very high number of crashes compared to other Council-managed roads in Port Phillip. In the five-year period ending in June 2017, there were 25 recorded crashes on Kerferd Road that resulted in injury to bike riders, drivers and pedestrians.

• 15 crashes resulted in injury to bike riders

• 1 crash resulted in injury to a pedestrian

• 10 crashes caused serious injuries

Kerferd Road is a key link for bike riders and connects the Bay Trail bike path to the off-road paths in Albert Park Reserve, the new Anzac Station and to the proposed upgraded bike facilities on St Kilda Road and Moray Street.

Heat map from Strava shows existing heavy bike use of Kerferd Rd, similar to St Kilda Rd or Beaconsfield Parade

What the experts say

Separated bike lanes are essential for better mental and physical health: the Heart Foundation says that Victoria should be investing in separated bike lanes improve health, as well as support local businesses, save households money, and provide independence and freedom, especially for children, teenagers, the elderly and people with a disability. They estimate that $13 would be returned in value for every $1 spent.

Separated bike lanes make financial sense: Infrastructure Victoria says “if we provide alternatives that get more cars off the road, everyone benefits. For drivers, it means less time in traffic and travelling to the city becomes a better experience. For everyone else, the environmental and productivity benefits are huge.”

Community concerns

Many community concerns were raised about the trial, include a scaremongering petition that was circulated claiming that the trial would “mean a loss of parking spots, a bike lane (where one already exists) and using ugly concrete bollards between the nature strip and the parked cars”.

Screenshot from the anti-bike lane trial petition

Rather than respond to these concerns with either modifying the design or by correcting misinformation, or even by pointing out that a trial would give everyone the chance to identify issues and correct them, VicRoads abandoned the project.

Sign ouR Petition to Local Member of Parliament, Minister Martin Foley, and Roads Minister, Ben Carroll.

In our petition, we ask for the re-instatement of the trial. This will allow any issues to be addressed ahead of the planned installation of permanent, separated bike lanes in the Shrine to Sea project.

Letter to Roads minister and local member regarding abandonment of the Kerferd Rd pop-up bike lane trial

To send your own letter: email addresses are ben.carroll@parliament.vic.gov.au, martin.foley@parliament.vic.gov.au, please cc to portphillipbug@gmail.com.

Dear Mr Carroll, dear Mr Foley,

The Port Phillips Bicycle User Group wishes to express its frustration and disappointment with the announced abandonment of the Kerferd Rd pop-up bike lane trial. the abandonment of the Kerferd Rd pop-up bike lane trial.

This trial would have been

• On a road with planned protected bike lanes, as part of a longer term project (Shrine to Sea)

• On a very wide road, that extensive traffic modelling (by Port Phillip Council) had already established was suitable for space reallocated to active transport

• The only component of the over-hyped "40km of new and improved bike lanes" that would deliver real safety improvements to people on bikes--- in fact we are getting 38km of paint and wayfaring signs

• Providing safety to vulnerable road users at the dangerous pinch point under the light rail line.

Members of this Bicycle Users Group have engaged in consultations in good faith. We've met with the VicRoads team, and spent days working with the community consultation for the Shrine to Sea project.

The consultation for the Kerferd Rd project had many deficiencies. As we (the BUG) said to [VicRoads representative] when we met, the main way that residents were given to engage was via "drop a point on an online map". When an elderly BUG member pointed out that this isn't user friendly, we were told that they should "contact VicRoads directly"--- without contact details being given!

On the other hand, a misleading and scare-mongering anti-bike lane petition seems to have been over-valued.

We express strong concern that the ‘anti-bike’ lane petition is both misleading ((e.g. lots of concrete bollards) and scare-mongering. While we agree with some of the expressed local residents’ concerns - for instance how the pop-up lane would interact with the location of bins - the lack of consideration for design modification options or clarification of issues is dismaying. The outcome gives greater weight to these solvable issues rather than the safety of cyclists.

The Victorian government has delivered almost nothing for the safety of people riding bikes in Port Phillip. The St Kilda separated bike lane is stalled in the planning phase. The Shrine to Sea project is a very protracted consultation and now a chance is missed to demonstrate one of the key benefits of the project, which we believe raises doubts about the commitment to the whole project.

We would like to work with the project team to get the Kerferd Rd trial back on track while addressing reasonable resident concerns, such as flexible bollards being used rather than concrete bollards. Safer cycling for all should be the priority in a future with net zero carbon emissions.

Latest Park St bike plan misses the mark

PARK ST SOUTH MELBOURNE.    At the Port Phillip Council meeting on 20th October, the Council resolved send a revised bike lane design for Park St out to consultation.    The revision is a significant downgrading of the plan presented to Council in March.  The March plan had protected, on-road lanes between St Kilda Rd and Moray St (and was a substantial improvement on the first plan).  In order to preserve parking, the new plan moves the bike lane on to the footpath between St Kilda Rd and Kings Way.    This makes it a worse experience for both pedestrians and cyclists, with no separation beyond paint, and a loss of directness as the bike lane winds up onto the footpath from the road.   It's also rated by the engineers as significantly less safe.    It's disappointing that Council has decided that walking and cycling needs to make way for parking, despite stating that their priorities are the opposite.  

Nevertheless, the project does implement the council's bike lane strategy and is an improvement on what is now there.   

Our submission to the consultation:

The current plans for the bike lanes are significantly worse than the plans proposed in March. In the earlier plan, the cycle lanes between St Kilda Road and Kingsway were protected and on-road. In this plan, they are moved onto the footpath.

This change...

* Provides a less attractive experience for cyclists, with a less direct path winding up and down from the footpath.

* Has worse sightlines, with lack of clear priority at side-streets

* Is more dangerous for pedestrians, as quantified in the supporting documents provided

* Is more dangerous for cyclists, as quantified in the supporting documents provided

* Takes space away from pedestrians, in direct contravention of the Move Live Connect strategy which is supposed to prioritise them.

This change has been implemented in order to provide a handful of car parks, again in contravention to the Move Live Connect strategy which is supposed to prioritise active transport.

Between Kings Way and Moray St, the temporary bike lanes are a very good solution and we hope they become permanent.

While the changes are an improvement to current conditions and hence we support them, they also represent a significant missed opportunity for an excellent bike connection to the new station and will be a weak point in our future network.

Please make a submission to the consultation by 12 December: https://haveyoursay.portphillip.vic.gov.au/park-street-streetscape-improvement-project

Mitch's commute

I live in Fitzroy and work in Albert Park; so my daily commute is across the CBD, along South Bank and down to Albert Park.

There is a noticeable difference between the North Side of the Yarra and the South Side regarding cycling infrastructure. City of Yarra have done a great job making cycling safer and getting more cars off the road. I also find car users have an increased sense of awareness for cyclists, which translates to riding feeling safer.

I ride my bike because it’s fun. I love the fresh air, human powered movement and reducing my carbon footprint. It also saves me 20 minutes of travel each way, or 240 minutes a week. With that considered, I’d be mad not to ride.

This bike is my commuter (I have a few bikes). It’s amazing because I can fit lot’s of gear in the front crate or the rear rack. My two kelpies; Sox and Cima (chi-ma) come everywhere with me and they can both comfortably sit in the front while we get around. They love it too.

This bike is an Riese and Muller Load 60. It’s an E-Bike, so for those who find the idea of having to pedal everywhere a little disheartening, an E-Bike is for you. It’s like spinning with very low watts on flat ground.

I lease this through my business from a local company called E-stralian. They lease and sell E-Bikes and have lots of different options you can try. They are very well put together, this bike is pretty much bomb proof. E-stralian take care of all the maintenance as part of the lease, all I have to do is ride.

If you are frustrated by traffic on your commute and you don’t have time for aerobic exercise in your life, ride a bike!

Councillor's ride of the Gateway Ward

On the 11th May, the BUG took new Port Phillip Councillors Heather Cunsolo and Peter Martin for a ride of Gateway Ward. Or maybe they took us—- they are both at home on their bikes!

BUG members Julie and Pierre with councillors Heather Cunsolo and Peter Martin

Our first stop was the notorious bus stop near the Sandridge Lifesaving Club. This is smack in the middle of the shared path, and the large advertising posters block views of the oncoming bikes and pedestrians, as well as people waiting at the bus stop. We’ve been raising this issue since 2019. In 2020 Councillor Pearl raised it in Council, to which the General Manager replied “"if there is a bus stop that’s causing any safety issues we will report that to the Department of Transport"—- it’s not clear if that’s happened. Our Councillors indulged us by illustrating the safety issues involved.

Next stop, the planned Garden City route. This is one of the protected bike routes from the Integrated Transport Strategy, joining Beacon Rd with Garden City Reserve and then on to the Sandridge Trail via Swallow St. The planned route will include a bidirectional trail on the west side of Beacon Rd and improved crossings on Swallow St. It’s not clear how it will deal with the roundabout between Beacon Rd and the Boulevard.

At the roundabout

Next stop, the Sandridge Trail. There is still no safe crossing on Bridge St (pictured below), but the new signalised crossing on Ingles St is a big improvement.

No safe crossing of Bridge St

There was some good news though—- at the tram depot, the Sandridge Trail was closed for works. Apparently the flooding issue (raised repeatedly by BUG members, and also identified in the BikeSpot project) is being addressed, and the notorious yellow railing chicanes are being replaced. The proposed designs look like they’ll be a much better fit for people with trailers, long bikes, or wide bikes.

Finally over to Moray St, and Park St, where Council and State Government plan to build protected bike lanes. Between St Kilda Rd and Kingsway, a planned major renovation of the road will include protected lanes. Between Kingsway and the roundabout, Council will put in temporary protected bike lanes. It’s not clear what the final layout will be.

Thanks to Heather and Peter for coming out on a damp and windy morning, we wish you well for your term on Council.

Council elections October 2020

We’ve looked at the bike-related policies and actions of the candidates, both incumbent and new. The summary is here, and our reasons are below. Candidates in bold are incumbent, and have been rated on their track records in council. New candidates are rated on their intentions.

	Highly recommended	Recommended	Not recommended
CANAL	Tim Baxter	Dick Gross	Steven Armstrong
		Louise Crawford	Warwick Cahir
		Lesley Pianella	Rhonda Clarke
		Denis Bilic
		Maddy Blay
LAKE	Katherine Copsey	Robbie Nyaguy	Andrew Bond
		Geoffrey Conaghan	Adrian Jackson
		Roger Ward	Bernard Mandile
			Christina Sirakoff
GATEWAY		Earl James	Marcus Pearl
		Heather Cunsolo	Sami Maher
		Peter Martin
		Stan Gyles

The current council has made significant progress on planning for building separated bike infrastructure.   Actually building the infrastructure has been slow, and mostly dependent on outside agencies:  for example, the excellent protected Moray St bike lane was built as part of the Melbourne Metro project.

Many candidates responded to the Bicycle Network with their plans for cycling: see responses here.

We have considered all incumbents that are standing for re-election on their votes in support of cycling on three main issues.  The most important of these is the ITS, so it is worth 2 points, and the others 1 each.

Integrated Transport Strategy.   In 2018 Council endorsed a transport strategy that included building a network of protected bike routes.   FOR: Crs Voss, Baxter, Brand, Copsey, Crawford, Gross and Simic AGAINST: Crs Bond and Pearl.

Park St bike lane:  In September 2019, the council considered the Domain masterplan, which (contrary to the intention of the integrated transport strategy) had only partially separated bike lanes shown.   A motion was proposed to modify the plan to have a fully protected bike lane, particularly between Kings Way and Moray St.   In favour:   Copsey, Baxter, Simic.  Against: Bond, Voss, Brand, Crawford and Gross.  The motion later unanimously carried was to "consider the feasibility of a protected bike lane", and to undertake community consultation on it.

Recent budget:  The pandemic has brought pressure to bear on Council's budget, and one very short-sighted proposal was to cut the bike infrastructure program.   A counter-proposal was to work with State government to build temporary bike lanes for safe travels post-covid, and install low-cost "shimmy" routes along quiet streets.   In favour:  Crs Voss, Baxter, Brand, Copsey, Crawford, Gross and Simic.  Against: Crs Bond and Cr Pearl. 

Other actions:  while votes in Council are important, we also note that Councillors have been fantastic at participating in our regular rides to look at infrastructure problems and opportunities.  All re-contesting candidates save for Cr Pearl have come along at least once, and Cr Gross has been on every. single. ride.  

For the new candidates, we have used the survey by Progressive Port Phillip, which asked the question  "Do you support expanding and connecting the municipality’s bike lane and bike path networks, even if these projects are solely funded by council?" We have not listed candidates who did not return the survey, with the exception of the “Ratepayers of Port Phillip” group. Their leaflets claim bike lanes are “stealing roads and parking spaces”. These people do not support cycling. New candidates are either recommended or not recommended (since we do not know their track record, only their intentions).

CANAL WARD: Incumbents:  Highly recommended Tim Baxter (Greens), 4/4. Recommended: Dick Gross (Labor) and Louise Crawford (Labor) 3/4.  Louise Crawford has supported building bike lanes, but also places a high priority on street parking.

New candidates:  In response to the survey question, Lesley Pianella, Denis Bilic and Maddy Blay support building bike lanes.

Steven Armstrong is "not sure".  Warwick Cahir supports "well planned bike routes that do not have a detrimental effect on the traffic and parking of the area they are located in".   Given that almost all the planned routes will require removal of some parking, don't vote for Warwick if you'd like more protected lanes.

LAKESIDE WARD:  Incumbents:  Highly recommended-  Katherine Copsey (Greens) 4/4, moreover has been actively proposing bike-friendly policy.  Recommended:  David Brand (Labor) 3/4.   Not recommended: Andrew Bond 0/4.

New candidates:    In response to the survey question, Robbie Nyaguy and Roger Ward support bike lanes. Geoffrey Conaghan is “not sure” but responded to the Bicycle Network with a well-thought out response.

Adrian Jackson states "Bikes can use the roads like any other wheeled vehicle" (!).  Bernard Mandile is “not sure”.  

GATEWAY WARD:  Incumbent:  Not recommended: Marcus Pearl 0/4. 

New candidates:  In response to the survey question, Stan Gyles and Earl James support bike lanes. Heather Cunsolo is "not sure" she supports bike lanes (but is a bike rider herself and came to the BUG's September meeting);   Peter Martin is also "not sure" but says he supports them in principle.  

Comments or corrections should be sent to portphillipbug@gmail.com

Responsibility for election comment is taken by J. Clutterbuck, 93 Spray St Elwood.