Residents across Yarra are concerned that popular and well used bicycle routes will be made unsafe when the local council reviews them at the upcoming Yarra Council meeting in February 2025.
It is then understandable that Yarra residents are concerned with proposed changes and cautious of any responses like ‘we’re not ripping up bike lanes‘ or ‘we like protected bike lanes but not in this street.’
Mayor Jolly has previously stated that the standard 1.8m wide lanes were a “luxury“ so cyclists could overtake and they need to be reduced to the same width as Albert St lanes. However, the reference “Albert St bike lane” was installed 15 years ago and is only 1.4m wide, narrower than the contemporary Austroads minimum or City of Melbourne Bike Lane Design Guidelines. It’s too narrow to safely accommodate the 1000 bike riders who use Elizabeth St each day and the City of Melbourne is progressively upgrading their lanes to a more reasonable 1.8-2.0m wide plus 0.8m buffer, like the existing lanes in Elizabeth St and the well loved lanes in Wellington Street, Collingwood.
A petition prepared by Yarra Bicycle Users Group is currently collecting signatures and a large group of cyclists are expected to ride the streets of Fitzroy, Collingwood and Richmond in a “Critical Mass” on Friday night, 31 January 2025, to demonstrate community support for these bike lanes and future bike infrastructure. Come join us as we ask: Don’t risk our safety in 2025, retain the protected bike lanes on Coppin St and Elizabeth St.
Quote from Karen Hovenga, local resident
“It’s an outrageous thing for a council to do, to just throw away three years of community consultation and council time for a row of under-utilised car parking spaces. Council shouldn’t be making existing bike lanes unsafe.”
Quote from former Councillor Herschel Landes,
“Elizabeth St bike path was made permanent in a unanimous decision by the former Council after extensive community consultation and provides a valuable connection along the Government’s designated safe bike network. The path is very much welcomed as a positive safe bike experience in Richmond. The sudden decision by the new Council to dig up or degrade the Elizabeth st bike path and the Coppin St popup treatments have left the whole community aghast and confused.”
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Critical Mass Yarra: our safe, well-used protected bike lanes are at risk
Meet 5.30pm, Friday 31 January 2025, State Library, Swanston Street, naarm, Melbourne. 5.45pm pick up at Gertrude & Brunswick Street for Collingwood & Fitzroy. Riding through Fitzroy, Collingwood & Richmond to Richmond Town Hall.
Petition: Don’t risk our safety in 2025 – tell Yarra Council not to remove safe cycling lanes: Add your name to show you don’t support the removal of any existing, or planned protected bike paths in Yarra: and that we want a more liveable, walkable city.
Streets Alive Yarra: We need wide bike lanes: ‘Where bike-friendly infrastructure is the norm, kids gain freedom. No car keys, no backseat waiting. They learn independence, time management, and how to get around on their own. A small shift in how we design cities helps them grow into confident, capable adults’ Credit: American Fietser on Bluesky.
Critical Mass Yarra poster: Thank you to Sam Wallman for kindly adapting his Freedom Machine design.
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Note: For historical context, the Elizabeth Street lane trial was first proposed in 1993 by the City of Richmond and Collingwood Bike Strategy and again by VicRoads back in 2009. The lanes were installed temporarily in 2020 and made permanent at the Council meeting held in April 2023, with provision for final infrastructure to be designed in consultation with Homes Victoria as part of construction and masterplanning works in the local area.
ENDS.
