Coppin Street Cycling Corridor
Extract from Ordinary Council Meeting Agenda – 8 April 2025 Agenda
2025: 7.2. Coppin Street Cycling Corridor
Executive Summary
This report outlines the outcomes of the first phase of community consultation and data gathering for the Coppin Street New Deal for Cycling (NDC) Corridor Study which was recently completed.
This report also responds to the November 2024 Notice of Motion in relation to two Coppin Street upgrades pilot trials at the intersections of Bridge Road and Swan Street.
Specifically; That a report be presented to the February 2025 Council meeting cycle to consider options and costs in relation to:
(a) The removal of the ‘bike-friendly’ pop-ups in Richmond so as to modify the Coppin Street, Richmond cycle lanes to:
(i) Remove the bike-friendly pop-up barriers in Richmond at the intersection of Coppin Street and Swan Street, both north and south of this intersection, removing the traffic bottlenecks currently occurring; and
(ii) Remove the ‘bike-friendly’ pop-up barriers in Richmond at the intersection of Coppin Street and Bridge Road, both north and south of this intersection, removing the traffic bottlenecks currently occurring; and
(b) Detail the amount currently in Council’s Victorian Government Safe Local Roads and Streets Program and a projection for funds expected in 2025/2026. This data should be broken down into projects and zones’.
Officer Recommendation
That Council:
- Progresses the Coppin Street NDC Corridor Study to Stage 2 – concept development and design and engagement with the community during 25/26, noting the completion of the first phase of engagement outlined in this report.
- Retains all the existing trial infrastructure at the Bridge Road and Coppin Street intersections in situ and progresses detailed design work for permanent installations at these intersections to be completed in 2025/2026.
- Subject to a future budget allocation, constructs the permanent treatments at both intersections.
History and background
- Coppin Street Richmond is on the New Deal for Cycling network and provides a key strategic link.
Figure 1 – Map showing Coppin Street in relation to the wider cycling network
- There are three Council actions underway in relation to Coppin Street as per the following 2024-34 Transport Action Plan references under Program 2: New Deal for Cycling:
(a) NDC 4 – Coppin Street Corridor Study;
(b) NDC 25 – Intersection upgrade – Coppin St /Bridge Rd; and
(c) NDC 26 – Intersection upgrade – Coppin St/Swan St. - The current approach to delivering cycle projects across the municipality is to use a mix of programs and projects to upgrade NDC corridors. In this instance the intersection upgrades are ‘early works’ to be followed by further corridor upgrades which will take more time to plan, design and deliver.
Coppin Street New Deal for Cycling (NDC) Corridor Study
- Coppin Street in Richmond is a local street located between Highett Street and Barkly Avenue with a speed limit of 40 km/h. It is a local collector road and is crossed east-west by Swan Street and Bridge Road which are arterial roads managed by the State Government.
- Coppin Street is identified as an important north-south cycling route at the local and regional level within the YTS for the following reasons:
(a) It provides a direct connection between the Main Yarra Trail to its south, links to the CBD and the south-eastern suburbs;
(b) It is one of a few direct north-south routes in the Richmond area that is a local street which does not carry lots of trucks and is also not a public transport route carrying buses and trams; and,
(c) It provides access and linkages to key local destinations such as Richmond High School, the Cremorne employment precinct and Burnley train station which is an important transport interchange.
Data Collection
- The information below was collected as part of the data collection process for the Coppin Street NDC Corridor Study.
Vehicle Movement
- Coppin Street has some of the highest traffic volumes of any Council-owned street in Yarra.
- At its busiest point, between Bridge Road and Abinger Street, it carries 6,321 vehicles per day on average. This sits within the highest range for the typical maximum design volume for a local collector road which is between 3,000 and 7,000 vehicles per day. Coppin Street is also very prone to peaks over the day suggesting high volumes of commuter traffic.
- The busiest section of Coppin Street is between Swan Street and Madden Grove on a Tuesday at 5-6pm with 837 vehicles. This is due to the extremely high volumes of ‘rat running’ as vehicles travel south on Coppin Street before turning left onto Madden Grove to access the Monash Highway. This is a general traffic management issue with local streets being used like arterial roads when it comes to traffic volumes and journey distances.
Bike and Scooter Volumes
- There are over 300 trips by bike and scooter per day on Coppin Street. Bikes and scooters make up around 5% of all vehicles and are relatively consistent on weekdays and weekends suggesting a mix of journey purposes.
Road Safety
11. Nearly 70% (6) of all recorded crashes (11) on Coppin Street between 2012 and 2024 involved at least one person riding a bicycle and that cyclist being injured sufficiently to warrant attendance by emergency services. 18% (2) of all crashes resulted in at least one pedestrian being injured. The other 12% were crashes not involving a person riding a bike or walking.
12. The data shows that someone riding a bicycle is at least twice as likely as someone driving a car to be in a crash and then seriously injured on this street. The numbers only include incidents reported to Victoria Police. ‘Near misses’ or any incidents where a police report was not filed and not captured. Incidents like car dooring are not likely to be reported unless someone is seriously injured and hospitalised. This results in underreporting and is a general issue on all roads.
13. Mid-block collisions away from the intersections on Coppin Street account for 64% of all crashes involving a motor vehicle. This is relatively high and could be attributed to inattentive or dangerous driving behaviour which can be an issue on local streets carrying lots of long distance through-traffic.
- More young people are now using this route due to the recent opening of Richmond High School. Previous discussions with the school/school community have revealed concerns about young people being able to ride, walk or scoot to school safely.
- A Road Safety Audit (RSA) was completed for the Coppin Street Cycle Corridor project by an external independent consultant in late 2024 (provided at Attachment 1). The RSA recommendations included:
(a) Constructing protected bike lanes on Coppin Street to protect cyclists from car dooring and moving traffic;
(b) Resurfacing areas of the road that are in poor condition;
(c) Installing new DDA compliant pram ramps and improving pedestrian crossing points;
(d) Widening the painted bike lanes at certain locations by removing rows of bluestone channel;
(e) Delineating the centre tree median between Swan Street and Bridge Road with linemarking;
(f) Reconstructing roundabouts with speed cushions to reduce traffic speeds; and,
(g) Introducing a painted buffer for bike lanes adjacent to angled parking.
Car parking
- A survey of 1,529 on-street car parking spaces within the study area shown below was completed as an input to optioneering and future decision making on the corridor. These are a mix of permit, time restricted and unrestricted spaces.
Figure 2 – Map showing extent of study area
- Parking occupancy surveys for this area were undertaken in mid-to-late October 2024.
- Average on-street car parking occupancy in the study area was recorded at 64%; with 550 of the 1,529 parking bays usually available at any one time.
- There are 320 parking bays on Coppin Street itself consisting of 120 resident, 97 visitor and 2 business parking permits.
- There are 227 properties facing Coppin Street. Of these, 52 have driveways and their own off-street parking. This does not include properties with access from other points, such as rights of way or nearby streets.
- Coppin Street had a mean parking occupancy of 58% whilst the maximum occupancy was 68% recorded at 10am on a Saturday.
Amenity
- A socio-economic benefit analysis was undertaken of Coppin Street to provide some visibility and quantification of benefits to upgraded cycling infrastructure. This work was completed by an independent consultant.
- It found that there would approximately be $11 million worth of socio-economic benefits to the wider community over 10 years related to public health and road safety outcomes should active transport upgrades be made. This figure excludes other indirect benefits to the environment and climate change mitigation. The consultant report is provided at Attachment 2.
- Coppin Street has a significant tree canopy thanks to its many centre median and footpath trees in grass verges. The street contains various kerb outstands and average footpaths widths are approximately two metres.
Figure 3 -Coppin St northbound approaching the Wall St roundabout
Coppin Street NDC Corridor Study – Stage 1 Community Engagement
- Initial community engagement was undertaken in late 2024 as part of the first stage of community engagement and data collection in the NDC corridor study process. These results will inform decision making and optioning for the future design of the street as part of Council’s New Deal for Cycling.
- Community engagement was undertaken using multiple communication channels.
- Independent external consultants were engaged to assist with this process over a fourweek period from Monday 18 November to Monday 16 December 2024.
- The engagement process used a ‘blank page’ structure to gather community views for consideration. At this first round of consultation, officers were not seeking feedback on specific concepts or asking the community to agree with any specific design option(s) for the corridor.
- A second round of consultation (proposed to be done in 2025/26) will occur where the community will be asked to respond to concept design options for the street. Council approval will be sought for these concepts to be issued to the community prior. Officers will then consider community feedback and present a report to Council on the preferred option to be developed further into a detailed design solution for the development of a permanent cycling.
- The process followed for Stage 1 engagement including the promotional methods used to reach as many people as possible included:
(a) Online Your Say Yarra (YSY) ‘Building a safer and liveable Coppin Street’ webpage with an interactive map and comment form;
(b) Your Say Yarra email newsletter;
(c) Promotion in Yarra Life email newsletter;
(d) Social media posts;
(e) News item on corporate Council website;
(f) Email sent to all followers of the Yarra Transport Strategy Your Say Yarra webpage;
(g) Three in-person ‘pop-up’ sessions were held as follows:
(i) Dame Nellie Melba Memorial Park on Thursday 21 November 2024;
(ii) Gleadell Street Market on Saturday 23 November 2024 (as part of Council Plan engagement program); and,
(iii) Barkly Gardens on Saturday 7 December 2024.
- Direct outreach was undertaken to:
(a) relevant businesses, community facilities and education facilities on Coppin Street and nearby surrounding areas (via email and phone, and in-person door knocking for individual businesses and organisations – e.g. schools);
(b) chairs of local active transport groups for promotion within their groups (via email);
(c) Approximately 900 postcards with QR codes linking to the YSY webpage were distributed to occupiers of residences and businesses in Coppin Street;
(d) A letter mail out was undertaken to approximately 900 property owners of residences and businesses on Coppin Street; and,
(e) Approximately 50, A3 corflute posters displayed at intersections along Coppin Street.
- Strategies were used to engage ‘hard to reach’ groups and CALD communities. This included:
(a) Using plain English descriptions and messaging;
(b) Use of translation panels on all printed materials;
(c) Options to translate the YSY page into top 10 languages spoken in Yarra; and,
(d) Having translators available on request and multi-lingual staff at in-person pop-up sessions. - The Council webpage portal had 1,730 views by 966 unique visitors. 276 contributions were made by 178 contributors.
- Two social media posts on Council’s Facebook and Instagram pages on Tuesday 19 November 2024 promoting the consultation reached 2,656 people.
- The results of Council’s email newsletters promoting the consultation are summarised below.
Tabel 1: – Consultation reach
Table 2: – Pop Up results
The results of the in-person pop-ups are summarised in the table below:
- Two points of information were collected during this engagement: ideas and ‘pain points’.
Feedback commonly raised by the community is summarised as follows:
(a) Traffic volumes are too high;
(b) Traffic speeds are too high and traffic calming is required;
(c) The existing painted bikes lanes are too narrow and cyclists are worried about car dooring and close passing traffic;
(d) Pedestrians and cyclists do not feel safe using the roundabouts on Coppin Street;
(e) Temporary peak hour turn bans are not enforced and are ignored by drivers;
(f) Drivers make lots of illegal U-turns at the railway overpass south of Swan Street;
(g) The road surface is bumpy and in poor condition;
(h) The temporary removal of a traffic lane at the Swan Street intersection has caused traffic congestion;
(i) The parking bays between Swan Street and the railway overpass block sightlines for drivers exiting the KFC car park (324 – 328 Swan Street, Richmond);
(j) Commercial rubbish bins constantly block footpaths south of the Bridge Road intersection;
(k) The existing street trees add great canopy and shade for all road users, especially pedestrians;
(l) The bike cut-throughs in the centre medians at the Madden Grove intersection are not wide enough for cyclists to wait safely in the middle of the street;
(m) Modal filters should be introduced to discourage non-local and through-traffic from ‘rat running’ and make the street safer, quieter and cleaner for everyone;
(n) Protected bike lanes, roundabouts and intersections would make it safer for people riding bikes, especially school-aged children, teenagers and families;
(o) Through-traffic should be encouraged to use arterial roads such as Burnley Street and Church Street;
(p) Walking conditions should be improved, new crossings are needed and existing ones need to be made safer;
(q) School crossing supervisors are required at the Bridge Road intersection;
(r) Bike headstart lanterns and detector loops are required at the Bridge Road and Swan Street intersections; and,
(s) A priority crossing is needed north of Barkly Avenue for people on foot and bike going to/from Barkly Gardens.
- The issues raised and ideas for improvement for the corridor reflect officer observations
and feedback received over the previous ten years via the Active Transport Advisory
Committee, Oracle requests and other forums. - Further information regarding community engagement for the corridor is provided in
Attachment 4. - This information and the movement data collected for Coppin Street will be used as
inputs to the corridor options assessment work as part of the New Deal for Cycling
methodology. These options will be subject to a second round of community consultation
in the 2025/26 financial year.
- The issues raised and ideas for improvement for the corridor reflect officer observations
and feedback received over the previous ten years via the Active Transport Advisory
Committee, Oracle requests and other forums. - Further information regarding community engagement for the corridor is provided in
Attachment 4. - This information and the movement data collected for Coppin Street will be used as
inputs to the corridor options assessment work as part of the New Deal for Cycling
methodology. These options will be subject to a second round of community consultation
in the 2025/26 financial year.
Options – Coppin Street Corridor Study
- There are two primary options for the corridor study.
Option 1 – Progress work to Stage 2 for the Coppin Street NDC Corridor Study – Recommended
- That Council:
(a) Notes the information provided regarding completion of the first phase for the Coppin Street NDC Corridor Study; and
(b) Progress to Stage 2 – concept development and design and engagement with the community during 25/26.
Option 2 – Note Stage 1 Consultation and not progress work for Stage 2
- That Council:
(a) Notes the information provided regarding completion of the first phase for the Coppin Street NDC Corridor Study; and
(b) Progress to Stage 2 is not progressed.
Coppin Street Intersection upgrades – Pilot Trials at Bridge Road and Swan Street
- This section of the report focuses on the Council resolution regarding options and next steps regarding the bike-friendly pop-up trials at the Bridge Road and Swan Street intersections which were implemented in mid-2023.
- The trials provide short sections of protected bike lanes on the approaches to traffic lights.
- As trials they were able to be installed relatively quickly using temporary materials and line marking at a cost of approximately $130k.
- The trial works complement other cycling initiatives delivered by Council in the area over recent years including bike upgrades on Madden Grove and Barkley Avenue south of the railway line.
- A summary of the temporary changes made at each intersection as part of the trial is provided below:
- Coppin/Bridge St Intersection:
(a) 1 parking bay removed (on the approach to the traffic lights south of Bridge Road);
and,
(b) No changes to traffic lanes. - Coppin/Swan St Intersection:
(a) 6 parking bays removed (4 south, 2 north including 1 car share bay relocated to Duke Street); and,
(b) 1 southbound traffic lane removed from the northern approach. - Images showing the pre-trial and post-trial conditions are provided at Attachment 5.
- Data was collected at various times during the trial to assess the impact of the trial treatments. The key findings were:
(a) There was a 287% increase in northbound cyclist volumes on Coppin Street south of Bridge Road, 7-day average daily volumes increasing from 30 to 116 per day;
(b) There was a 99% increase in southbound cyclist volumes on Coppin Street north of Swan Street with 7-day average daily volumes increasing from 76 to 151 per day;
(c) There was a 91% increase in southbound cyclist volumes on Coppin Street south of Swan Street with 7-day average daily volumes increasing from 64 to 122 per day;
(d) No crashes were reported at these intersections during the pilot trial period;
(e) Average traffic volumes were reduced by approximately 5%; and,
(f) Average traffic speeds were reduced by approximately 14%.
- Broader trends beyond the installation of the trials may impact the findings and cannot be quantified here. For example, return to office mandates following the pandemic, development in the area and cost-of-living pressures encouraging people to reduce petrol consumption and other factors.
Limitations of the pilot trial design
- Removing existing permanent street features like concrete traffic islands as part of a temporary trial is not best practice (due to costs and other considerations).
- On this basis, the concrete island at Coppin Street and Swan Street was left in situ and a traffic lane was removed at the intersection as a temporary measure to facilitate the trial.
- It is important to note that this traffic island would be removed in any permanent arrangement allowing a dedicated right-turn traffic lane on the northern approach to be reinstalled. Hence, any issues associated with the removal of a short section of the rightturn traffic lane during the trial itself are temporary. This was made clear on the Your Say Yarra webpage in response to community feedback and before the trial commenced.
Coppin Street Intersection Trials – Community Engagement
- Council undertook community engagement over the 12-month period from June 2023 to June 2024. This included:
(a) A dedicated webpage on Your Say Yarra to gather feedback during the implementation of the pilot trials, including information and an open text field for any comments;
(b) Signage at all the pilot trial sites with information and links to opportunities to provide feedback;
(c) Published social media posts providing information and encouraging community feedback; and,
(d) In-person visits to nearby businesses. - In total 69 comments were received online. 46% of comments were supportive of the intersection upgrades whilst 42% were not supportive.
- Officers confirm that almost all of the negative comments related to the temporary removal of the second southbound traffic lane on Coppin Street at the Swan Street intersection.
- Officers liaised with the Department of Transport & Planning on the pilot trial regarding the results, and received in-principle support for the installation of any permanent changes.
- The report prepared for the Department of Transport & Planning at Attachment 6 provides further information on community engagement for the trials specifically.
Proposed Permanent Treatments
- The permanent treatments at each intersection are scheduled to be designed in the 2025/26 financial year. High level concepts plans showing the proposed permanent treatment at each intersection are provided shown below and included Attachment 5.
Bridge Road/Coppin Street Intersection
Figure 4 – Current pilot trial conditions compared to proposed permanent treatment on Coppin Street at the intersection with Bridge Road.
Swan Street/Coppin Street Intersection
Figure 5 – Current pilot trial conditions compared to proposed permanent treatment on Coppin Street at the intersection with Swan Street
- The designs for both intersections shown above respond to the issues raised during the trial consultation process.
- Specifically at the Swan Street intersection:
(a) The car parking near the KFC (324 – 328 Swan Street, Richmond) will be switched to the eastern side of the road so drivers heading north over the railway bridge do not think parked cars are queuing traffic;
(b) Sightlines of drivers exiting the KFC (324 – 328 Swan Street, Richmond) car park will be improved;
(c) The traffic lights will give cyclists a head start to reduce conflict with left-turning vehicles as per best practice (Note: this change could not be made as part of the trial); and,
(d) The right-turn traffic lane will be reinstated as previously detailed.
Further responses to the November 2024 Council Motion
- The November motion by Council requested information regarding costs and timeframes regarding the removal of the trial at both intersections.
- Officers can confirm that the trial-related infrastructure could be removed and the street returned to its previous layout. This would be done in six-to-eight weeks from the date of a Council resolution and would cost approximately $50,000 – $100,000.
- The motion also requested information on the Victorian Government Safe Local Roads and Streets Program. This is one of multiple grant streams at the Federal and State levels that Council pursues to fund some of its projects.
- City of Yarra’s funded VGSLRSP projects include the recent upgraded traffic treatments at Miller Street, Fitzroy North ($546,000) with construction recently completely.
- Other projects that have benefited from this fund include various projects in Clifton Hill North Abbotsford ($1.5 million).
Options- Intersection Trials
- There are several options available to Council regarding the intersection upgrade trials including.
Option 1 – Retain the trial works and proceed to design and permanent installation at both intersections (2025/26).
- This option would include restoring the southbound right-turn traffic lane on Coppin Street at Swan Street and expediting the process for permanent design of the intersection upgrades in the 2025/26 financial year as per the TAP.
- That is:
(a) Retain all the existing trial infrastructure at the Bridge Road and Coppin Street intersections;
(b) Continue with design work for permanent installations at these intersections (noting this is subject to the 2025/2026 budget process); and
(c) Deliver/construct permanent treatments at both intersections as quickly as possible subject to a future funding allocation.
Option 2 – Proceed to design and permanent installation at the Bridge Road intersection only (2025/26); remove the trial infrastructure at the Swan Street intersection.
- This option would restore the southbound right-turn traffic lane on Coppin Street at Swan Street as quickly as possible.
- Permanent treatment delivery timescales for Bridge Road are contingent upon approvals being received from State Government.
- That is:
(a) A funding allocation to finalise design work for the permanent works for Bridge Road only as part of the 2025/2026 budget process;
(b) Prioritise delivery of the Bridge Road intersection in 2025/26 subject to State Government approvals being received; and,
(c) Remove the Swan Street intersection trial this financial year indicatively within 6-8 weeks of the resolution.
Option 3 – Remove pilot trial treatments at both at both Swan Street and Bridge Road. Cancel the proposed permanent treatment.
- That is:
(a) Remove all pilot trial infrastructure (at both intersections) as quickly as possible, indicatively within 6-8 weeks of the resolution.
Option 4 – Remove all pilot trial treatments until the Corridor Study is completed and a preferred overall option is determined.
- That is:
(a) Remove all pilot trial infrastructure as quickly as possible, indicatively within 6-8 weeks of the resolution;
(b) Continue with the Coppin Street Corridor Study (subject to 2025/26 budget approval) including concept development and design work, and conduct the next stage of community engagement; and,
(c) Reconsider options for treatments at the Coppin Street at Swan Street and Bridge Road intersections as part of the broader corridor study.
Option 5 – Retain pilot trial treatments until the Corridor Study is completed and a preferred overall option is determined.
- That is:
(a) Retain the pilot trial infrastructure at both intersections;
(b) Continue with the Coppin Street Corridor Study contingent on approval of the budget bid 25/26 for Stage 2 work – concept development and design work and to conduct the next stage of community engagement; and,
(c) Reconsider options for treatments at the Coppin Street at Swan Street and Bridge Road intersections as part of the broader corridor study.
Community and stakeholder engagement
- Community engagement was undertaken for both the intersection trials and the first stage of the broader NDC corridor study using specific methodologies that reflect the nature and requirements of each project. Details of the engagement are included within the body of the report.
Strategic Analysis
Alignment to Council Plan
Strategic Objective five – Transport and movement
5.1 Lead, promote and facilitate the transition to active transport modes for people living and working in Yarra, as well as people moving through Yarra
5.2 Advance the transition towards zero-carbon transport by 2030 throughout the municipality
5.4 Create a safe, well-connected and accessible local transport network including pedestrian and bike routes through Yarra
Climate emergency
- Transport is the third largest and fastest-growing source of emissions in Yarra. In 2024, the vast majority of these emissions are generated by private cars. Yarra Transport Strategy 2022-32 and the Yarra Climate Emergency Plan 2024 all identify that mode shift away from private cars and towards sustainable modes of transport are essential for climate mitigation and adaptation.
Community and social implications
- This project seeks to make Yarra’s transport network more equitable, inclusive and accessible.
Economic development implications
- Projects that make it easier and safer for people to ride by bicycle or scooter have consistently shown economic benefits. Improving the road environment and conditions for people riding bikes or scooters has ancillary benefits such as improved street amenity, increased natural observation, as well as direct benefits such as more customers visiting businesses nearby more often.
Human rights and gender equality implications
- This project has been assessed under The Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 and Gender Equality Act 2020 and no implications have been identified.
- Mobility is a right under the Australian Human Rights Convention, Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities under Article 9: Accessibility.
Finance and Resource Impacts and Interdependencies
- All options are subject to budget allocations.
Legal and Legislative obligations
Conflict of interest disclosure
- Section 130 of the Local Government Act 2020 requires members of Council staff and persons engaged under contract to provide advice to Council to disclose any conflicts of interest in a matter to which the advice relates. The Officer reviewing this report, having made enquiries with relevant members of staff, reports that no disclosable interests have been raised in relation to this report.
Risks Analysis
- Risks are difficult to quantify and depend on the Council direction.
- Returning the road to its pre-trial design will reduce safety for active transport users.
- Similar decisions at other Councils have resulted in negative media coverage on some occasions.
Implementation Strategy
Timeline
- These have been stated for each option and depend on the Council direction.
Communication
- Decisions arising from this Council report will be publicly communicated.
Report attachments
Note: For easier access these files have been split from original attachments.
- 7.2.1 Attachment 1 – Coppin Street Richmond Road Safety Audit Safe System Solutions
- 7.2.2 Attachment 2 – Coppin Street Socio- Economic Cost Benefit Analysis Report Decision
- 7.2.3 Attachment 3- Building a safe and liveable Coppin Street Community Engagement
Report Capire - 7.2.4 Attachment 4 Coppin Street Intersection Upgrades Pre Trial and Post Trial Conditions
- 7.2.5 Attachment 5 – Coppin Street Intersection Upgrades Pilot Trials Monitoring and
Evaluation Report Yarra