Our petition “Don’t risk our safety in 2025 – tell Yarra Council not to remove safe cycling lanes” has received over 1000 responses!

We asked people to answer to add their connection to Yarra (e.g: do you live, work, study, shop, go out, and/or commute in or through the Yarra area).

This is what people from nearby Hawthorn, Kew and inner east suburbs said

  1. Live here and study in Parkville, work in Burnley and Fitzroy. I ride through these streets nearly every day. More cyclists on the road (with proper infrastructure that favours active movement) means less cingestion, less pollution, less noise, and less accidents.
  2. I commute along these paths because it is safe. I’ll drive instead if they go and it will be one more car clogging your roads.
  3. Work in Yarra, and cycle to work on these roads
  4. Commute to the CBD – these bike lines save lives. We are so vulnerable on the road. Please care for us. We reduce congestion. Without the bike lanes I am too frightened to ride. Please. Please. Please.
  5. I used to live in Richmond and I cycle through it 5 days a week to get to work. I also use the recreation centre and shops frequently.
  6. Shop and bike ride
  7. I cycle through the City of Yarra many times a week
  8. Cycle to work along Elizabeth St. 4 mornings per week.
  9. I ride my bike through Yarra 5 days a week to get to and from the city for work. I use the Elizabeth St bike lane that offers great protection for riders and is critical for all members of the community. Our local roads are NOT Arterials, and not should we want them to be.
  10. I also spend many evenings in Yarra for socialising and recreation with family and friends.
  11. I commuted everyday from Richmond to spring st city.
  12. I ride my bike to my job in the City of Yarra area. As a cyclist I am the most efficient form of transport, causing no carbon pollution, no cost and no damage to infrastructure. Cycling should be rewarded rather than punished as a means of falsifying legitimacy for absurd and destructive right-wing ideology
  13. Commute through
  14. Live, go out, commute, shop.
  15. I ride through to go to work in the city, and I do most of my shopping (groceries etc) in Yarra
  16. Commute through Yarra
  17. Recreation / exercise in Yarra
  18. Go out, shop, services in Yarra
  19. I regularly shop and commute by bike through neighbouring Richmond
  20. I ride through and socialise in Yarra
  21. I prefer to use my bike than my car to get around. I live just over the Yarra River in Hawthorn but am in the City of Yarra all the time.
  22. Safe cycling infrastructure is important and I would be aghast if the biking infrastructure was ripped up.
  23. Please keep it and extend it.
  24. I ride along Elizabeth street every day to and from work. These are the only safe cycling lanes that go east-west between richmond and the city.
  25. I frequently use this road for safe commuting to work. Removing this will not only make it unsafe for vulnerable road users, adding parking will make it more congested than before. What is the real benefit by removing the safe lane. Whose benefit is being served ?
  26. I work in Richmond and have been riding bikes to and from my work from 3 different suburbs over the years. I would not work in a place that I couldn’t ride to, that’s my commute!
  1. I commute through Yarra City, and have always been very grateful for the protected bike lanes which keep me off of Victoria St. I was shocked to find out these might not remain.
  2. There is no other safe corridor that I know of without adding significant time to my commute and many others’!
  3. I ride my bike from Kew to the city at least 3 days per week. I also eat at cafes and restaurants in the Yarra area.
  4. Commute through Yarra city council area
  5. Shop in Yarra council area
  6. Visit family and friends
  7. Live in and commute in Collingwood on bike. There is not better option.
  8. I cycle through Yarra every day on my commute to the CBD. I use the Elizabeth St bike lane daily.
  9. commute to work in Richmond
  10. I cycle my bike to and from my work in Richmond everyday as PTV has become unaffordable. I work with young children all day in a low paying industry and the cyling lane is crucial for me to get to and from work safely.
  11. My partner bikes from boroondara to work in Yarra, I don’t want her safety jeopardised for choosing the green way to commute!
  12. I commute most days from our home in Kew to my workplace in the CBD via bicycle and make particular use of the separated bike lanes along Elizabeth and Albert Sts – I was deeply grateful when these were put in as it made the side street feel much safer. Please don’t remove them, or if you do, please find another option for keeping our streets safe for cyclists. Victoria St/Pde is terrifying to ride along, especially in peak hour, but riding on the outside of parked cars in a side street also requires extra vigilance as commuters park their cars there and open doors without looking frequently. My daughter also rides along there travelling to her studies at ACU and has already been doored once by a car parked on her left in a different street. These separated bike zones are essential for keeping riders safe. Please don’t take us backwards!
  13. I live near Yarra. I travel to and through Yarra, often by bike because it’s easier and better for environment and people. I shop, dine, walk & visit friends and relations in Yarra. The bike lanes make thus all feel safer and more workable
  14. I work in Yarra, until recently I lived in Yarra council and I still regularly ride my bike through Yarra suburbs for commuting, shopping from local grocers, etc
  15. I commute and work in Yarra
  16. I ride by bike through the City of Yarra for my commute, safe protected bike lanes are critical
  17. My kids go to school in the Yarra area
  1. I commute to work from Bulleen to the city through the Yarra area, as well as socialise and visit bars/cafes by bike in the Yarra area. The lanes have made it an absolute joy to pedal across and wish there were more easy connections out here like it!
  2. Shop and commute in the Yarra area
  3. Regularly cycle with our group through the Yarra Council area
  4. I am a regular bike rider and use these most necessary paths when riding to city.
  5. Commute through the area
  6. live in the area and use bike paths often
  7. Live
  8. Yes I frequented ride through that area
  9. I come through that area to get to parts of the city or to the Richmond Neighbourhood centre. I have had a serious injury because of a collision with a car. I have had two near misses in the last 8 weeks. Making cyclists interact with oversized cars (almost all are) is criminal, because decision makers can and should know the consequences of not offering separate cycling infrastructure.
  10. Cyclists are not safe around cars. We need more infrastructure, not less. It’s also really backward – everywhere else in the world decision makers have seen the destruction cars cause.
  11. It is unbelievable you would even consider this in the 21st century.
  12. I regularly ride through the Yarra area and greatly appreciate the safe protected bike lanes.
  13. We often ride into Yarra for coffee/brunch as it’s got some great cafes and riding with the number of bike lanes is easy.
  14. Also commute through Yarra on the way to CBD.
  15. Commute through
  16. Member of 350 person cycling club in eastern suburbs that runs 12 rides a week often passing through Yarra as we do 40 to 100km on a ride
  17. Also want to support safety for cycling members of my family who live in Yarra and active transport measures
  18. Commute to work using the bike paths!!
  19. I am a 81 y.o. female and I regularly ride my bike through the city of Yarra. I appreciate the safety features of protected bike lanes.
  20. I’ve commuted by bike from Richmond to Melbourne CBD to work for the past 25 years.
  21. Go out.
  22. I commute through Yarra and also explore Yarra streets and shops.
  23. I cycle for leisure through Yarra area
  24. Ride through occasionally
  25. Commute on bicycle
  26. I’m an avid cyclist and I use bike paths and dedicated bike lanes to come to work and ride recreationally on weekends. My fiends and I often ride to cafes around the CBD.
  27. Melbourne needs to keep bike lanes open – it absolutely reduces congestion.
  28. I commute and ride for training out in the Yarra areas.
  29. I work in Richmond and ride my bike or scooter down Elizabeth St every day to get to and from the office.