Councils combine to demand trucks off Beach Rd on Saturday mornings
THREE bayside councils have renewed lobbying the Roads Minister for a Saturday morning truck ban on Beach Rd.
Inner South
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THREE bayside councils have renewed lobbying the Roads Minister for a Saturday morning truck ban on Beach Rd.
Bayside, Kingston and Port Phillip councils want State Roads and Road Safety Minister Luke Donnellan to extend the current weekend truck ban, which starts at 1pm on Saturday, extended to include Saturday mornings.
Councils propose Saturday morning Beach Rd ban for trucks
Bayside Transport Action Group lobbying to get trucks off Beach Rd
Bayside Mayor James Long said more than 25,000 cyclists rode the stretch every weekend, and trucks were a dangerous hazard.
“Beach Rd is one of Melbourne’s most popular recreational corridors,” Cr Long said.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Should trucks be banned from Beach Rd on Saturday mornings? Tell us below
“In the interest of public safety we join in the call on the Minister to implement the ban because when it comes to Beach Rd bicycle riders and trucks are a dangerous and potentially fatal mix.”
Port Phillip Mayor Bernadene Voss agreed.
“As a member of the Inner South Metropolitan Mayors’ Forum, Port Phillip recently tabled a resolution to advocate to VicRoads, Roads Ministers and local MPs for the extension of the existing truck curfew through Saturdays to the entire weekend and to develop and implement effective ways of enforcing the curfew,” Cr Voss said.
“This follows continuing concerns about freight trucks breaking the curfew as they travel past playgrounds, parks and Port Phillip Bay’s delicate marine environment, including beaches.”
“And, as Beach Rd is extremely popular with bike riders and pedestrians on weekends, we believe extending the curfew is warranted for safety and amenity (noise and fumes) reasons.”
Kingston councillor Geoff Gledhill said safety for cyclists and other local road users on Beach Rd was “an important issue”.
“That Saturday morning period there’s more and more people riding on that road — the numbers are increasing all the time,” Cr Gledhill said.
“Every day we ignore recognised threats to safety we are one day closer to a tragedy.
“Unfortunately, despite assurances that the matter would be considered, nothing has happened.”
He said heavy vehicle users have the opportunity to use the Nepean Highway as an alternative.
But Victorian Transport Association chief executive Peter Anderson has slammed the move, saying bans and curfews “do nothing to address the underlying problem of traffic and congestion”.
“All they accomplish is to make congestion worse during other hours and on other roads,” Mr Anderson said.
“The VTA is willing to work with councils and others to reach consensus, however we need to avoid conditioning people to simply say ‘ban them’ any time they have an issue with trucks.”
Mr Anderson said the truck curfews “play havoc with a driver’s legitimate right to earn a living”.
“Drivers cannot simply adjust their schedules to accommodate a ban or curfew because that’s not how our market economy works,” he said.
Mr Donnellan’s spokeswoman Sacha Fenton said the Government was working with VicRoads to review the data collected during the recent truck surveys on Beaconsfield Parade and Beach Rd and results from this data will help determine the future of the curfews.
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