Trial closure of Barrow St, Coburg to go ahead after Merri-Bek council votes in favour

An inner-city council will spend up to $150,000 to close 8m of a road to motor vehicles.

Merri-bek council is proposing closing Barrow St, Coburg to vehicles for a “genuine traffic diversion”.

UPDATE: THURSDAY APRIL 11

An inner-city council will spend up to $150,000 to temporarily close 8m of a popular Coburg road to cars.

Merri-bek city council on Wednesday night voted in favour of closing Barrow St in Coburg to cars to make the road safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

Cr Oscar Yildiz and Cr Helen Pavlidis voted against the motion, while all the other seven councillors voted in favour of the trial closure of the street.

The community will be consulted before the actual closure takes place and a report will come back in front of council later this year.

EARLIER: MONDAY APRIL 8

An inner-city council is proposing temporarily closing a popular street to cars in an effort to make the road safer.

Merri-bek City Council will on Wednesday discuss a trial of closing 8m of Barrow St in Coburg, near the intersection of Harding St.

The trial road closure, which would cost up to $150,000 for two stages of consultation and the associated infrastructure, is proposed to reduce rat-running, decrease the volume of cars on the street and create a safer road environment for pedestrians, cyclists and schoolchildren.

It’s the second time Barrow St has come before council in as many months, after a motion for the closure was lost in its March meeting.

The March proposal, however, also included closing a section of Pearson St, Brunswick West which has been left of April’s agenda.

The Herald Sun has been told the motion is being tabled again because of increased support.

According to the council, Barrow St has a high vehicle volume and functions as an important walking and riding link for local schools, including St Bernard’s Catholic Primary School, Coburg High and Primary Schools, Antonine College, and Merri-bek Primary School.

Trial road closure location of Barrow Street, Coburg. Photo: supplied.

Merri-bek councillor Oscar Yildiz said he was against the motion because closing the road would mean “limiting access to anyone and everyone”.

“Closing the road is just going to move the traffic from one street to another … if the road is closed, then people are going use other streets, which is pretty much like passing the buck to some other street, and those residents won’t be happy,” he said.

But Merri-bek councillor James Conlan said he supported closing Barrow St to traffic and opening the street to “everyone else”.

“If passed by council and supported by the community, the street will be transformed into a safe haven for kids to get to school safely and to play with their friends without the risk of being hit by cars,” he said.

“Opening streets to people, especially school kids, helps them get to school safely, free from fast moving cars.”

Mr Conlan said residents and community groups approached councillors every single week, “desperately crying out for the council to stop the road carnage by slowing and calming traffic”.

“The issue of safe streets will dominate the 2024 council election campaign. There are always a few loud people against change. But they don’t speak for the overwhelming majority,” he said.

Mr Yildiz said people were happy with how things were at the moment.

“The Greens have had this political agenda for this term and last, and there’s a resounding case for introducing some of those measures,” he said.

“Public transport and other modes of transport are great, but we’re seeing a massive shift in people’s behaviour towards alternative transport right now, and if we’re not (seeing the shift), then let’s just leave it; why are we wasting officer time and council time on this?” he said.

Coburg High School principal Brent Houghton told the Herald Sun the school supported road closure.

“We have 78 per cent of our students who walk, ride, or catch public transport to school, and we support anything that will make their journey safer,” he said.

“Merri-bek Primary School, to the south, is one of our biggest feeder primary schools, and quite a few students come from that way. We understand that (the trial closure) will help students coming to Coburg High.”

Should the motion be approved on Wednesday night, the community will be consulted before any actual closure takes place.