Geelong CBD street overhaul receives mixed response

Geelong council is moving forward with a planned overhaul of key CBD streets, despite some scathing community feedback to the plans.

Geelong council is moving forward with a planned overhaul of key CBD streets, releasing a brief summary of community feedback to the plans.

The City of Greater Geelong released an engagement summary report regarding the more than 330 submissions made in response to its draft masterplan for improving Mercer, Gheringhap and Bayley Streets in the CBD

The city summary provides brief detail on the feedback, noting almost a quarter of responses (22 per cent) related to improving bike safety, while 17 per cent related to landscaping and the provision of more trees, and 16 per cent related to footpaths and improved street crossings.

Mercer St as it connects to Gheringhap St (top left) Picture: Mark Wilson

The City of Greater Geelong had called for community feedback on the project, which it said aimed to make “Mercer St, Gheringhap St and Bayley St in Geelong welcoming, attractive, accessible, safe and vibrant”.

While the city’s summary provided little insight into the specifics of the hundreds of community submissions, a ‘have your say map included 88 direct responses from the community, most of which called for safety improvements for pedestrians or discussed cycling lanes.

Much of the feedback referred the city’s Building Better Bike Connections Project, which included recent works building a bike lane down much of the Gheringhap St – including changing some sections of the road from two-lanes to one.

“The ‘upgrade’ to Gheringhap Street is diabolical,” SallyF commented.

“Driver vision is completely impeded, traffic flow and speed has been destroyed. It’s poor planning”

“Can we stop with the bike lanes, rarely used and reduce traffic flow,” Dejay said. “Bike lanes are for suburbs not cities.”

Councillors last year awarded an almost $2m contract to build the “critical link” connecting the CBD to the southern suburbs, which included removing a lane of traffic from sections of Gheringhap St to create a separated bike lane.

The decision passed despite a trio of councillors voting against it due to safety concerns, and has split community opinions, with some praising the shift towards encouraging cycling via safer infrastructure while others have complained of impacts on traffic through the CBD.

Originally published as Geelong CBD street overhaul receives mixed response