Calls to remove some bike lanes to aid CBD recovery

A key business figure believes the increasing number of bike lanes is driving motorists away from the CBD and hampering its Covid recovery.

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said the protected lanes were contributing to negative perceptions about the city. Picture: Jason Edwards

Pop up bike lanes in major CBD routes like Exhibition Street should be removed to aid inner city recovery, says a key business figure.

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said the protected lanes were contributing to negative perceptions about the city that “won’t go away simply by denying them”.

“Bike lanes - there’s a place for them, but probably not in our major thoroughfares,” he told a Melbourne Press Club event.

“If you look how you come in and out of the city, almost every access (for cars) is now limited to a single lane.”

Melbourne City Council has a program to roll out 40km of pop up bike lanes that was sped up during pandemic shutdowns.

A third of vehicles coming into the city will be bicycles by 2030, according to Sally Capp. Picture: David Crosling

Mr Guerra said motorists’ ability to move through the city had been hindered by the roll-out.

“And that’s caused congestion,” he said.

“Not everybody rides a bike in, not everybody catches a tram in, not everybody goes to the theatre on a bicycle, not everyone goes to a nice restaurant on a bicycle.”

Lord Mayor Sally Capp said that based on current trends, a third of vehicles coming into the city will be bicycles by 2030.

“As bicycle and e-scooter usage increases we have to rebalance our transport network to make room for them. Less than one per cent of road space is dedicated to protected bike lanes,” she said.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to come into and move around the city to reignite Melbourne and support our traders, no matter how people choose to travel.”

The Lord Mayor said that traffic congestion was an issue faced by many major cities around the world, particularly since the pandemic as more people were choosing to drive.

“But we also know that enabling different transport modes is really important for the long-term,” she said.