Controversial pop-up bike lanes in St Kilda, Port Melbourne removed as govt winds back trial
Pop-up bike lanes in St Kilda and Port Melbourne will be removed after a long battle between local government and inner-city residents.
Victoria
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A controversial inner-city bike lane program has been scrapped for good.
Pop-up bike lanes in St Kilda, Port Melbourne and surrounding suburbs will be removed after the Department of Transport (DoT) advised the City of Port Phillip last week it would wind back its bike lane trial on all council managed roads in the coming months.
The roll back will see the removal of all temporary cycling infrastructure installed on local roads, including the temporary central bike lane at Westbury St in St Kilda East.
The DoT has agreed to remove all speed humps, bollards, concrete blocks and yellow lines at all pop-up bike lane locations, including at the Brighton Rd and Dickens St intersection.
Bike lanes and related infrastructure located on state managed roads will not be removed, including blocks and bollards on Jacka Boulevard and Marina Parade in St Kilda – which both attract a high number of daily cyclists.
Port Phillip Councillor Andrew Bond said the community was “relieved” to hear the bike lane program would finally be scrapped.
“Whilst it has taken longer than our community would have liked, it is pleasing to see that the Department of Transport has finally agreed to remove the remainder of these unsafe bike lanes from Port Phillip’s roads,” Cr Bond said.
“These pop-up bike lanes have caused a great deal of distress to many in our community.
“Our community have been relieved to hear that these bollards and concrete blocks are being removed, and they look forward to receiving the specific removal time frame from DoT.”
After working together to make changes to the bike lane program, the City of Port Phillip requested the department shut down the trial in December last year following a myriad of community complaints and safety concerns.
The Department of Transport had funded and installed 38km of pop-up bike lanes across the Port Phillip area, including in Port Melbourne, Albert Park, St Kilda, Middle Park, South Melbourne and Elwood.
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