Melbourne CBD set to be 30km/h zone for pedestrian safety

The CBD streets of Melbourne are set to be reduced to 30km/h zones as the city council tries to cut the number of accidents involving pedestrians.

City speed limits are to be cut to 30km/h.

The Sunday Herald Sun can reveal the go-slow will be enforced in the Hoddle grid in a bid to cut the number of accidents involving pedestrians.

It follows a city council review of transport in central Melbourne.

The new limit — to apply in the area bounded by Flinders, Spring, La Trobe and Spencer streets — will replace 40km/h zones. Council staff are believed to be working on the plan.

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It looms as one of several key recommendations in the City of Melbourne’s transport strategy due for release next month. The strategy is also reviewing carparking, clogged footpaths and co-ordination of public transport.

Variable speed zones are also being considered for roads such as the King St arterial, currently 40km/h, where a 30km/h zone could be impractical during off-peak times.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp says the city needs to find the right transport balance. Picture: Aaron Francis

The new 30km/h city limit would come seven years after the CBD became a 40km/h zone. Swanston St is already 30km/h for permitted vehicles.

RACV senior manager Peter Kartsidimas said the motorists’ group had supported 40km/h speed zones in the CBD.

“This speed limit is in use across Victoria, in areas with high pedestrian activity and where workers are on roads,’’ Mr Kartsidimas said. “RACV supports variable speed limits and believes every case should be judged on its merits.”

Concerns have been raised within Town Hall about speed-zone anomalies including the 60km/h zones in busy pedestrian areas near the city such as on Victoria and Peel streets near the Queen Victoria Market.

It is also believed a congestion tax is still on the table but councillors know it would be unpopular with ratepayers and commuters. It would also need state government approval.

The new go-slow comes after Lord Mayor Sally Capp last month said that the city need to find the right transport balance, with the council’s transport plan to focus on pedestrians and public transport.

The city’s daily population of residents, workers and visitors is expected to jump from the current 911,000 to 1.4 million by 2036. Picture: Tony Gough

About 89 per cent of trips made in the city were on foot, she said.

The city’s daily population of residents, workers and visitors is expected to jump from the current 911,000 to 1.4 million by 2036. TAC data shows five pedestrians died and 279 were injured in accidents in the city in the past five years.

The council is also bracing for increased traffic into North and West Melbourne from the West Gate Tunnel upon completion in 2022. A Town Hall report in 2017 predicted peak-hour traffic in North Melbourne streets for up to 14 hours a day.

A City of Melbourne spokeswoman said the council’s long-term transport strategy document was expected next month.

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