War of words between bicycle lobby and residents after VicRoads withdrew its planned pop up bike lane in Kerferd Rd, Albert Park

The decision to scrap pop-up bike lanes in Albert Park has been described as “pathetic” by a bicycle lobby, but residents are accusing the lobby of acting like a cult.

Port Phillip resident Gary Edwards was opposed to the Kerferd Rd bike lane. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Residents in inner Melbourne are celebrating a win against a proposed bike lane that they claim would have led to congestion and safety issues.

But a cyclists’ lobby group has slammed the decision, saying the state government buckled to a few people “squawking” to their local MP.

VicRoads has withdrawn a plan to put pop up bike lanes in Kerferd Rd, Albert Park, under a program to install up to 100 km of bike paths across inner city suburbs.

The state agency said there were concerns about congestion and rat running due to removing traffic lanes, and safety concerns about the speed of cars and bike riders entering the road.

The pop up bike lanes will no longer go ahead in Kerferd Rd.

But a furious Bicycle Network ridiculed the decision, saying that resident complaints included people worried they would have to run their power cords across bike lanes when charging electric cars.

“If these are the sort of pathetic excuses that can stall an important transport project, the government – and the residents – are in bigger trouble than they realise,” said a statement by the bike lobby.

“Bike transport is no longer discretionary. A planned bike route is not something you decide not to proceed with if a few people start squawking to the local member via Facebook.”

City of Port Phillip resident and anti-Kerferd Rd bike lane campaigner Gary Edwards accused Bicycle Network of acting like a cult in its relentless push for more bike lanes.

“Everyone knows that bikes are part of the solution, but they’re not the whole solution,” he said.

“Cars are going to be with us for quite some time, and that needs to be taken into account.”

“Reducing Kerferd Rd to one lane in both directions would severely disrupt the traffic ecosystem in the whole of the City of Port Phillip – with implications for safety, congestion and parking.”

Mr Edwards said resident groups had been supported by local MP and state Health Minister Martin Foley, but not by Port Phillip Council.

The Andrews Government has installed 23 km of pop-up bike routes in the cities of Darebin and Yarra, including on Heidelberg Rd which over a year had supported over 300,000 safer cycling trips.

A further 70 km of pop-up routes in Moonee Valley, Port Phillip and Maribyrnong are on the way.

A government spokeswoman said: “Our pop-up bike routes are providing safer, better-connected journeys for riders across inner city Melbourne each day.”

“Whether it’s creating new connections, upgrading existing paths or addressing gaps in our network, we’re making it easier and safer for Victorians to adopt active modes of transport.”