Lord Mayor Nick Reece says CBD bike lanes are dangerous for cars, cyclists

Lord Mayor Nick Reece says the condition of the city’s bike lanes are dangerous for both cyclists and cars— but hasn’t included any funding to fix the problem in the draft council budget.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece has made the “stunning admission” that the condition of many bike lanes in the CBD is so poor that they are dangerous for both cyclists and motorists.

During a marathon six-hour council meeting earlier this month, Mr Reece made the claim while responding to one of dozens of Melbourne cyclists who criticised the draft 2025-26 budget for cutting funding to bike lanes.

“We have many, many kilometres of temporary bike lanes that have been rolled out in recent years in the City of Melbourne,” he said.

“And, very unfortunately, they are now degrading rapidly and are a risk to cyclists and all road users, frankly.”

Committee for Melbourne chief executive Scott Veenker said the council needed to focus on maintaining bike lanes and city roads to a higher standard.

“When infrastructure starts putting people at risk, it’s time to reassess priorities,” he said.

“Regular inspection and maintenance is a basic responsibility, especially when the consequences affect everyone on the road.

“If a bike lane has been in place for years, it’s no longer ‘temporary’ and should be treated with the same seriousness as any other road asset to ensure safety for cyclists, motorists and pedestrians alike.”

Lord Mayor Nick Reece says the city’s rapidly degrading bike lanes are a ‘risk’ to both cyclists and cars. Picture: David Caird

A senior Town Hall source said Mr Reece’s claim that CBD bike lanes were so poorly maintained they were dangerous to motorists and cyclists should spur the council to action to remove them immediately and ensuring any reinstated bike lanes are redesigned.

“When you think about it, it’s actually a stunning admission that the City of Melbourne has failed so abysmally to deliver bike lanes throughout the CBD,” the source said.

“If they are such a danger to both cyclists and motorists, as the Lord Mayor has publicly claimed, they should be ripped out immediately before someone is seriously hurt or killed.

“And before any bike lanes are reinstated they should be put through a rigorous and independent design process to ensure they simply don’t decay after a couple of years and become dangerous again.”

The botched rollout of the CBD bike lane network has been an issue for years, with increasing acrimony between motorists and cyclists.

Key flash points include Exhibition Street, which was been reduced to one lane each way in sections and Queens Bridge Street.

Bike lanes on Exhibition St has been a source of acrimony between cyclists and motorists. Picture: Wayne Taylor

A media release sent out by Mr Reece’s campaign team, during last year’s election, promised to fix bottlenecks that were caused by the council’s bungled bike lane roll out – many of which were done while he was deputy lord mayor to Sally Capp.

“That’s why we will reinstate two inbound traffic lanes on Exhibition Street into the city,” the media release from Mr Reece’s campaign team said.

“We will also fix other bottlenecks in the current bike network, including redesigning Queensbridge Street S-bend over the river near Crown Casino; the south bound lane in William Street at the intersection of William and La Trobe Street. Funding of $5 million will be set aside to support this work.”

Mr Reece promised ‘millions’ of dollars worth of bike lane upgrades during his election campaign. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Mr Reece did not respond directly to the Herald Sun’s questions. Picture: Wayne Taylor 18th June 2025

The Herald Sun asked Mr Reece why the funding he promised during the election campaign to fix bottlenecks caused by the council’s botched bike lane roll out was not included in the draft budget but he refused to answer.

Instead, a City of Melbourne spokeswoman said: “Council will vote to adopt the 2025-26 Budget on Monday 30 June.”

Council staff recommended that an extra $200,000 be diverted into the bike lane program to work on designs for the Queensberry Street project, with the money to be taken from footpaths.

A council spokeswoman said 24.4km of bike lanes had been delivered within the City of Melbourne by the council since 2020 and a further 6.6km had been delivered by the Victorian Government.

Originally published as Lord Mayor Nick Reece says CBD bike lanes are dangerous for cars, cyclists