A Safer Bike Path for Sydney Road

Sydney Road is one of the most dangerous places to ride your bike in Melbourne. And now a big apartment development near Jewell station is making it worse, as people riding bikes are forced off the Upfield bike path.

Photo credit: John Englart (Takver) via Flickr

We are calling for Labor to:

• Build separated bike lanes on both sides of Sydney Road, within 12 months, replacing on-street parking.
• Install a temporary lane for 600m from Glenlyon Rd to Brunswick Rd, as soon as possible. This should be extended in sections up to Albion St after a brief trial of the first section. If successful, the path can be gradually extended northward.
• Install signs to direct drivers to abundant and under-used parking behind the Sydney Road shops, such as in Black St, Barkly Square and Edward St. (There are over 900 parks within 200m of Sydney Rd).
• Monitor usage by cyclists and the impact on tram and car travel times.
• Monitor the impact on local businesses and provide some support for those affected by the loss of on-street parking. This may be advertising, improvements to footpaths and rear access from off-street parking, and street furniture.

It is time for Labor to fix this problem before it gets worse.

Almost 1200 people ride down the narrow and often congested Upfield shared path to get to work each morning, with another 550 regularly using Sydney road. This new apartment development means more and more people are risking it and riding on Sydney Road.

The inner north of Melbourne is already the most bike-dense region in Victoria. People are moving into newly-built apartments around Sydney Road every day and many will want to ride to work.

Future developments and level crossing removals planned for the Upfield corridor will soon disrupt the shared path at several points along its length. Sydney Rd is now at capacity and cannot move more people without removing on-street parking to speed up the trams.

Health experts are encouraging us to leave our cars at home and ride, walk or take public transport to work. Traffic congestion and carbon pollution will only worsen unless we invest in safer cycling paths. The inner north of Melbourne is already the most bike-dense region in Victoria. People are moving into newly-built apartments around Sydney Road every day and many will want to ride to work. Future developments and level crossing removals planned for the Upfield corridor will soon disrupt the shared path at several points along its length. Sydney Rd is now at capacity and cannot move more people without removing on-street parking to speed up the trams. (Cars reversing into parks hold up traffic including trams.)

Temporary lanes can use removable bollards or similar, to be replaced by permanent lanes when engineers can arrive at the best design. Permanent bike lanes will need to incorporate the accessible tram super-stops that are planned for Sydney Road.