The first tentative steps are underway to develop a better and more bike-friendly Racecourse Road through Flemington and Kensington.
The street has long been a busy bike route and has been designated a Strategic Cycling Corridor, although its bike facilities are ancient and not up to contemporary expectations.
It connects many riders from Ascot Vale, Moonee Ponds, Essendon and Keilor further afield through to Flemington Road across to North Melbourne and Parkville and down to the Melbourne CBD. It also links to the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail and the Capital City Trail via Melbourne Zoo.
It is a busy tram route and has two railway stations and serves as a bustling local activity centre, with connections to the nearby racecourse and showground.
The street is a state arterial road and forms the border between the cities of Melbourne and Moonee Valley, an arrangement which is not conducive to bold and effective decision making.
The two councils have launched a discussion paper to explore opportunities for strategic improvements to the street and are seeking community feedback:
https://participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au/racecourse-road-strategic-improvements-discussion-paper
You can download a copy of the discussion paper, fill in a survey, and attend a pop-up information session next week in Flemington (Monday 24 June and Wednesday 26 June).
Consultation is open until 10 July 2024.
Ideas include wider footpaths, kerbside bike lanes, car parking moved away from the street, and traffic lanes reduced to one in each direction.
One factor that will inevitably drive changes to the street will be the construction of accessible tram stops. These will require a major re-think of the road configuration and will require the removal of significant amounts of car parking.
Such changes will clear the way to allocate more road space to active transport.
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