UPDATE 24 April 2025
Yarra City Council has doubled down on its disturbing decision two weeks ago to reconfigure the Elizabeth Street bike lanes so they do not conform to accepted standards.
In an Extraordinary Meeting held on Tuesday 22 April to straighten out the muddled drafting of the key resolution on 8 April, the council repeating its original decision, this time with greater clarity.
In a bid to squeeze more car parking in a street that is already underoccupied, the council is narrowing the separated bike lane.
The Mayor, Stephen Jolly, informed the meeting that he has communicated with state government officials and was given the all-clear to proceed.
These communications were among the matters considered by the council as it made its decision, yet no details have been made available regarding the position or expertise of the officials consulted, and if their advice is in writing. Cr Jolly should release this information as it appears to have been relied upon as a basis for the decision.
Another matter for concern is that Cr Jolly at the 8 April meeting substituted the formal recommendations and supporting papers with improvised resolutions that had not been circulated with adequate prior notice to fellow councillors or members of the public.
It is expected that council officers will proceed with the requested re-design, which is likely to take some months.
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In a shambolic meeting on Tuesday 8 April, a majority of Yarra City councillors rejected the officers’ recommendation for 2.1m wide bike lanes on Elizabeth Street.
Mayor Jolly dismissed the officers’ designs in favour of alternative concepts that may have been grudgingly acceptable 20 years ago but do not follow contemporary design or safety guidance.
At the time of writing this report, the council minutes are not available, and as no prior notification was given of Mayor Jolly’s extraordinary plans, there is considerable uncertainty surrounding his intentions.
If it turns out that the council does intend to build narrow, substandard bike lanes along the street, there will inevitably be a revolt from the bike riding community. Most riders no longer accept having their health and welfare unnecessarily threatened to supply car parking, especially when the existing parking is being under-utilised.
The Elizabeth Street project is one of the most critically important in the Melbourne metropolitan area, forming a continuation of the Albert Road route from the city centre.
It has been under development by the City of Yarra for more than a decade, with a trial configuration with separated bike lanes currently in place.
At Tuesday’s meeting, councillors were to vote on an officer recommendation to continue with the trial until the end of the year while final designs for the permanent design are completed.
The recommendation – 2.1m wide lanes – was backed by an exceptionally thorough 160-page report, which mounted a bulletproof case for the project to continue as planned.
Yet, following the council election last year which resulted in several fresh faces, there have been swerves in policy that suggest the integrity of the Elizabeth Street project could be sacrificed for more car parking.
Parking studies along the street have clearly shown that much of the parking available is not being utilised.
Bicycle Network CEO, Alison McCormack said that Melbourne’s inner suburbs are choked with traffic and roads without decent bike facilities are risky places for bike riders and other road users.
"The council and the state government have spent many years planning for Elizabeth Street to be the main east–west corridor into the north-west of the city from Richmond.”
"We must ensure that this plan is not compromised in any way,” she said.
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