Cycling in Melbourne Australia
BUG in Prahran/Stonnington
Otherwise I would like to know if anyone in Prahran, Windsor, Toorak, etc would be interested in making an online group, say on Facebook or Google? It may make it easier to get some improvements to roads in Stonnington which are very lacking, particularly in trying to access the trail along the Yarra, as well as the legitimacy of the Chapel Street bike lanes. The new state member for Prahran, Clem Newton Brown appears to be fairly responsive at the moment if you message him via Twitter!
While Booroondara and Yarra both have a BUG that appear to lobby pretty well, there isn't too much going on South of the river, unless there is a group which exists but doesn't have a website that can be found by Googling?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Zed on
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Hi Adrian
Boroondara BUG (BBUG) has an interest in Stonnington as the Gardiners Creek Trail crosses back and forth between the two Councils. Likewise BBUG members regularly ride through Stonnington including the Yarra Trail, Chapel St, Malvern Valley Public Golf course, Malvern Rd, Belgrave Rd, Tooronga Rd, etc. BBUG also has members in Stonnington.
BBUG has spent the last four years encouraging Stonnington Council to improve its cycling infrastructure with very little success. Refer to BBUG's Stonnington pages and some of the submissions BBUG has made to Council, one of which included a petition signed by over 500 people. It was ignored. These few documents represent just a small portion of our communications with Council, let alone the time spent attending Council meetings and talking to Councillors.
Stonnington Council, an inner city Council, currently do not appear to understand the demand for improvements in their area. BBUG is working towards changing that. BBUG would encourage anyone interested, to join the effort in lobbying Stonnington Council. BBUG is also interested in any complaints or ideas that you may have. Please email BBUG at the Stonnington email address. Don't expect any results any time soon.
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Permalink Reply by Adrian Wal on -
Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I have read quite a bit through the Boroondara BUG Wiki. Might see if I can get along to the next meeting.
I commute to work in Hawthorn, so half the trip takes place in Boroondara. There is a noticeable difference between Stonnington Council and the other in respect of cycling. I asked the council in Boroondara for a bike rack outside work, and got 2.
For example, the most direct way to get to Burwood Rd is to travel over the MacRobertson Bridge. No bike lanes until one gets to Grange Rd, Toorak, past the Toorak Village shops. This bike lane finishes as quickly as it starts. Lots of honking in the afternoon trying to get up the hill on Grange Rd. I have decided that due to stressed out drivers making bad and illegal decisions it is easier to loop onto the trail along Alexandra Ave for a bit, then walk the bike across to Winifred Cres, which is a dead end for cars, and continue up to Toorak Rd. Besides this the council has only installed some little blue signs which say "bike route" on some 40km/h streets, connected by pedestrian crossings with no bike lanterns, and cars speeding past at 60-80 km/h, well aware they want to beat you to the chicane ahead!
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