BV have just updated their page on issues in the city of melbourne.
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Cycling is part of what makes Melbourne one of the world's most
liveable cities (along with the other two C's - coffee and culture)

Carlton Gardens Masterplan
The City of Melbourne is reviewing the masterplan for Carlton Gardens
and Bicycle Victoria is on the reference committee. Despite a ban on
cycling in the gardens, the wide boulevards offer an attractive route
for many cyclists and we believe that cycling can be managed in the
gardens and safe use for all garden users, including cyclists, can be
promoted. We do not support inappropriate behaviour, including fast
cycling or cyclists not giving way to pedestrians, on any shared path
or area, including in the Gardens.

Council are inviting community comment for an issue paper. Get your
comments in now Click here, or cardar@...
contributions close 28 November!

Topics we would like to look at are:


What are the major desire routes for cycling and how can we provide
for these? (eg: Queensberry to Gertrude St)

What sort of cycling should be allowed? Children, families, slower
recreational cycling, commuter cycling?

Are there alternate routes that we can upgrade so that the gardens
are not so attractive for faster commuter cyclists? We will be asking
that commuter routes around the gardens be upgraded - eg remove
parking from west side of Nicholson St to allow exclusive bike path
along east side of gardens and improve Rathdowne St lanes and
connection from Canning St to both.

How do we prevent inappropriate behaviours in the gardens? We will
support measures to educate and enforce against unsafe cycling -
cyclists will have to give way to pedestrians and control speeds on
any shared path.

How do we enforce the rules of the gardens? What is practical and
effective and what is not given the role of the gardens

Cycling Boulevards
Bicycle Victoria strongly supports the City of Melbourne plans to
vastly improve its world famous Boulevards for cyclists. Currently
Royal Parade, Flemington Rd and St Kilda Rd carry about 1200 cyclists
each weekday from 7-9am or 4800 cyclists for the full day on these
routes. Given that a 3m lane can carry 8000 bicycles per hour but
only around 1000 cars per hour, converting a parking or motor vehicle
lane to a bike path on these boulevards makes a lot of sense in terms
of better use of the road space. Creating cycling boulevards has the
potential to at least triple or quadruple the number of cyclists
riding into the city each day to 50,000 from the current 12,000. It
will help ease congestion and air pollution but will also calm the
roads and make them a much better place to visit, live and do
business.

Cycling in the CBD

The other part of the equation is creating safe and attractive routes
in and through the CBD itself as the boulevards only get you to the
edge of the city. Bike lanes and paths and cycle friendly lanes and
streets are essential in the CBD if we are going to make it an even
more liveable city.

Melbourne City has done some good work in building lanes and paths in
recent years, especially in the inner north. It has done little,
however, to give cyclists safer places to ride in the CBD or to fix
important gaps in the city's cycling network. Its time for the City
to get serious about planning for cycling and making Melbourne a
world class cycling city.

The highest priorities for the City of Melbourne are:

Planning and building bicycle routes into and through the CBD. This
is where most cycling occurs and where most cycle crashes are.
Council are investigating options for north-south and east-west bike
routes through the CBD.

Filling the major gaps in the city's off-road path network. This
includes the Manningham St bridge on the Capital City Trail in
Parkville and the Melbourne Experience Trail on both sides of the
Yarra from Princes Bridge to the Webb Bridge

Cycling on Swanston St
Bicycles are part of a successful and bustling Swanston St. With the
City of Melbourne considering changes to Swanston St - including
reintroduction of cars and tram super stops - Bicycle Victoria has
prepared a position paper on the issue (download at right).

All around the world friendly, bustling streets like Swanston are
successful because they attract more people, who stay longer and
spend more. Trams, pedestrians and cyclists help make Swanston a
successful street with a unique Melbourne flavour.
The reintroduction of private motor vehicles would be a step
backwards, not forward.

Bike parking in the CBD - 10,000 bike parking spaces by 2010
At Ride to Work Day 2003, the Lord Mayor John So announced that the
City of Melbourne has committed to installing 8000 new on-street bike
parking spaces in addition to the existing 2000 by 2010. This is a
great initiative but does not negate the need for a public bike
station in the CBD and high quality, undercover parking stations at
popular cycling destinations such as the cinemas and major buildings.
A great example is the Nova Cinema in Carlton which has dozens of
bicycles parked in front on the footpath each night. Removing two on-
street car parks would make room for undercover bike parking for

Sandridge Bridge
Nov 03 The State Govt and City of Melbourneˇ¦s vision for the
historical Sandridge Rail Bridge and Queensbridge Square is for a
public space with a long awaited shared path link between the banks
of the Yarra

Federation Square bike parking
Having trouble finding a parking spot at Fed Square? Write to
Federation Square at fedsq@...
The more correspondence they receive from cyclists, the greater the
priority for installing more bike parking. You should also include
suggested locations for bike parking (ie. not hidden away in a dark
corner). CC a copy to Bicycle Victoria and City of Melbourne
(enquiries@...)

Capital City Trail at Southbank
Council has done a back-flip, claiming that the Capital City Trail
through Southbank is not a bike route. Despite Southbank being a
shared zone for pedestrians and cyclists since the promenade was
opened, Council is claiming that the bike route is only 'proposed'.
In recent weeks 'Cyclists Dismount' signs have been installed at
Princes Bridge and Council have stated in correspondence that they
consider the promenade is 'a non-designated bicycle area'.

This view is contradictory to the Capital City Trail map published by
City of Melbourne in 1993, Parks Victoria's Open Space Strategy
released in 1992 and Melway maps - which all recognise Southbank as a
shared zone for cyclists and pedestrians.

A copy of the letter Bicycle Victoria sent to Council can be viewed
(see link at right)