All candidates acknowledged the new bike infrastructure did not meet community expectations
By Cameron
Smith
Concerned residents have heard candidates for the electorate of Albert Park at a ‘Candidate Forum’ state their position on the recently installed pop-up bike lanes prior to the start of polling on Monday 14 November. Three of the candidates have provided written and firm comments, reflecting community feedback and an independent Traffix Group report on the safety of the pop-up bike lanes.
The four candidates speaking at a community forum last Thursday were provided with the Traffix report three days prior to the event, ensuring that they had time to understand the findings. Concerned residents also attended a Candidate Forum last Thursday to hear four candidates respond to the following question:
“You have all been provided with an independent risk assessment of the pop-up bike infrastructure installed throughout the electorate. The study concludes that what has been installed is unnecessary and will inevitably add to the risks for cyclists – the exact opposite of what was intended. If you are elected, will you support the removal of all of the pop-up bike infrastructure from the streets of Port Phillip?”
Please see table below for a summary of candidate positions on the pop-up bike lanes as of 14 November 2022:
|
|
CANDIDATES POP UP BIKE
LANE WRITTEN STANCE
|
|
|
Full Removal
|
Partial Removal
|
Review
|
No Commitment
|
|
Georgina Dragwidge
|
No commitment to this
|
No commitment to this
|
Yes – committed to a
complete review
|
N/A
|
|
Kim Samiotis
|
No commitment to this
|
Yes – committed to
remove those highlighted in the Traffix report and other similar installations
|
Yes – committed to
review other locations in conjunction with council and VicRoads
|
N/A
|
|
Lauren Sherson
|
Yes: committed to
immediate and full removal
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
|
Nina Taylor
|
No commitment to this
|
No commitment to this
|
No commitment to this
|
Written stance not
received from the candidate.
|
All candidates acknowledged the new bike infrastructure did not meet community expectations and three of the candidates were concerned by the conclusion of the Traffix safety assessment.
Jan Talacko who was one of the residents to commission the Traffix report said he “was astounded that Nina Taylor had not read the Traffix report prior to the forum.” Ms Taylor said it was council’s responsibility to remove or modify the infrastructure and she would respect council’s decision. Many residents found this comment to be at odds with what has been communicated by the State Government’s Department of Transport and confirmed by the City of Port Phillip, whereby it is the DoT that has confirmed budget for the removal of the pop-up infrastructure.
We also note that some of the infrastructure is installed on a State Arterial Road (the black and red roads in your Melways) such as Marine Parade/Beach Road which further emphasises a lack of understanding of the issues by Ms Taylor when she notes that “…council has discretion over the removal of the bike lanes because they are on council roads…” – this is not the case where it is a state arterial road and therefore administered by the DoT.
You can watch the candidates respond to the question in an 8 minute discussion starting at 1 hour 43 minutes 50 seconds on the recording of forum here:
In alphabetical surname order,
we provide a summary of each candidate’s written stance below:
Georgina Dragwidge
(Independent):
- My position is that the Pop-Up bike lanes
trials are a failure. There are aspects that are unsafe, over engineered and
most importantly the trial had very little to no consultation with the
community. If elected I will ask for a complete review of the trial and in
consultation with the community make a decision that is in the best interests
of all residents. I will not be making any preference deals with any party and
will work with whoever is in government to ensure that our community is heard.
Kim Samiotis (Greens):
· Having read the Traffix report and researched
the pop-up bike lane program via various avenues, I have come to the conclusion
that the only right way forward is to support the removal of the pop-up bike
lane sites that are outlined in the report and those others where these designs
are typical (i.e. with the same design risks as outlined in the Traffix
report). I note that some other sites are already undergoing changes or removal
and acknowledge that several others require further review and assessment. I
will work towards this.
·
I commit to you that I will advocate in my role
as a Member of Parliament (if elected) for safety in the community and, of
course, as a Greens MP for better, safer and more sensible bike infrastructure
to encourage active transport to be safely adopted in the community and
contribute to lowered emissions.
· With regard to the existing trial
infrastructure, I commit to advocating for the removal of sites assessed in the
Traffix report and for further review of the suitability and risks of whichever
trial sites are remaining at the time, working with VicRoads and the Port
Phillip Council, including the newly elected Mayor Heather Cunsolo to ensure
that the community voices are heard on this issue.
Lauren Sherson (Liberal):
·
The pop up bike lanes must go. All of them.
·
Like my neighbours, I was woken in the middle
of the night by road works to discover my street had become dangerous, had been
destroyed and I was never consulted. The pop-up bike lanes must go. All of
them. Unlike the Labor Party representative, if I am elected, I will instruct
the Department of Transport to immediately end the Pop Up Bike Lane trial, and
remove all the bollards, concrete blocks, speed cushions and yellow paint
across St Kilda, St Kilda West, Middle Park, Albert Park, South Melbourne and
Port Melbourne.
Nina Taylor (ALP):
·
No written response received as of 14 November
2022.
The Forum was hosted by UnChain who invited the four lead
candidates from the Liberal, Labor and Greens parties, and Independent Georgina
Dragwidge. Each of the lead candidates made an opening statement and were
invited to talk about four chosen topics.
·
Access to health services
·
Climate / Public transport
·
Victoria’s post-COVID direction (potentially
including social, cultural, economic, and budgetary issues)
·
Integrity in government.
In responding to these topics, candidates discussed both
State government policy, and the priorities for the Albert Park electorate,
followed by a Q&A session that included discussion on bike lanes.
