I am extremely frustrated that the Department of Transport & Planning (DTP) has not acted on a request from Port Phillip Council to remove the pop-up bike lanes almost 16 weeks since Council voted to remove the pop-up bike lanes.
I am one of a group of concerned Port Phillip residents who commissioned the report by respected traffic engineering consultants Traffix which concluded that the pop-up bike lanes infrastructure was misconceived, unnecessary and posed a danger to both cyclists and drivers alike.
I have written to Melissa Horne (MP, Department of Transport & Planning and Local Government) and Nina Taylor (MP, Albert Park) to express my extreme frustration with the total failure of the Department to act on the resolution passed by the City of Port Phillip on 8th December to remove portions of the dangerous and unnecessary blocks of concrete and other ‘pop-up bike infrastructure’ installed by DTP. Below is a copy of my email to Melissa Horne, Nina Taylor and Josh Burns (MP, Macnamara) sent on 6th March.
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Dear Melissa, Nina & Josh
I have received no response at all to my email sent on 26th February, so I am writing to you once again to urge you to act to remove the pop-up bike infrastructure.
Frankly, I am astonished at the utter lack of response from any of you in circumstances where:
The Council resolution was passed 13 weeks ago
Nina Taylor made the following pre-election commitment to the community.
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Here is an extract of Nina Taylor’s letter to me in November 2022.
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I have read the Traffix report with interest, and I believe it provides a thoughtful and thorough assessment of this temporary infrastructure. As the Labor candidate for Albert Park, the safety of residents is of utmost importance to me.
Since the installation of the pop-up bike lanes, I have had a great many conversations with constituents who are advocating for their removal. I share the concerns of residents regarding the safety of cyclists and road users, as well as the lack of community consultation by the Council and the Department.
That’s why, on multiple occasions, I have relayed the concerns that residents have raised with me in meetings with Minister Ben Carroll, which has led to the removal of several of the most problematic bike lanes.
My commitment is absolutely clear: if I am elected at the upcoming state election, I will work with the City of Port Phillip, the Department of Transport and the Minister to remove the remaining pop-up bike lanes. I support active transport infrastructure that is properly designed and developed in consultation with the community.
More accidents have occurred directly because of the hard infrastructure the Department installed in our streets – refer to the Facebook post below from Reg Crawford as yet another example.
“We need to get rid of the concrete blocks. They are dangerous to cyclists as well. My good friend, a very good cyclist brushed the edge of one of the concrete blocks yesterday, went over the handlebars and ended up in trauma with fractures to ribs, collarbone and scapula”.
These installations have caused several accidents already so it is mystifying that you have not yet acted to remove this junk from our streets particularly since both of your ALP colleagues elected to represent our community agree with the overwhelming sentiment in the Port Phillip/Albert Park community that this experiment has failed and the concrete blocks and other items must go.
You should all be ashamed - there is no credible explanation for your collective failure in these circumstances!
Nina –the promise you made to the Port Phillip community is now ringing very hollow indeed – are you going to continue to remain silent?
Melissa & Nina: I once again urge you to take action before more accidents occur.
Please confirm when removal of the infrastructure will take place.
Three weeks have passed since I sent the email above but I have still not received any response.
HOW MANY MORE INCIDENTS WILL IT TAKE TO GET OUR 'REPRESENTATIVES’ TO ACT IN THE COMMUNITY INTEREST?
Yours sincerely
Jan Talacko
