A decision to include a trial bike path as part of the reconstruction of Summerhill Road has divided Maribyrnong councillors and the community.
At a meeting on September 19, councillors disagreed with one another over the “rushed” decision to include pop-up style infrastructure for cycling.
The decision delighted cyclists, but raised concerns among some residents about loss of car parking and lack of public consultation.
The plan for a two year trial of pop-up infrastructure, put forward in a motion by Cr Bernadette Thomas, was approved by a majority of councillors four votes to three. However the following day mayor Sarah Carter said she felt she had no choice but to lodge a rescission motion to be heard at the next council meeting on October 17.
“We need a holistic approach and not just rush into this without consulting everyone, so I hope that the motion will be rescinded,” she said.
“The motion that was adopted by council at the last ordinary council meeting, didn’t provide for consultation with the community.
“It’s not that we’re against cycling infrastructure, we are all for it, and understand that we need to do more in the west.”
Mayor Carter said council officers had also not been consulted prior to the decision.
“Due process has not been followed as there has been no input from the expertise that we have within the organisation, those being road and traffic engineers and managers,“ she said.
Councillor Simon Crawford was one of four councillors who voted in support of the bike lane trial.
Cr Crawford said he was disappointed with Cr Carter’s decision to rescind the motion as he feels there has already been community consultation.
“My biggest frustration at the moment is to see the mayor speaking out publicly against the council’s decision,” he said.
“We have already done a lot of consulting with the community around bike infrastructure over the last few years and the vast majority of people support it.”
Cr Crawford is confident if the decision is made to keep the cycling infrastructure, it will be a popular one within the community.
“It is one of those things you have to just give it a go and see how it works out.“
Given the bike lanes will be on trial for two years, Cr Crawford said this will be another chance for the community to provide feedback.
“Absolutely we should be engaging with residents along the way, but at the same time, we know that this kind of infrastructure is really important to residents so it’s something that we do want to try,“ he said.
Summerhill Road resident and “avid cyclist“ Tim Chandler said more commuity consultation is imperative.
“A lot of us are feeling frustrated because there’s been no consultation by council, they have not followed council process, they have done no planning,“ he said.
“Council needs to do some long term planning, rather than make knee jerk decisions by listening to the loudest voice and making a really poorly informed decision without consulting the community.”
In an open email to Cr Clarke, Mr Chandler said there are better options for a safe north south cycling route through Footscray, which build on existing infrastructure and do not include Summerhill and Rosamond roads.
“The most effective and timely solution to making Summerhill and Rosamond roads safer for everyone is to lower the speed limit to 30km and introduce safe pedestrian crossings.“
Pierre Vairo, who also lives on Summerhill Road, was one of 12 speakers who pledged support for safe cycling at the council meeting.
“We were pretty happy with the results from the meeting but that lasted 24 hours when we heard about the rescission motion, which is disappointing,“ he said.
“We understand some people will be inconvenienced but inconvenience needs to be weighed against the wider social benefits for the people of Maribyrnong as a whole for transport justice and for climate reasons.
“If the decision is made to do consultation, then we’ll obviously be a big part of that.
“We’ll try to explain to the broader community what these bike lanes would do for them.”
