Project Background:

We're taking steps over the next ten years to make our cycling network safe and accessible for people of all ages and abilities.

This New Deal for Cycling Network is a direct response to objectives in our Council Plan 2021-25 and Yarra’s Transport Strategy 2022-32 that aim to improve the safety, connectivity, and accessibility of our street network.

The New Deal for Cycling Network is a network of key routes across the City of Yarra. Each route is assessed for risk against a range of factors, including traffic volumes, speed limit and existing road conditions. When the Transport Strategy was adopted in 2022, only 39% of the routes reach minimum safety compliance for cycling.

We will be running pilots and trials to test new road layouts, additions of bike lanes and upgrades to intersections that aim to make these routes safer and compliant. These pilots and trials will use temporary infrastructure to help us assess the effectiveness of the changes before they are made permanent.

It can be difficult to make substantive changes when we run testing after a project has been delivered, so by using pop-ups, pilots and trials, projects can be delivered faster and in greater number than standard permanent delivery techniques. They also provide key information that can support a project design process where there is room for adjustments.

The New Deal for Cycling Network also utilises many signalised intersections. The upgrades to these intersections will help provide a safe experience for people of all ages and abilities on bikes and scooters via one of more of the following measures:

• installing bike boxes
• installing bike hook-turn boxes
• installing bike detector loops and headstart lanterns
• constructing protected bike lanes, intersections and roundabouts
• removing left-turning traffic lanes that cut across the bike lane on approaches
• installing green waves during weekday peak hours that prioritise cyclists in signal phasing

Three intersection upgrades have been tested from June 2023 as part of a pilot program. They include:

• an upgrade at the intersection of Nicholson Street, Lennox Street and Victoria Street in North Richmond
• an upgrade on Coppin Street where the street intersects with Swan Street and Bridge Road in Richmond

What did we ask?

Since June 2023 we have asked a variety of transport users if they had any comments on the upgrades and how the change affected their travel experience. This feedback was collated along with traffic studies, site observations and crash statistics to inform our decision making on the permanent designs for these intersections. The process to finalise these designs will take approximately 12 months and we are aiming to notify the community of the next steps in mid-2025.

What did we hear?

Some of our findings for the Nicholson Street upgrade pilot include:

• 61% of the comments received on the Nicholson Street upgrade were supportive of the intervention and 26% were not supportive.
• The other 13% discussed comments on transport in Yarra overall or elements not directly related to the upgrade.
• There was a 63% increase in total cyclist volumes post-implementation on Lennox Street south of Victoria Street with 7-day average daily volumes increasing from 472 to 768 per day.
• No crashes were reported at these intersections during the pilot trial period.

Some of our findings for the Coppin Street upgrade pilot include:

• 46% of comments received on the Coppin Street upgrade were supportive of the intersection upgrades whilst 42% were not supportive.
• Almost all unsupportive comments referenced temporary removal of the second southbound traffic lane at the Swan Street intersection and allegedly increased traffic queuing. This has been referenced within the report to the Department of Transport and Planning and will be considered as part of the final design process.
• There was a 287% increase in northbound cyclist volumes on Coppin Street south of Bridge Road with 7-day average daily volumes increasing from 30 to 116 per day.
• There was a 99% increase in southbound cyclist volumes on Coppin Street north of Swan Street with 7-day average daily volumes increasing from 76 to 151 per day.
• There was a 91% increase in southbound cyclist volumes on Coppin Street south of Swan Street with 7-day average daily volumes increasing from 64 to 122 per day.
• No crashes were reported at these intersections during the pilot trial period.

What comes next?

The process to finalise these designs will take approximately 12 months and we are aiming to notify the community of the next steps in mid-2025.

Visit the project page.

To read more about this consultation please visit the "Testing improvements to Yarra's cycling network" project page.