-----Original Message-----
From: Roderick Smith [mailto:rodsmith@werple.net.au]
Sent: Tuesday, 25 April 2017 8:46 AM
To: 'transportdownunder@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: snippets, Fri.14.4.17

Attached:

170413Th Melbourne 'Age' - St Kilda Rd, existing bikelanes.

170414F Melbourne 'Herald Sun' - letters, Myki & Metro cf interstate.

Roderick.

There was no Metro Twitter item, and no Melbourne Express blog.

April 14 2017 Premier Daniel Andrews intervenes on safer bicycle lanes plan
for St Kilda Road .
Premier Daniel Andrews has intervened in a squabble between VicRoads and a
local council over bike lanes along St Kilda Road, pouring cold water over a
project to make cycling safer along the boulevard.
Mr Andrews, talking on 3AW on Friday morning, told radio host Neil Mitchell
that a plan by VicRoads and Port Phillip Council for safer bike lanes on St
Kilda Road would not go ahead.
"I see some stuff today about more bike lanes. We won't be having any of
that," Mr Andrews told Mr Mitchell.
Katherine Copsey, acting mayor of Port Phillip Council, on St Kilda Road.
Photo: Joe Armao.
The Premier said St Kilda Road is to be disrupted for construction of the
Melbourne Metro rail tunnel, and that changing the bike lanes could create
more problems for car drivers.
"We've got enough disruption at the moment because of the infrastructure
we're building," Mr Andrews said.
"St Kilda Road is going to be different for five years because of the Metro
Tunnel. The notion of then making it even harder for traffic to move through
there ... that doesn't make any sense to me," Mr Andrews said.
Port Phillip Council and VicRoads are in dispute about the design of safer
cycling lanes on St Kilda Road.
The council wants "Copenhagen-style" protected lanes next to the kerb along
the length of St Kilda Road. VicRoads is proposing cycling lanes be moved
into the centre of the road, a scheme that would not mean fewer lanes for
cars.
Mr Andrews' comments came despite VicRoads saying on Thursday that their
plan to make cycling safer on St Kilda Road would involve no reduction in
traffic lanes for cars.
A spokesman for the Premier later said Mr Andrews was merely saying there
would be no reduction in car lanes on St Kilda Road.
Port Phillip council's acting mayor, Greens member Katherine Copsey, said
the civic authority had been working for some time with VicRoads on safety
improvements for St Kilda Road bike paths.
She said she was surprised by the Premier's comments, and that the council
would be seeking clarification from the state government.
Mr Andrews is not the first senior Labor state MP to wade into a debate
about protecting the rights of motorists on St Kilda Road.
A decade earlier, the then roads minister Tim Pallas - now Victoria's
treasurer - weighed in on a similar plan by Melbourne City Council for
protected bicycle lanes along the length of St Kilda Road.
"People have a right to drive their cars, and they have a right to do it
without being impeded up on . for the purposes of looking after 2000
cyclists," Mr Pallas said in 2007.
Despite debate ever since about protected bicycle lanes on the boulevard,
little has changed to offer cyclists greater protection from vehicles.
The St Kilda Road bike route is one of Melbourne's busiest, but it also has
one of the highest rates in Victoria of reported crashes involving car doors
and cyclists.
In the five years to 2015, there were 122 cyclists recorded as injured on
the strip. There were also 74 accidents recorded involving pedestrians in
this period.
About 3000 people ride along St Kilda Road each day, and it is also used by
41,000 motorists.
<www.theage.com.au/victoria/premier-daniel-andrews-intervenes-on-safer-bicyc
le-lanes-plan-for-st-kilda-road-20170414-gvl1w4.html>