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South: Route 33 - Beach Road cycling

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Route 33: The world's premier cycle training route

Beach Road bikes continue Clearway quest

25 September 2008. The quest for weekend morning clearways on Beach Rd has re-ignited after a new survey revealed that cyclists are outnumbering cars three to one on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Beach Rd (Route 33) between Port Melbourne and Mordialloc is Australia’s most popular weekend cycling route, attracting keen road riders from all over Melbourne and beyond. Many of Australia’s top competitive riders train on Beach Road.

According to Bicycle Victoria the safety of riders and the public is being compromised by the failure to grasp the opportunity for the installation of morning clearways.

“It is such an obvious and effective solution, and yet it has been dragging on for three years with no resolution,” Jason den Hollander, Bicycle Victoria’s Facilities Development Manager, said today.

“We know that just one per cent of parking spaces are being utilised at 6am and only two per cent by 10am, so any inconvenience to motorists is infinitesimal if we had a clearway during those times.

“Yet the benefits of having the parking lane opened up to riders is overwhelming, increasing the space available and greatly increasing margins for safety,” he said.

Bicycle Victoria commissions traffic counts on Beach Rd on the same weekend every September. This year there were a total of 7,478 bikes between 6am and 10am compared to 2,563 cars in the same period. The number of bikes rises perceptibly in fine weather.

Route 33 has been a favourite training run for riders since the 1950s. During the nineties the numbers more than doubled until there were more than a thousand riders on weekend mornings. Since then the numbers have gone up above five thousand.

“We have an alternate vision for Beach Rd as a recreational parkway open to cyclists and local traffic on weekend mornings. We’d like to see infrastructure improvements for the road such as wider kerbside lanes, bike logos and improvements at pinch points,” Mr den Hollander said.

“Our aim to turn Beach Rd into the world's premier cycle training route—morning weekend clearways are the key,” he added.

“When Bayside Council consulted local residents on the proposal in 2006, there was a 58 per cent positive response rate, so there are no political impediments.” “It is time for the council to show some common sense and leadership,” Mr den Hollander said.

Mordialloc Creek Bridge Project - Stage 2

Jun 08 Stage Two – Demolition and reconstruction of the western section

As advised by the VicRoads Project office.

"The contractor will be commencing piling work for stage two next week, including further demolition of the existing bridge. There will be an increased level of noise and minor traffic delays. There will be some short periods of bridge closure to allow the work to continue safely. These should be limited to five minutes at any one time, subject to work requirements.

These disruptions to the bridge traffic will be kept to non-peak periods and the traffic flows will be adjusted to provide the maximum traffic capacity depending on the nature of the work. During peak times the existing arrangements will remain in place.

This work will also cause similar disruptions to boat access and pedestrian traffic.
VicRoads and the Contractor remind road users that further changes to traffic conditions are expected. To ensure the safety of workers and road users, VicRoads would like to remind motorists of the need to drive carefully, follow instructions and to be prepared for changes in traffic conditions.
Thank you for your continued patience throughout these improvement works.

If you have any queries regarding the above matter, please do not hesitate to contact Bianca Lovrecic on 9881 8753."

Road Closures on Beach Road

Jan 08 There will be a road closure in place for part of Beach Rd on Sunday 20th January due to Race 3 of the Orbea Tri Series.

Beach Rd will be closed to traffic between Dendy St and Redbluff St from 6:30am to 11:00am on the morning of the Triathlon.

No motor vehicles or recreational cyclists will be allowed on the course during these times except for the official race vehicles, lead bikes and emergency vehicles.

Mordialloc Creek Bridge Project: Wider lanes agreed

Dec 07 Thank you to all the riders that wrote to VicRoads to request bike lanes on the Mordialloc Creek Bridge. The Minister of Roads and Ports has responded to feedback and the new bridge will now be 3.9m wider. This will allow for wider pathways on both sides and 4.5m wide kerbside lanes. We have asked for the wide kerbside lanes to be marked. The Minister's press release is here.

For more information on the project please see the VicRoads website.

Jul 07 The Mordialloc Creek Bridge, Nepean Highway (Melway 92 F1) project involves the reconstruction and widening to two lanes in each direction over Mordialloc Creek. See the artist's impression below.

We're happy that VicRoads plan to provide an off road path, on the inland side of the bridge, next to the southbound travel lanes. This will be appreciated by many, including the students at Mordialloc College and Bay Trail users.

However as you can see in the picture above there are no bike lanes despite this being an extremely busy onroad bike route.

We're advocating for a defined space on the road for riders in both directions.

The City of Kingston requested that bike lanes be provided on the bridge. Unfortunately it appears that VicRoads have chosen not to provide an exclusive facility for on road riders. We are currently seeking clarification from VicRoads why there are no bike lanes on the bridge.

Bayside Council does not deliver on clearways

Oct 07 Despite over 1000 survey responses and letters supporting clearways on Beach Rd, the City of Bayside passed the following resolutions on October 1:

That weekend no stopping restrictions not be introduced along Route 33 at this time.
That when the findings of the study, researching effective enforcement and countermeasure strategies that can be implemented with respect to groups of cyclists, recommended in the Coroners report in relation to the fatal crash involving a pedestrian and a participant in the “Hell Ride” in 2006 in Mentone are available it be reported to Council for further consideration.

Bayside Council has unfortunately failed to take this opportunity to improve Beach Road for all road users.

We will be meeting with Council over the coming weeks to discuss this disappointing decision and will keep all supporters of clearways informed. Make sure you click on email me updates (above) to get the latest news.

Sep 07 Bayside City Council will be presenting the Clearways proposal to Councillors for consideration on 1 October. After discussions with the Regional Cycling Reference Group and other stakeholders, Council staff will be recommending adoption to Councillors of the proposal to introduce weekend no stopping bans along the whole length of Beach Road (Bayside) from 6am to 10am on Saturdays and Sundays.

This is a great opportunity for the cycling community to get behind the Bayside City Council to enhance Route 33 which is already Australia's most popular road cycling destination.

When Council publicly consulted Bayside residents on the proposal in 2006, there was a 58% positive response rate. A great result but some Councillors are still a bit uneasy.

We are working on a number of ways to show Councillors the widespread support for the clearways:

We will email Bayside residents we know.
Rather than fill Councillors' email boxes with messages from non-resident supporters, we are asking you to register your support for the Council's initiative by completing a short survey. We will present the results to the meeting on Monday 1 October and publish them on this page. Please tell your friends about this survey. Obviously the more people who register their support, the better.

We will report on this page how the vote goes. Register on 'Email me updates' and you will automatically be notified when we update the page.

Bayside Council closer to making Beach Rd clearways a reality

Jun 07 After an extensive consultation period showed that the majority of residents who responded support the proposal for parking clearways along Beach Road on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Council presented the results to the Regional Cycling Reference Group to seek the Group's feedback. Bicycle Victoria and the other members wholeheartedly voted to support making the clearways happen. As a result we believe that the matter will be presented to council for final consideration.

This is a positive step forward in what has been a long process. Now Bayside Council needs to make its final decision to approve the clearways.

We may be asking for your support in the near future so click on 'Email me updates' (above right) to find out future developments.

There is also a funding component which currently is unresolved. The clearways would require a change in signage along the route which needs an estimated $64,000 in funding.

The Regional Cycling Reference Group

Bicycle Victoria is a member of the Regional Cycling Reference Group formed to investigate potential improvements to cycling along Route 33. The group passed the following resolution:

Aim: To improve the operation and safety of cycling along Route 33 (Bay St Port Melbourne to Mordialloc roundabout) and make it a premier cycling boulevard by minimising the conflict between bicycles & motor vehicles.

Resolutions Passed

Jun 06 Bayside Council has passed the following resolutions:

1. Recommendations of the report "Route 33 (Elwood to Mordialloc) – Proposed Weekend Mornings No Stopping Bans" be noted.

2. Council support consultation with the community regarding the introduction of weekend no stopping bans along the whole length of Beach Road from 6am to 10am on Saturdays and Sundays, in accordance with the "Route 33 (Elwood to Mordialloc) Proposed Weekend Mornings No Stopping Bans" report.

3. Subject to all three affected Councils agreeing with the proposals of the report, it be formally communicated with the general public and that the affected residents be consulted.

See the attached document for the full Council briefing on this issue.

The resolution means that consultation is about to begin with residents that should lead to weekend 'riding time' parking bans on Beach Road. It is likely that the bans will be put in section by section and that the more difficult sections will be the last to be addressed.

Riders should start to see changes in the Bayside area in October this year. Port Philip has already begun to implement parking bans and install bike lanes. Kingston is about to put similar resolutions to Council.

Email the Mayor a thank you.

2005 Counts

Location	Date	Time	Bicycles	Motor vehicles
Wells Rd Beaumaris	Sat 23 July 2005	0600 – 1000	3100	2400
	Sun 24 July 2005	0600 – 1000	3488	2725
Total of three sites	Sat 10 Sept 2005	0600 – 2000	5039	7309
	Sun 11 Sept 2005	0600 – 2000	4489	4703

On most weekend mornings there are more cyclists than cars on Beach Rd. Our survey of cyclists numbers show over 7,000 cycle trips each weekend on Beach Rd. Many of Australia's Olympic cyclists train on Beach Rd and they attest that it is unique in the world.

We want to see Beach Rd improved for the hundreds of training cyclists using it but VicRoads does not recognise the road as part of the Principal Bicycle Network as there is a shared path alongside that cyclists can use.

We think that both on-road and off-road facilities are required for Beach Rd because it caters for high numbers of both training and recreation cyclists.

Vision for Beach Rd

We have an alternate vision for Beach Road as a recreational parkway open to cyclists and local traffic on weekend mornings. We’d like to see infrastructure improvements for the road such as wider kerbside lanes, bike logos and improvements at pinch points.

Cities like Paris, New York, Washington DC and Seattle have roads like this that attract thousands of cyclists on weekends. There is no reason why Melbourne, Australia’s cycling city, should not have one too.

Rock Creek Parkway in Washington DC is a good model. During the week it is a busy commuter road but on weekends a large section of it are closed off to motor vehicles and it becomes a recreational pathway for cyclists and others.

New York's Central Park closes it's 9.6km 6-lane road to motorised traffic during the day creating a recreational cycleway.

Paris closes expressways along the Seine River every month, creating a cycling boulevard.

Beach Rd is already regularly closed to motor vehicles on weekend mornings to accommodate fun runs and triathlons, although it's important that bicycle access through road closures is maintained for cyclists not participating in the organised events. Otherwise a detour route must be signed. This should be stipulated when permits are issued to the event organisers.

Bayside Bicycle Strategy

Dec 03 The City of Bayside has released their draft bicycle strategy which has implications for Beach Rd cycling. We support the draft strategy as it targets all riding, not just training riding on Beach Rd. We believe better access can be provide the Bay Trail shared path while still catering for training riders on Beach Rd.

Hell Ride

Mar 04 There was much press in 2002 and in Feb 04 about cycling on Beach Rd, and specifically the 'Hell Ride'. Bicycle Victoria supports the efforts to encourage safer cycling amongst cyclists, especially on the ever-popular Beach Rd.

We will never condone cyclists breaking the road rules. This includes packs of riders running red lights or riding more than two abreast. Cyclists who want motorists to share the road have got to do the same themselves. It really annoys us to see cyclists breaking the law as they are endangering themselves and others but also giving cyclists a bad name, even though the majority ofcyclists are law abiding.

Our review of cycling deaths shows that cyclists who break the law are much more likely to be killed or seriously injured. Cyclists who break the law are doing themselves and other cyclists no favours with their behaviour.

Talking about the Hell Ride and other regular weekly faster training rides on Beach Rd. Racing on the road is not on, not matter who you are. Cyclists don’t like to see motor vehicles speeding on the road and the same applies to them.

It's time some cyclists changed their behaviour and riders training for races and their clubs showed some leadership so that Beach Rd is safe for all users, including cyclists.

Bike lanes

Port Phillip council has announced it is designing plans to create a 'Speedway' (defined cycles lanes on roadways) southbound between Pickles St and Fraser St. These plans are part of atrial that will hopefully see 'Speedways' in both directions along the entire stretch of Beach Rd from Elwood to Port Melbourne.

Bicycle Victoria would like to see 1.8m lanes with extra space soaked up with a chevron zone. This will make the road safer as cars have been using the parking lane as an extra vehicle lane, even though it's not wide enough. The bike lane will prevent cars speeding alongside the parked cars.