2 Comments so far ↓

• Rob Eke // Sep 27, 2008 at 10:06 pm

  This is such an important issue, it is now beyond the local Councils’ and it is now up to the Premier of Victoria who must act to provide sense and safety to Beach Rd. This high profile attraction for recreation and tourism is an International venue of great significance to this State in terms of profile, it has been the site of International events with the Commonwealth Games Time Trial Course and other International events are scheduled. The current dangerous conditions present hazards to hundreds of motorists and thousands of cyclists every weekend. The Bayside Council and Kingston Council have abrogated their responsibilities to decide on this roadway. They failed to implement the will of the people following extensive public consultation and positive recommendations from their own staff, VicRoads and the Police. All stakeholders want this clearway, a few Counillors have let their personal interests place lives at risk and refused to be transparent in their deliberations behind closed doors after all public consultation and discussion was done. We do not want another Swanston Street where Council inaction and self interest of business has contributed to the tragic death of a 33 year old pregnant cyclist due to choke points between trams and parked buses. That cannot be repeated or forgotten.
  I call on the Premier to instruct his relevant officers to implement a clearway strategy for weekends on Beach Rd, and to remove dangerous choke points from Beach Road (Route 33). The health and well being of thousands of Victorians, and visitors depends on it. Mr Brumby, do not fail your State on this.
  Beach Road Cyclist has been the primary motivator for this important life saving initiative since 2003, other stakeholders are working with Beach Road Cyclist to encourage commonsense and a positive outcome before any more lives have been lost. There have been fatalities and serious injuries here, and with Summer of 2008/9 afoot, we expect 20-25,000 cyclists to be using this roadway in both directions from Port Melbourne to Mordialloc every weekend. Does Mr Brumby want to see 20 or so riders go under a semi trailer because a parked car forces riders closer to the right hand lane. Riders massively outnumber cars on weekends and it is only parked cars, and unnecessarily parked cars at that which are the major cause of the problems, added with bad road design on several choke points which can easily be remedied by removal to provide a clear passage in the left lane for the full length of Beach Rd. This allows all riders to safely stay within the lane. As it stands riders can legally ride on the right hand lane for the bulk of Beach Road, due to parked cars. Do drivers want that to be the case, if more and more riders use this road, that is the only solution and no car or truck will be able to use Beach Road, as your speed will be limited to 25-35 kph both ways.
  Riders do not want to slow down cars or cause any obstruction , just as much as drivers do not want to run over anyone. The death of any road user is a tragedy for all concerned and stays with the driver for the remainder of their life. Do not let this happen Mr Brumby. Implement a clearway on Beach Rd on weekends. You owe it to your State and it is past time it was done.
  I call on all who ride Beach Road to write to Mr Brumby, Premier of Victoria to respond with action to do so.

  Ride safe, Ride with Visibility and Ride to obey the Law. Cheers
  Rob Eke, CoConvenor, Wheels of Justice Cycling Safety Advocacy Group

• Michael Forbes » Blog Archive » I want to ride my bicycle … I want to ride my bike // Oct 2, 2008 at 11:39 pm

  [...] so he still seems in a good frame of mind. We have also started talking to the wonderful folk at http://beachrdcyclist.com.au who are doing some great work at the moment on clearway times for beach rd – one of Mike’s [...]