Vicroads’ plan to ease congestion: make motorists walk

By Matt Brogan | February 26th, 2010

As the controversy over Melbourne’s clearways continues, state roads department Vicroads has said today that certain roads through popular shopping districts will be made “less attractive” to motorists in a bid to ease congestion.

The move is designed to force more drivers to walk, ride pushbikes, or rely on already over-burdened public transport.

Certain retail strips in Melbourne’s inner-city suburbs of Richmond and South Yarra could face car bans under the plan which some traders – already at the centre of a row with local councils and state government – say will drive even more customers away from the popular dining and shopping areas.

The new blueprint, to be ironically dubbed ‘SmartRoads’, will be used to redesign roads giving higher priority to public transport, foot and pedal traffic.

“People will be encouraged to walk and cycle by making places more pedestrian-friendly,” the VicRoads document said.

“(It will ensure) cyclists and pedestrians have access to activity centres and public transport services.

“Certain routes will be managed to work better for cars and trucks, and others will be managed for public transport, cyclists and pedestrians.”

With Herald-Sun

AAA

When will the public transport ever catch up?
AB

So where is the parking infrastructure that allows these plans to be put in place if you cant park on these streets?

There is no suitable city bound public transport servicing most parts of Melbournes North-East so that rules out using public transport.

What about a Railway ring around the metro area similar to the Northern/Western Ring Roads so residents have the choice to get between neighbouring suburbs rather than having to go all the way into the city and back out again!
Michael Sutcliffe

I can’t help but think this is just another government missing the obvious. Small electric vehicles and motorscooters are the way of the future for city transport. Making it hard for people to travel is just being stupid while pigheadedly enforcing the green religion.

Jason Wallace

Mike – did you learn that at UMIST?

http://www.insidetorque.com IT

A few obvious oversights come to mind:
- Previous plans to make a road “less attractive” have only seemed to increase congestion
- I can’t even fit on our overcrouded public transport, let alone with shopping bags to boot
- If people have to walk longer or take public transport it will reduce what how much they can purchase (there IS a limit to what a person can carry!) so retailers will suffer and in turn these “shopping” districts
- Where it the parking for all of these people who “Park & Ride?”
- What if it’s over 25c, below 15c or raining? This is Melbourne, public transport doesn’t operate under these conditions!

How about VicRoads looks after their constituents – the drivers, and leave the hair-brained schemes to unwashed hippys!
F1 Addict

I think in inner city subrubs where public transport is abundant the plan can work. My daily commute consists of a brisk 500m walk past stationary cars stuck in a traffic jam to a 3 quarters full tram which takes 10 minutes to get me to work ahead of cars I overtook walking. I realise alot of people need to drive their cars to work because they either need to use them during the day or they live in areas not privelaged enough to have public transport but alot of people I walk past in the traffic jam would surely have a choice to leave their cars at home but are either too elitist, proud or stupid to do it.
Valet Dabess

that’s ok just make public transport cheap or free
runnaln

Funny that on one Hand they want to ease congestion, for Motorists on the other in the SE on roads that compete with East ink they want to increase congestion by narowing roads and puting in Bus Lanes (Springvale, Warrigal, Centre Dandy)
greenroom

vic roads.. smart roads.. no roads.. bring back jeff and horses and 6.00 o’clock closing and vfl and collingwood winning a grand final and leaded petrol and foys and cracker night. we all should go on the dole and stay home, that’d help congestion.. i could ride my horse down brunswick street for a latte. can you take a horse on the tram?

john

Yep you can do that. Just tell them it is a seeing eye horse.
Yonny

It’s not widely known but trams used to be very horse-friendly. They had low ramps, free hay and stalls which allowed horses to travel with their heads out the windows. Premier Thomas Hollway put a stop to it on October 30, 1952 – and was rolled as premier a few days later.

filippo

Very typical of Vicroads (and the Vic govt in general) to spend billions on making Melbourne a city dependent on cars while at the same time preventing people from using them. And meanwhile they continue to use lame excuses to prevent themselves committing to a new metro project for Melbourne. What a disgrace.
Shak

if somebody wants to drive they are going to, No matter how ‘unattractive’ a road is people will use it, and under these stupid plans, the congestion will get worse as people are forced to move slower to avoid damagaing their cars. The thing is the people who bought cars, bought them for a reasopn ,BECAUSE THEY DIDNT WANT TO WALK OR CYCLE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!
JON

ALL WELL AND GOOD FOR THOSE WHO LIVE IN THESE AREAS WHO CAN CHOOSE TO WALK OR CYCLE. MOST OF THE TRAFFIC THROUGH THESE STREETS IS MADE UP OF PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO GET TO WORK VIA ANOTHER ROUTE BECAUSE THE NORMAL WAY TO WORK FOR THEM IS ALREADY CONGESTED AND NON-FUNCTIONAL.
Millatime

I feel so sorry for Victorians with their monumentally corrupt State Government. Living in a Police State – revenue cameras are set to book motorists at 103 kph in a 100 zone when government ADR specs allow + – 10% on speedos, new toll roads are built (a good thing!) but then surrounding arterial roads are modified to congest and or funnel traffic onto the toll roads. Vicroads is now deciding what cars can and can’t be sold in Victoria. Self serving politicians and unelected bureacrats are continually caught with their snouts in the trough, at our expense.

We are over governed and therefore over taxed. Malcolm Fraser advocates abolishing State Governments and the canny old bugger is 100% right. Different licensing and road rules for different states is ridiculous. What is legal on the roads in some states is illegal in others. If the law is to be respected and upheld then this situation is insanity.

Unfortunately, as Australians most of us would rather got to the beach, watch a game of footy or have a BBQ than take an interest in politics, so government fat cats just get fatter and incrementally increase their power and regulation over us every day.

As Australians, we need to change the way we conduct politics, to keep the bastards honest.

The Realist

The states need to be abolished.

But then the mass of dimwits inhabiting Oz will decide to voye against it when cries of “unemployment for public officials” reach the streets.

People need to realise that most public servants would be more productive say ironing my clothing than working in the roles they do now. They are a waste of space.

MJ

Demolish a few houses, and build a freeway there. Easy done! That’s how the Sydney Harbor Bridge was built.

Shak

In a time when hardly anyone knew their property, and most were poor labourers. If you were to do that nowadays, you would have seventy politicians and civil groups up your face, about some endangered animal or some poor family who cant move anywhere else.

Elitist

Give us Japanese grade public transport and we’ll start talking…
steve

hey guys stop bitching, if our ministers are ok with walking with a handfull of shopping and waiting for a crowded 1970′s public transport, while its blowing a gale and raining or 40c in the sun, then i say its good enough for us !
I think when ministers hear of this fantastic new proposal from VICROADS they will giveup their government cars and drivers and walk with us.
Derr
pirakavezok

This has been going on in Europe for a long time, even in smaller towns. Cars are barred from popular shopping areas for health and safety reasons. I’m surprised that traders are against this as it makes the shopping experience more relaxing hence shoppers will tend to spend more time shopping and eating.