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Councils - Metropolitan Melbourne

Whitehorse City Council

Whitehorse draft Budget 2013/14 available for public comment

08 May 2013. Whitehorse Council's draft Budget 2013/14 is available for public comment until 29th May 2013, see council website here.

As a ratepayer and rider in the City of Whitehorse now is the time for council to hear from you if you want more funding to improve the Whitehorse riding environment. We encourage you to make a submission to council.

Bicycle Network's own budget submission to Whitehorse Council is available here.

Bicycle Network Victoria needs your membership support to continue to campaign for improving riding conditions for all riders. Become a member and receive crash cover and support, rider information and deals and help improve riding conditions.

Whitehorse riders - drafting of council Budget 2013/14 underway

05 March 2013. As you read this Council is preparing its draft 2013/14 Budget. The time to act is now for more bike infrastructure funding!

As a ratepayer and rider now is the time for Council to hear from you if you want more funding to improve the local riding environment.

Click here to tell your Council to invest in bike infrastructure (E-mail contact for Council provided) in the 2013/14 Budget.

Bicycle Expenditure Index (BiXE) 2012

15 November 2012. The City of Whitehorse’s BiXE rating for 2012 is $4.58. This is below the Middle Zone council average for 2012, which is $4.89. This is based upon council spending of $720,725 and population of 157,427.

Relevant bicycle related investment for the 2012/2013 financial year includes but is not necessarily limited to expenditure upon the following projects/programs:
• Behaviour change programs: Bike Education, community bike education program, 'Transit' school program, school and business travel planning, community events for example 'Ride to School Day' and 'Ride to Work Day', advocacy, bike path maps, implementation of Whitehorse Bicycle Strategy, Whitehorse Road Safety Strategy, and Whitehorse Green Travel Plan
• Maintenance: Maintenance of paths and facilities, drainage, vegetation control, lighting, signage, line marking, coloured pavement markings, signage upgrades, traffic signal maintenance, street sweeping
• Street lighting: Upgrades to street lighting
• Studies: Speed and volume counts
• Capital works: Traffic management improvements, reconstruction of local streets and kerb and channel, upgrade of signage and way-finding, Bushy Creek Trail East, Widen Gardiners Creek path link to Middleborough Road, Holland Gully path construction, Path and safety improvements near playgrounds, South Parade bike hoop installation, path construction Surrey Drive to Stadard Avenue

Additional spending sourced from external grants and funds may apply, but that is outside the scope of BiXE reporting.

The City of Whitehorse achieved a five-year BiXE average of $4.17. This is below the Middle Zone council five-year average for 2012, which is $5.12.

See full BiXE report available here.

VoteBike - Local Council Elections 2012

27 October 2012. Local council elections are being held in Victoria on October 27 2012. Bicycle Network Victoria is once again running VoteBike that allows riders to engage with candidates on local cycling issues. We will collect statements from potential candidates about their commitment to cycling in Whitehorse and publish them on the VoteBike Facebook event page for you to comment on.

Bicycle Network Victoria has identified the following key projects for the City of Banyule that need the support of local councilors:

To view candidate statements for Whitehorse go to our Find a Candidate page. Or to comment on candidate statements as well as voice your support for particular local cycling projects, visit our Facebook events page for Whitehorse.

VoteBike allows you to have your say and make sure your vote counts for improved cycling conditions in your local area.

New North to South bike route for Blackburn

22 July 2010. The City of Whitehorse has opened an important new North to South bike route along Surrey Road, local streets and connecting to the existing Blackburn Road bicycle lanes.

The new facility provides an important link from the Koonung Creek Trail beside the Eastern Freeway, to the south.


View Blackburn Rd - Surrey Rd Route in a larger map

In a difficult corridor the route is a sensible compromise given the current on road constraints. Bicycle Network Victoria’s preferred facility would of course be a route separated from vehicle traffic to an even greater degree, particularly at the Whitehorse Road intersection.

It is expected that in the future any redesign of this intersection by VicRoads will improve through movements for cyclists.

The Surrey Road section makes good use of the available road space with an exclusive bike lane and a shared bike/parking lane. However compromises have been made to avoid reducing vehicle capacity of the signalized intersections of Springfield Road and Whitehorse Road.

As this route is on the Principle Bicycle Network, where bikes are a priority, these issues will no doubt be re-visited in the future.

On Whitehorse Road the provision of a wide purpose built shared path to link to Railway Road and Cottage St provides a low-risk connection.. The crossing of Railway Road has a centre refuge but is uncontrolled. however there is potential to upgrade to a ‘Give Way’ format if usage warrants.

While the proposed route (discussed below) along Cottage/ MortonPark/ Blackburn Road provides a useful bypass of the very busy Blackburn rail crossing, it would be desirable to get a signed bicycle route in and out of the Blackburn Activity Centre, which is a major trip generator.

Also for cyclists riding north on Blackburn Road, the signalized intersection at the railway provides a safe crossing of Blackburn Road,allowing continuation east through Morton Park to pick up the route to Surrey Road at the rail crossing to Cottage Street.

Advisory bike lanes have been installed in Cottage Street, although there will be some conflict with industry traffic. In Morton Park there is a good path south to Central Avenue and a useful connection to the Blackburn Lake area with Advisory bike lanes on Central Road. The Central Rd Advisory lanes will provide encouragement for cyclists in the Blackburn Lake area to access the activity centre and the Blackburn Road route.

In the longer term there may be scope to upgrade the quality of this facility to an Exclusive Bike Lane.

Wolseley Crescent provides a low traffic connection to Blackburn Road and its Advisory bike lanes should raise awareness of motorists. This connection will serve south bound cyclists satisfactorily however northbound cyclists are likely to make a safer crossing of Blackburn Road to Morton Park at the signals as described above.

BiXE 2009: City of Whitehorse

Whitehorse City Council has a BiXE 2009 of $5.72 which is a good improvement on its BiXE 2008 of $2.65. This year’s result places Whitehorse slightly below the Middle Councils' average BiXE 2009 of $5.95 and above Bicycle Network Victoria’s recommended $5 per resident. Whitehorse has a 3 year BiXE average of $2.99.

Whitehorse City Council has opportunities to invest these funds into cycling infrastructure such as:
• Building the Pipeline trail. Whitehorse City Council could continue this all the way from Heatherdale Railway Station to Highbury Road. Monash City Council could then continue it all the way to Syndal Railway Station, providing a critical north-south link for recreation, commuting and the many schools along this corridor
• Upgrading the Gardiners Creek Trail and improving the link to the Blackburn area
• Providing more on road bike lanes on Council-maintained roads, particularly around schools.

Bicycle Strategy

Jul 06 Whitehorse Council have this year budgeted to review their Bicycle Strategy to help further improve cycling in their municipality. Bicycle Network Victoria looks forward to working with the council on this initiative. Register (on right) for updates so that when we find out the process is beginning we can let you know automatically.

Key projects in Whitehorse include:

Whitehorse Rd and Tram 109

The extension of tram route 109 along Whitehorse Rd has raised issues for cyclists with the installation of new platform stops.

Middleborough Rd crossing

The intersection of the railway line and Middleborough Rd is due to be realigned to ease the traffic bottleneck.

As a result Vicroads and Victrack have resolved to lower the railway line and place Middleborough Rd on an overpass. As part of this project there will be a pedestrian crossing integrated as a suspended platform from the bridge, allowing you to cross east-west between Laburnum and Box Hill.

Whilst this does not currently propose to link up with the current trail on the northern side of Bishop St which leads to Box Hill Central, it does offer hope for future possibilities as Middleborough Rd has always presented a major barrier to bike riders in this area. 

Principal Bicycle Network Routes in Whitehorse: