Bicycle Network: Directory

Stonnington draft Budget 2013/14 available for public comment

08 May 2013. Stonnington Council's draft Budget 2013/14 is available for public comment until 20th May 2013, see council website here.

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

Bicycle Network's own budget submission to Stonnington 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.

Stonnington riders - drafting council Budget 2013/14 underway

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

Last financial year council committed $6.77 per resident on bike related infrastructure.

Cycling participation in Stonnington is on the increase: On census day in 2011, 1,213 people rode to work by bicycle. In the 2006 census, this number was 865. (This is a +40.23% change).

Click here to tell your Council to invest in bike infrastructure (E-mail contacts for local Council and Councillors provided) in the 2013/14 Budget, to keep up with the increase in riders in Stonnington.

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

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.

More information can be found in the Bicycle Expenditure Index (BiXE) report.

Bicycle Expdenditure Index (BiXE) 2012

17 November 2012. The City of Stonnington’s BiXE rating for 2012 is $6.77. This is below the Inner Zone council average for 2012, which is $16.89. This is based upon council spending of $685,000 and population of 101,192.

Relevant bicycle related investment for the 2012/2013 financial year includes but is not necessarily limited to expenditure upon the following projects/programs:
• Implementation of on-road bicycle facilities: Implementation of on-road bicycle facilities - including bicycle lanes, head-start boxes and bicycle parking
• Implementation of green bicycle lane or parking lane in Chadstone Road between shopping centre access and Waverley Road
• Installation of bicycle loop counters: Installation of in-pavement loop counters for on-going monitoring of cycle usage - 1 site per year
• Track along VicTrack land feasibility study: Feasibility study for bicycle track along VicTrack land
• Implementation of programs and promotion of Stonnington Cycling Strategy to support infrastructure implementation plan
• Maintenance and upgrade of off-road shared trails e.g. Gardiners Creek and Yarra Trail
• Installation of solar bike path markers
• Bike path improvement: Grange Road underpass realignment and annual rolling program
• Yarra Trail upgrade works: Bike track improvements
• Bike paths strategic review
• Bike related activities as part of the active living program

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

The City of Stonnington achieved a five-year BiXE average of $4.57. This is below the Inner Zone council five-year average for 2012, which is $10.81.

See full BiXE report available here.

See media 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 you to engage with potential candidates on local cycling issues. We will collect statements from candidates about their commitment to cycling in Stonnington 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 Stonnington that need the support of local councilors: 

• Chapel Street - Continue to advocate for upgrades to Chapel Street bike lanes.
• Gardiners Creek Trail - Upgrade this route from Warrigal Rd to Solway Bridge and High Street to Brixton Rise.
• Curb out parking in activity centres - Get behind vibrant shopping strips by supporting on street bike parking.
• Ride2School - Continue to provide safe routes to schools foster healthy transport options for kids and reduce peak morning traffic congestion by up to 20%.
• BiXE - Increase council spending on cycling facilities. In 2011 Stonnington spent $425,000 giving a BiXE index of $4.24. The average of surrounding councils was $10.16. The City of Stonnington achieved a five-year BiXE Average of $3.63.

To view candidate statements for Stonnington 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 Stonnington.

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

Capital City Trail on South bank

18 May 2011 Upcoming closure of the south bank Capital City Trail: The south bank trail will be closed at Grange Rd by the City of Stonnington as part of the Biodiversity Linkages Project. The path will be closed for 2 - 3 days during the week of the 30 May – 3 April. On these dates cyclists and pedestrians will be advised to use the North Bank Main Yarra Trail. See Detours page for any later information.

Hummer parking? Our mistake says council

19 January 2011. Some of you may have noticed supersized parking spaces recently installed on the East side of Glenferrie Road, Malvern, that seemed wide enough to take a stretch Hummer.

This left riders a rather narrow squeeze between the parking line and traffic in places between High Street and Wattletree Road.

The tram line along this route further complicated matters for riders.

The parking bays measured about 2.7 metres wide -- about half a metre wider than usual. The problem is especially noticeable when compared with the parking spaces on the other side the of the street.

"Sorry, its all a mistake", is the word from Stonnington.

Proper 2.2 metre parking bays will soon replace the current line markings and riders will no longer have to breath in so as to squeeze through Malvern.

Stonnington Council is to be commended for acting so decisively to correct the problem once the error was realized.

Stonnington to boost bike parking

23 November 2010. The City of Stonnington is considering adding more than 230 bike parking spaces to streets in Prahran, Toorak, Armadale and Malvern

The council believes bike parking is a key factor in encouraging cycling as sustainable transport, especially for short trips 

To determine the adequacy of its bicycle parking, Stonnington recently audited thirteen sites in the municipality, including shopping strips and off-street car parks were audited.

Now it is looking for user feedback on its plans; riders in and through the area are urged to take a brief survey.

The report and its summary are here.
http://www.stonnington.vic.gov.au/news-and-information/community-consultation/bicycle-survey/

The findings included:

• There is a shortage of bicycle parking in most strip shopping centres;
• The demand for short term parking is highest near cafes, take away food outlets, post offices and convenience stores;
• Unsecured bicycles add to footpath congestion and present a hazard for pedestrians; and
• Inconsistency in the style of bicycle parking reduces quick recognition by cyclists and detracts from the streetscape.

The key recommendations included:

• Install “Bicycle Parking” signage along main thoroughfares to aid quick recognition of bicycle parking facilities and to reduce illegal parking;
• Discourage the use of Walksafe fencing as bicycle parking to reduce footpath congestion (except outside Prahran Market in Commercial Road, where space exists to install hitching rails);
• Consider creating bicycle parking islands in busy shopping precincts with limited footpath space.  This would involve converting 2-3 kerbside parking bays into a bicycle island to accommodate 16-24 bicycles); and
• Adopt a standard for bicycle parking to enhance cyclist recognition and streetscape aesthetics.  This would involve developing a suite of parking options - post rails, hoops and racks – to take into consideration the availability of footpath space within the precinct.

BiXE 2009: City of Stonnington

Stonnington City Council has a BiXE 2009 of $4.52. This shows Stonnington is below the $10.66 average BiXE 2009 for inner zone councils, has not met the recommended $5 per resident for the third consecutive year and has a 3 year BiXE average of $3.09. Stonnington’s BiXE 2009 is a significant improvement over its 2007 and 2008 results.

Stonnington has the location, geography and socio-economic composition to be a major catchment for bike riders. Given the proximity to central Melbourne and the relative success of adjoining areas such as the City of Yarra, the City of Boroondara and the City of Melbourne, Stonnington should be aiming to match the increasing rider numbers of its neighbours.

The Council has opportunities to invest these funds into cycling infrastructure such as:
• Building the ‘Punt Road Alternative’. Refer /general/change-the-world/10307/
• Upgrading the Main Yarra Trail and Gardiners Creek path
• Providing more on road bike lanes on Council-maintained roads (such as Orrong Road and Wellington Street), particularly around schools.

Stonnington stuns with bike awareness

August 14 2008. Stonnington City Council, not previously renowned for its passionate support for bikes, may be having a change of heart.

A Sustainable Transport Policy has been produced which recognises the profound, positive impact that bikes can bring to urban improvement.

The document is out for public comment for four weeks.

This is your opportunity to help ensure that local government 'gets it' on developing bike friendly communities.

Grab the document here. You can write to show your support. Keep it positive and let Council know that they will be heading in the right direction if they commit to this strategy.

Stonnington Bike Strategy

Jun 04 The City of Stonnington has recently released a draft biycle strategy for comment. Bicycle Network Victoria is reviewing the strategy and will comment.

The strategy is available on the City of Stonnington's website.

Chapel St

Chapel St is Victoria's worst cycling blackspot with, on average, one cyclist injured per month in the shopping strip. Nearly forty percent of the crashes with bikes involve a door opened in the path of a cyclist.

The new bike lanes will give more room for people on bicycles, make the space more visible and remind people in cars to watch out for people on bikes, especially when parking and getting in and out of their cars.

Local cyclist, Darren Room is enthusiastic about the lanes. "They are a great improvement," he said.

The one-year trial of bike lanes on Chapel St from Alexandra Avenue to Dandenong Rd in being paid for by VicRoads and implemented by Stonnington City Council. Council will be submitted with a report at the end of the trail.

Bicycle Network Victoria and the more than 500 cyclists who use the street each day welcome the new lanes. We commend Stonnington Council and VicRoads for implementing the lanes.

Council elections

Dec 04 The Stonnington City Council elections has seen three new councilors elected. Bicycle Network Victoria attempted to survey candidates in the lead up to the election. Unfortunately we ran out of time and resources so only have answers from four councilors on their support for projects identifiedas critically important in Stonnington.

The responses of elected councilors to the survey questionsare given below. We have also provided furthercomments based on their voting history and positions in the past. Candidates were asked:

Q1: Will you vote to complete the bike lanes on Chapel St? (still not started)

Q2: Will you vote to fund at least $100,000 a year for four years for complete priority works in the Stonnington bike strategy?

Q3: Will you vote to complete bike lanes on Malvern Rd?

Re-electedcouncilors are marked with an asterisk (*).

Feb 04 Stonnington City Council has prepared a long awaited bike strategy that will prioritise bike projects including Chapel Street.

As part of the study local cyclists anda random selection of Bicycle Network Victoria members in Stonnington were surveyed.Council aims to "create a work plan that lists actions to be carried out over the course of several years".

An early result of the strategy has been Council's approval to trial bike lanes in Chapel Street.