Northcote Bike Ride for a Safer South Crescent
On the day: South Crescent ride departing All Nations Park
Listen back on YarraBUG Radio on 3CR: Making things better: talking advocacy with Ruth Jelley and Paul Baker, first interview (3.04 mark) Ruth discusses South Crescent issues after a Streets Live Darebin ride held on Saturday 23 March 2024
Join us for a community bike ride at 10am Saturday 23 March 2024 to show why people want to feel safe when riding along South Crescent (and why they don’t feel safe at the moment).
For too long, our safety concerns about South Crescent have been drowned out. It’s time for our voices to be heard as we call for safety improvements for people who ride bikes along South Crescent.
1. Ride for a safer South Crescent
WHEN: 10am, Saturday 23 March 2024
WHERE: Meet us at the BBQ area in All Nations Park next to the playground near Hopetoun Street.
WHAT: We will do a loop from All Nations Park down to South Crescent near Dennis train station, along South Crescent to Westgarth Street, and then over High Street and back to All Nations Park via the Northcote shimmy.
WHY: The latest round of Your Street, Your Say consultation (see below) is asking community members to provide feedback on suggestions to make South Crescent safer for people who ride bikes.
The more of us on this ride, the safer we will ALL feel
Even though dozens of community members have expressed safety concerns in previous rounds of public consultation, some Councillors refuse to listen to us and have pushed our safety so far down the priority list it may not even make it into the budget.
The original proposal of a modal filter has been dialled back and now the only safety improvement on offer is the removal of 3-4 parking spaces to improve sight lines.
Are you coming along to our ride or want to get involved? Please contact us!
If you think this is not good enough to keep people safe while riding bikes, join us on the ride and submit your feedback to Your Street Your Say (see below).
2. Sign the petition
A community member has started a change.org petition: Support safe cycling and walking on South Crescent, Northcote
3. Your Street Your Say community feedback open now
Council is seeking community feedback on recommended priority locations in Alphington, Bundoora, Fairfield, Macleod, Northcote East or Thornbury East. Draft concept plans for changes such as pedestrian crossings, speed humps, bike lanes and reduced speed limits are now available for review on the Your Street, Your Say Group B website. Feedback and submissions close 14 April
Council wishes to know: do you support the proposed projects? Do you have any concerns, or ideas to improve the proposed projects?
Streets Alive Darebin will be providing a submission on this consultation and we encourage you to have your say on the proposed projects.
Visit Your Street Your Say to find out more about the plan and provide your feedback by 14 April 2024.
Background
You will recall from our January newsletter that Council sought to rescind the December resolution to adopt the recommended Your Street Your Say Plan and seek community feedback, and instead voted at a Special Council meeting on 8 January to adopt an alternative list of projects put forward by Councillor Dimitriadis without community consultation.
This pushed safe cycling projects from top priority down to the bottom priority, once again proving that Darebin Councillors are willing to ignore community feedback and their own Council strategies that support sustainable transport.