Kingston's Bay Trail

As a Mordialloc resident I am genuinely concerned that the current proposal for the Bay Trail will reduce car parking and narrow Beach road. Our side streets off Beach road are already far too congested with cars parked in the streets due to increasingly higher density housing, and in the summer months it is worse again. Perhaps this is an opportunity to create more parking bays.
As for narrowing the road, there is already enough antagonism between motorists and cyclists along this stretch of road, again perhaps an opportunity to widen rather than narrow it.
Cr West 's pig-headed obsession with "saving" some half dead bushes inhabited by rats, foxes and rubbish beggars belief. Again an opportunity to clear the scrub and replant. Make our Mordialloc foreshore something we can really be proud of.
Do Not Narrow Beach Road

l disagree with the bay trail as l hardly every see any one using it they ride on the bloody road . Absolute waste of money for the odd person using it. But once again the silent majority loose out to the loud minority. Typical in this state

When are the gang of five councilors going to wake up and represent the views of the majority of rational minded people who see the folly of narrowing Beach Rd. Surely the safety of road users is the ultimate consideration. The removal of low value vegetation (confirmed in councils own report) is a small price to pay for the safety of cyclists as they will be the ones most in danger from adverse interactions with cars and heavy vehicles. Not sure how will the gang of five would be able to live with their conscience if even one person was killed due to their dogged determination to continue with this stupid decision.

As a resident of Rennison street Parkdale, I urge council to use common sense and act for the majority of their constituents. NO NARROWING OF BEACH ROAD!

I disagree with the current Council's plans to modify the agreed 2016 plan that would install the Bay Trail in an identical manner to the existing trail from Charman Road to the Mentone LSC. The notion that Beach Road can be narrowed without adding to the risk to cyclists, pedestrians and motorists is a nonsense. It clashes with the Council's 2007 Report from Jonathan Guttman and it also clashes with the one metre away proposal for cyclist safety. The small amount of vegetation that has to be removed is not ecologically significant and I add my voice to the hundreds who say implement the Bay Trail according to the previous Plan adopted by the former Council and ignore the non responsive Councillors who live outside the Central Ward who should be ashamed of their behaviour and priorities in this matter David of Mentone

I just read the (2) two page letter "proposed narrowing of traffic lanes on Beach Road between Mentone Life Saving Club and Mordialloc" and subsequent pieces of propaganda from the Council and couldn't believe for the life of me why this is even being considered... this is perhaps one of the most ridiculous plans I have come across.

We live in James Street (one Street back from Beach Road and already have parking issues in our street during summer and public events... this is even more of a problem as single dwellings and house lots are redeveloped into multi residential living apartments. Mordialloc is becoming increasingly more popular particularly on weekends... it doesn't take too much imagine to think what traffic would be like during festivals, triathlons and other public events should this plan come to fruition not to mention public safety which I believe would be significantly compromised by this plan.

As a rate payer and local resident I do not support this plan and urge the Council to reconsider.

Beach Road narrowing would make travelling on the road very dangerous.
The loss of 1 hectare to .87 of vegetation is negligible and the 5 Councillors concerned need to take notice of what the ratepayers are saying.
Stop wasting ratepayers money and implement the original proposal.

To whom it may concern,
We agree we were consulted re the two alternative approaches to the continuation of the bay trail , however there was no mention of the narrowing of Beach Road to facilitate the back of kerb option for the continuation of the bay trail. There was never any consultation re this controversial addition : the narrowing of Beach road . This road should not be narrowed primarily for safety reasons . It is an incredibly busy road for cars , cyclists, marathon and walking competitions and the like . Transplanting can occur for any loss of vegetation . The councillors do need to consider their constituent's viewpoint .
Kind regards,
Brenda and Brendan Buck

I have lived in the area for all of my 81 years and now live 4 doors up from Beach Road. Narrowing this road will be dangerous to road users and bicycle riders and cause congestion in parking in our streets in the summer. The Councillors who support this narrowing do not even live in the area will not be affected by this

I have lived in this area for 28 years and whilst I do not live on Beach Road I use it regularly. I am appalled at the proposal by Council to disregard what the majority of residents (and voters) want, in regards to Stage 2 of the Bay Trail, and are pushing on regardless with their proposal to narrow the road. To my mind this is a complete folly which will inconvenience and endanger residents, businesses, commuters and visitors alike. Stage 1 of the Bay Trail was a huge success and a great asset to the area - I fail to see why this cannot be replicated in Stage 2 without narrowing a very busy road

Why are Council ignoring the 82% of respondents that have supported the previous Bay Trail option?

The concept of narrowing Beach Rd to facilitate the Bay Trail staggers me. I have already witnessed enough accidents and issues with Beach Rd being shared to know that narrowing this road will only create more risk, and more issues. The combination of packs of cyclists, parked cars, buses, trucks, other cyclists and pedestrians that use Beach Rd already creates potential for serious issues.

Given that the majority of Beach Rd cyclists are not likely to utilise the proposed Bay Trail, & don’t use the existing sections, why would Council increase the potential for problems when we can have the previously agreed option from Mentone to Mordialloc.

I would hope that the view and opinions of residents and ratepayers of the area are taken seriously, not only for the benefit of locals, but for all Melburnians that utilise Beach Rd.

Dear Councillors,
I urge you not to proceed with the idea of narrowing the traffic lanes on Beach Rd.
Over recent years there has been an ever increasing use of Beach Rd by cyclists who will never use the bike track – always the road. Even now I have serious concerns about the dangers of bike and car interactions – these would be much worse if traffic lanes were to be reduced in width. This is almost a certain recipe for serious injury or even death to some cyclists. I think human life is worth more than some vegetation.
As for restricting parking along Beach Rd – there is enough chaos at present with parking in the side streets, it is sometimes almost impossible to leave and enter my home. Why would you want to add more cars, pedestrians and especially kids to our all to narrow streets?
Please think carefully and consider the safety of people.
Volker

I live in Mordialloc. My major concern is that Beach Rd must be maintained as a major arterial road. No narrowing. I am less in favour of the new on road and indented parking but if this is seen as critical then use the existing vegetation land. Safety first for road users, including cyclists and trail users.

I oppose current plans on the basis of the road narrowing. This will lead to unsafe road conditions, traffic congestion and an unacceptable loss of parking. The vegetation that is being sought to retain needs rejuvenation and replacement not retention.

Do not reduce the width of beach road and remove parking spaces. Continual removal of single dwellings per housing block with replacement by multi dwellings on the same 'footprint' has resulted in all roads having to cope with more pressure, day and night. This hair brained scheme will result in only more congestion. Utilise the scrub and trim the existing scrub so we can see the damn bay. What is wrong with these councillors. Almost 60 years here in Parkdale and everything just gets worse and worse year on year. Of course no one has the guts to address the root cause of the problem- too many people!

I cannot understand why you assume you can just narrow Beach Road. VicRoads has clearly stated that as it is a major artery Kingston council has no jurisdiction over it. If you decrease the amount of parking spaces that will mean the side streets will be almost impassable especially during the hot weather. I have lived at a Beach Rd address for more than thirty years and know that it will only cause chaos especially for the emergency vehicles, buses and trucks which use it frequently. You are willing to spend three million dollars on a trail for a few users while Foam Street remains the only street in Parkdale without a footpath and is used by many people as access to the beach. I hope common sense prevails and you do not cause major stress to the many road users both local and visitors.

As population grows and grows lets make our roads smaller!!!! Does not make any sense and a big waste of our rates.. With trucks, buses cars and bicycles all jostling for space, i hope those councillors involved in this decision will take full responsibility should there be any fatal incidents as a result of the road being narrowed. The whole community that lives in the area is against this so do the right thing and DO NOT NARROW BEACH ROAD.

One argument is that the road should be narrowed to Vic Roads Standard. Your mean Vic Roads MINIMUM? Any narrowing of the road puts parked cars in one lane and cyclists and traveling vehicles in the other. Not safe. Think of all the kids riding along Beach Road from Mordialloc to St Bedes, Mentone Grammar etc 2. Narrowing of Beach Road worked in Bayside. Bayside has mostly cliffs, Kingston has a long stretch of beach. City of Kingston beaches attract many more visitors than Bayside's. 3. Cyclists will use the Baytrail so the cyclists will be removed from Beach Road and safety will be retained. Drive along Beach Road in Bayside any day and you will see cyclists riding on the road, as they have the right to. 4. We don't need that amount of parking on Beach Road, we can reduce it. Our beaches attract visitors from throughout the City of Kingston and beyond. Shopping strips like Mordialloc rely on visitors like these to ensure a vibrant community. Have you tried to find a car park on a hot day on Beach Road? The car parking is fully utilised. 5. We need to retain the vegtation. The original BayTrail plans created new plantings to offset the lost vegetation. 6. We need to protect the remnant vegetation. The only remnant vegetation is from the 80's. And there are numerous foxes and rats in the low grade vegetation that's currently along this strip. What a great opportunity to remove the low grade vegetation and plant much better quality plantings. Go back to the agreed plans and stop wasting time and money. Aren't councilors supposed to represent the views of their residents, not their own views?

Please make the look and feel of the continuation of the Bay Trail as per the Charman road to the Mentone LSC trail. This trail looks fabulous and is user friendly and safe. Don't remove any parking or narrow the road as it will become dangerous for cyclists and difficult for commuters to drive along beach road without feeling they may hit a cyclist. Please remove the required vegetation to make our public safe. Safety is an important concern and the vegetation is not of high value. I do love vegetation but safety is more important.

The residents of Beach Road need the width of the lanes to stay as they are to assist with the turning arc of cars leaving/entering their driveways so they don't encroach two lanes. Narrowing the lanes will make this impossible during peak periods of traffic.
The narrowing of lanes not only inconveniences the residents but please keep in mind the many young students who ride their bikes to school. The wider lanes assist them with staying in one lane even if there are cars parked on Beach Road. If the lanes are narrowed, the result will be a more dangerous trip on the bike as they need to merge into the other lane when passing parked cars. This not only makes it more dangerous for the cyclists but will impact on the flow of traffic.
The proposed plan to narrow the lanes is a recipe for disaster.
If this goes ahead, there will be a sea of people saying, "I told you so". Are the 5 Council members prepared to put themselves on the line and argue with certainty that these negative events won't happen?

Leave It Alone