Proposed redevelopment of Festival Hall

[Helen Lew Ton]

You may have seen that a proposal has been submitted to City of Melbourne which, if approved, will see appartments built on this site.

The Dudley Street footpath is one of the few bike links between North/ West Melbourne and Docklands. The others are some distance away in either Latrobe Street or via the Capital City trail.

I realise that the redevelopment has not yet been considered or received approval, and was wondering how and when we should make our points about bike access

Helen 

[Jonathan Nolan]

Helen, 

Great to see your post!

Talking about footpath cycling might not work because footpath cycling is illegal in Victoria. 

This is a super complicated area. WGT is supposed to remove 3000 vehicles from Dudley St. Does SkyBus use this route? its presence there will make narrowing the road a big task. 

Theoretically we were supposed to have E-Gate improving cycling access to the area but who knows what will happen to that now. 

We have to think about what we want cycling to look like in that area. a SUP under the bridge with bike lanes on approach? Do we want a SUP on the north side to connect to Rosslyn St? Do we want to narrow vehicle lanes and put in a proper protected lane?

The area is on the edge of so many frameworks and plans it's a bit of a disaster. 

[Helen Lew Ton]

Take your point about footpath cycling, though I was thinking of shared path. From memory, TravelSmart maps showed  a route along Dudley between Spencer and Footscray Rd, including westbound lanes that were either nonexistent or suicidal. 

Speaking of what is there now, the footpath under the railway bridge is extra narrow since a chunk was removed to make it easier for heavy vehicles to do RH turns from Warundjeri Way. And the pedestrian link between Festival Hall and the railway embankment, which otherwise might be suitable as a shared path has really lousy sight lines.

 

Whatever the truth, a safe route is needed  and we do not need it to be rendered impossible by a new residential development. Vehicle and pedestrian access to the development needs to take account of the need for a safe cycling thoroughfar.

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[Jonathan Nolan]

Helen, 

How will the residential development stop a safe cycling route? Presumably the development is on private land and any safe cycling route will be on crown land? 

The developers are planning to keep the facade, and regardless the area in front of the hall is too narrow for a SUP. 

I would see the development as an opportunity to improve cycling access in the area - it's just not clear how that should happen. 

On Wednesday, January 24, 2018 at 12:23:20 PM UTC+11, Helen Lew Ton wrote:

Take your point about footpath cycling, though I was thinking of shared path. From memory, TravelSmart maps showed  a route along Dudley between Spencer and Footscray Rd, including westbound lanes that were either nonexistent or suicidal. 

Speaking of what is there now, the footpath under the railway bridge is extra narrow since a chunk was removed to make it easier for heavy vehicles to do RH turns from Warundjeri Way. And the pedestrian link between Festival Hall and the railway embankment, which otherwise might be suitable as a shared path has really lousy sight lines.

 

Whatever the truth, a safe route is needed  and we do not need it to be rendered impossible by a new residential development. Vehicle and pedestrian access to the development needs to take account of the need for a safe cycling thoroughfar.

On 24 Jan 2018 11:54, "Jonathan Nolan" <jonathan...@gmail.com> wrote:

Helen, 

Great to see your post!

Talking about footpath cycling might not work because footpath cycling is illegal in Victoria. 

This is a super complicated area. WGT is supposed to remove 3000 vehicles from Dudley St. Does SkyBus use this route? its presence there will make narrowing the road a big task. 

Theoretically we were supposed to have E-Gate improving cycling access to the area but who knows what will happen to that now. 

We have to think about what we want cycling to look like in that area. a SUP under the bridge with bike lanes on approach? Do we want a SUP on the north side to connect to Rosslyn St? Do we want to narrow vehicle lanes and put in a proper protected lane?

The area is on the edge of so many frameworks and plans it's a bit of a disaster. 

On Wednesday, January 24, 2018 at 8:05:41 AM UTC+11, Helen Lew Ton wrote:

You may have seen that a proposal has been submitted to City of Melbourne which, if approved, will see appartments built on this site.

The Dudley Street footpath is one of the few bike links between North/ West Melbourne and Docklands. The others are some distance away in either Latrobe Street or via the Capital City trail.

I realise that the redevelopment has not yet been considered or received approval, and was wondering how and when we should make our points about bike access

Helen 

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[Jonathan Nolan]

Helen, 

I think it might help to figure out what exactly the WGT is going to do to this area. The best picture I can find at the moment is this, but there might be something else in the 10,000 page EES. 

One of the things we could advocate for is to reduce Dudley by one lane on the northside for a wide SUP. A backup would be to get rid of one turning lane into Wurrunduri and then have the sup use the current bridge embankment which could be widened by .6m relatively easily. 

Is it important to you that the SUP goes all the way to Adderly or would an exit into Rosslyn suffice? 

[Helen Lew Ton]

Rosslyn is pretty good as it is a quiet street and goes directly to Adderley and the marked lanes. Lots of dollars have been spent on pedestrian infrastructure from Railway Place to Dudley and visibility is awful regardless of direction of travel.

Not barracking for a path along Dudley to Adderley. I only use the footpath here because

- little pedestrian traffic (and I can see them, though this is because Festival Hall is so infrequently used that it is very unlikely that someone will step out in front of me)

- I can see where I'm going (which is why I don't use the link to Railway Place)

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[Nik Dow]

I've also used Dudley as the direct way from Footscray Rd to the Vic Market. Otherwise I keep going to Latrobe St. 

Helen mentioned the travel smart maps, I can also remember a "shared path" sign on the north-side footpath from Footscray Rd through to the bicycle signalled crossing at Adderley St, which last time I looked was still there.  The bike signals on that crossing have no purpose unless the footpath is a shared path. I suspect the shared path sign went missing but the traffic lights were retained out of laziness. 

When e-gate was a thing, a link to Nth Melbourne station was proposed. It did exist in the form of a walkway for rail workers but was partly demolished and locked off, but something big enough to be a shared path was the idea back then. Might not happen now that eGate as a residential area is stuffed. That link would have been a more direct link to Vic Market and obviated using Dudley St.

The Dynon Rd route shown on the WGT map is terrible. Their veloway ends in Footscray Rd and omits a link to and through Nth Melbourne Station which would also be a bypass of Dudley St.

[Jonathan Nolan]

Helen, 

As a first step I've snap send solved the lack of signage for the ? shared path along that route. Hopefully either a sign will go up or we'll be told that it's not a shared path anymore and that will make things clearer.