Council continues to labour on Southbank Promenade

It is disappointing that once again the Southbank Residents’ Association (SRA) needs to be reminding the City of Melbourne of past promises.

You may have seen my comments in the Herald Sun in late April or subsequently heard me discussing this on 3AW and ABC radio. This issue is still a significant concern for Southbank residents’ safety that is being ignored by the council.

In 2016, the council announced a plan to upgrade Southbank Promenade, which included a key strategy to attempt to address the speeding cyclists. A concern our residents have had for more than a decade.

The key components of the plan included strategically placed street furniture to break the ride line of cyclists by creating obstacles and hopefully encouraging them to either dismount and walk their bicycles or slow down significantly.

The council proposed a stage one upgrade of the promenade between Princess Bridge and Evan Walker Bridge.

This was completed between April 2022 and April 2023, however none of the proposed measures to mitigate the cyclists were incorporated. In fact, several of the spruiked components in the proposed upgrade were not delivered.

We have asked the council on numerous occasions about this deficiency, but no explanation has ever been provided.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece believes that widening the promenade has addressed this, despite that not being the recommendation from council officers. He has never produced any evidence which supports that logic.

We keep encouraging the council to review this important precinct of our community as safety should be high on its agenda.

Our long-anticipated app is imminent. We are looking for someone in the community who has a marketing background to assist us with its launch. If you think that might be you, then please reach out and introduce yourself.

If you think you would like to be part of our community organisation then please also reach out, we would like to hear from you.

We can be contacted at [email protected] •