For years, Swanston Street has played a vital role in shaping Melbourne City. The street for public rallies, the Grand Final Parade, Moomba and many, many more events. And who could forget Swanston Street being the backdrop to AC/DC's It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Want To Rock and Roll) music video.
Since it's controversial conversion to a "Walk" in the 1990s, it has been nothing of the sort. One tends to consider a "Walk" as something along the lines of the Bourke Street Mall, where pedestrians stupidly walk in front of moving trams, but are at least, not confined to the footpath because of a road in the middle of the street. Despite the street's closure to through traffic between 7am and 7pm, it still closely resembles a normal City thoroughfare.
Artists impression of the redeveloped Swanston Street. Image courtesy of the City of Melbourne.
With Swanston Street a mix of taxis, cyclists, commerical vehicles, horse-drawn coaches, trams and until last year, tourist buses; the proposed changes by the City of Melbourne can only be interpreted as a step forward in creating a pedestrian-focused City Centre.
Although, one this seem a little askew. Upon reading the proposal by the City of Melbourne, it denotes that only trams and cyclists will be permitted in through the redeveloped Swanston Street.
CYCLISTS?!?!
Upon nearly every of my frequent trips into the CBD, whilst stepping off a tram, or crossing the road at lights, cyclists always fail to stop and narrowly miss pedestrians. They don't follow the road rules, they skip traffic lights, they pass stopped trams unloading and loading passengers, and they constantly weave in an out of busy city traffic.
It just seems a little stupid for the Council to continue to allow cyclists through, what is practically, a pedestrian mall.
The new plan incorporates cycle lanes, but despite these lanes, I fear that there will be pedestrian-related accidents as a result of permitting cyclists through the street. An 84-year-old man was killed in Collins Street a few years ago, after a cyclists collided with the man whilst alighting from a tram - what's not to stop that from happening again in a pedestrian mall, where there are more people around?
For Melbourne to continue to grow as a vibrant and cultured city, we need to focus on a Swanston Street that is spacious, accessible, family-friendly, and most importantly, a safe public space. And cyclists pose a threat to the safety of this public space.
People may say that trams are more dangerous than cyclists, but Swanston Street is an important tramway thoroughfare for Melbourne's southern and northern routes - the entrance point for hundreds of thousands of tram travellers, and not to mention tourists. The exuberant costs of removing tram tracks and related infrastructure from the street would actually be a step backwards in creating an accessible city for all.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said, "By 2012, this plan would see the street transformed into a world-class promenade car-free, with more quality public spaces, encouraging an enhanced retail and outdoor dining offering." He also said "One of the major reasons for beautifying the street is to make it desirable for these sorts of businesses to move to Swanston Street and change the culture of the street, particularly late at night."
The proposed City Square area. Image courtesy of the City of Melbourne.
Cr. Doyle is on the right track, the focus should be on changing the types of businesses trading on Swanston Street. A Lygon Street-style dining precinct, mixed with the charm of Parisian end of Collins Street and the shopping that is the Bourke Street Mall, is what Swanston Street should be - not some street riddled with discount stores, fast food outlets and adult shops. This move would, of course, upset some traders and shoppers, but a better, higher-class, modern, and most importantly, safe, City Centre is what needs to be achieved.
Swanston Street may not be currently be in the company of malls and promenades in Paris, Copenhagen, Rome or Berlin, but we can damn well try.
Here's to the new Swanston 'Street'.
Love the blog everyone, you're opinions are great.
ReplyDeleteI've been itching to comment... finally, something I partially disagree with!
Assuming that cyclists generally don't follow road rules is an ill-informed, talk back radio cliche.
The amount of injuries and fatalities caused by cyclists is a fraction of that caused by motorists. In the last decade, well over 50 pedestrians a year have been killed by motorists, with 59 fatalities, the figure for 2008, the lowest in decades. How many pedestrians were killed by cyclists between 1999-2009? Two. Cycling is significantly safer for pedestrians than driving, and Doyle's initial attempt to return cars to the CBD was completely counter to the cyclist-encouraging actions of every other forward-thinking city in the world.
Perhaps I make an unfair comparison – your main argument is in regard to trams. However, the rate of death and injury for trams is also much higher than the exceedingly rare cyclist-pedestrian collision. Furthermore, cycling encourages fitness and is negligible in terms of carbon emissions, two enormous boons that also alleviate the need for government expenditure. Trams, on the other, though undoubtedly with an important role in the inner sanctum of this great city, are primarily sedentary, expensive, and drain both consumer funds and public revenue.
I understand some complications could indeed arise, but initiatives like the multi-lane system seem apt in alleviating these.
Bring Bikes to Swanston Street!
...Sorry If this was overly aggressive, haven't ridden a bike in 5 years to be honest haha, just felt like arguing. Excellent post, keep up the great work. See ya.