Council crackdown on motorbike parking

Council crackdown on motorbike parking

By David Schout

The City of Melbourne could install “no-stopping” signs on some of the CBD’s busiest footpaths in a bid to free-up clogged walkways.

As councillors step up their bid to “reclaim footpaths” as a key pillar of council’s 10-year transport strategy, motorbikes and food delivery bikes have been targeted.

The strategy, a final draft of which is soon to go before the council, already includes a plan to install 300 additional on-street motorcycle parking bays as a way to remove them from busy walkways.

But the council has now indicated that they could install “no-stopping” signs on busy paths as a further way to curb congestion.

“Our goal is to improve our streets and make them safer for all users, including people walking and riding motorcycles,” a council spokesperson said.

“This will be achieved by shifting motorcycles in high-activity areas from footpaths by providing more on-street parking. In order to achieve these goals, we may need to introduce motorcycle no-stopping zones for part or all of the day in some high-activity areas.”

Melbourne is the only capital city in Australia where you can legally park on the footpath.

Riders are merely required to park at least one motorcycle length out from the building to allow free passage for pedestrians. 

But this state law has caused headaches in recent times, as research confirmed that almost nine in 10 trips throughout the CBD are completed on foot.

Further surveys as part the transport strategy – which the council received a record level of response – confirmed that one of the most common problems in the CBD was “crowded footpaths”.

Since Labor has been in power …

Since Labor has been in power …

March 20th, 2024 - Evan Mulholland
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