At the 18 October Council meeting, Council voted to make permanent the Kent Road Separated Bike Lane Trial infrastructure. At the 8 November 2023 Council Meeting, a motion to rescind (overturn) the 18 October resolution was carried. Council has now adopted the resolution to end the trial, remove the separated bike lane infrastructure and consult on a new shimmy route to connect bike riders from Pascoe Vale to Coburg, as well as consulting on alternative routes for separated bike lanes in Pascoe Vale.

The resolution of 8 November is:

That Council:

• Declares the trial of the Kent Road separated bike lanes complete.
• Approves the removal of the Kent Road separated bike lane infrastructure along the north (eastbound) side of Kent Road between Cornwall Road and Cumberland Road, and along the south (westbound) side of Kent Road between Cumberland Road and Cornwall Road noting that officers will endeavour to achieve this before the end of March 2024.
• Approves consultation with the community in early 2024 on the following proposals:
• As part of the above consultation, invites community feedback on the alternative routes 1, 2, 3 and 4 considered and shown in Figure 4 Glenroy to Coburg Bike Route Alternative Options at item 7.1 of the 13 September 2023 Council Meeting.
• As part of the above consultation, Council engages and collaborates with, and advocates to State Government, including elected representatives for Pascoe Vale, on design and funding options for safe cycling routes, both on and off road for Kent Rd Corridor and Glenroy to Coburg cycling link.
• Receives a report on or before May 2024 documenting the community feedback on the proposed Pascoe Vale Shimmy route and treatments along Kent Road outlined in point 3 above and feedback on alternative routes 1, 2, 3 and 4 outlined in point 4 above, with recommendations on next steps.
• Acknowledges and thanks the community for their time and effort over the extended two-year trial in both identifying issues and working on solutions, which has provided valuable insight into the application of on-road physically separated bike lanes in the local context.

• To establish and provide wayfinding aids for a Glenroy to Coburg bike route for less confident bike riders by using a Pascoe Vale Shimmy route as shown at Attachment 1 of item 7.1 of the 13 September 2023 Council Meeting.
• To implement a range of measures along the Pascoe Vale Shimmy route south of Kent Road to support its use by less confident bike riders.
• To protect less confident bike riders on the short Kent Road section of the Pascoe Vale Shimmy route by installing a separated bidirectional bike lane involving the removal of parking along the south side of Kent Road between Valerie Street and Cornwall Road.
• To modify the Cornwall Road and Kent Road intersection including redesign of the splitter island and kerb outstand on the south side of Cornwall Road so that the bike and pedestrian crossing points are clarified.
• To recognise that more confident bike riders are likely to continue to use the Kent Road route from Cornwall Road to Derby Street, and then Derby Street from Kent Road to O’Hea Street as an alternative way to cycle between Glenroy and Coburg, and therefore provide bike “sharrow” markings on the section of Kent Road west of Cumberland Road in keeping with the Department of Transport and Planning treatment to the east of Cumberland Road.
• To install a zebra crossing outside the Pascoe Vale Health Medical Centre.

Trial infrastructure will be removed in the coming months and community feedback on the proposed routes will be sought through a consultation period in early 2024. This will include opportunities to provide feedback online and in-person. A report will be provided back to Council on the final recommendation.

Making major permanent changes to our transport infrastructure will always balance best practice advice and the experiences of our community. Along with the proposed Pascoe Vale Shimmy route, we remain committed to installing high quality bike infrastructure through our 10-year Active Travel Capital Plan. This includes delivering protected bike lanes in appropriate places.

We thank the community for their feedback as we trialled the separated bike lanes along Kent Road in Pascoe Vale.