Speed limit cut to 30km/h on Preston shopping strip

2 hours ago 2

The speed limit will be cut to 30km/h on High Street in Preston in a move to calm traffic along the busy shopping strip, but cyclists say parking has been wrongly prioritised over a dedicated bike lane.

Darebin Council endorsed a $7.5 million plan on Monday night to upgrade the thoroughfare between Murray Road and Bell Street in Melbourne’s north.

Kemran Mestan, a regular cyclist who wanted Darebin Council to add a bike lane to High Street in Preston as it undergoes an upgrade.

Clearways will be removed – increasing the total hours of on-street parking – four new zebra crossings installed, dozens of trees added, and extra seating built in a bid to further boost amenity for pedestrians and calm traffic.

But despite cycling safety being the top concern in online feedback to the council about the draft design, no new bike lanes are planned.

Kemran Mestan, a regular cyclist in Darebin who spoke at Monday night’s meeting, appreciated the new speed limit but was disappointed that dedicated cycling lanes had been overlooked.

Council officers said bikes lanes were possible only if the High Street median strip was removed and footpaths were narrowed, reducing greenery and walkability.

An artist’s impression of the future High Street at the Preston Post Office under a plan that Darebin Council endorsed on November 24.

However, Mestan argued on-street parking spaces no longer subject to a clearway could be sacrificed and replaced with a bike lane instead. Cyclists currently felt unsafe as they weaved between traffic on High Street, he added.

“Car parking is the cholesterol in the arteries of our city,” Mestan said. “It seems silly that we use all this valuable public land just so people can leave their cars there.”

Councillor Ruth Jelley amended the motion endorsing the High Street plan to acknowledge concerns about cycling access, requiring an investigation into installing extra safety signs if bike lanes were too difficult.

Gianni Menara, president of the Preston Business Association, supported the council’s bike lanes stance, saying on-street parking was still valuable to businesses.

“[Shoppers] don’t just come from Darebin. We have people coming from the outer suburbs. Some of them are elderly,” he said.

“I think the area is already pretty well-serviced by bike lanes on Murray Road and Cramer Street.”

Menara, whose family has operated Lucchini Cakes on High Street for more than 50 years, was hopeful the revamp would be a boost for the area.

He was still concerned about construction disrupting businesses and was unsure how speed limit reductions and clearway removals would affect trade.

Gianni Menara, from Lucchini Cakes, on High Street in Preston.

“The street does need a clean-up,” Menara said. “It has been a while since anything major [was] done.

“We can only hope that more people frequent the area with less [vehicle] traffic and more amenity.”

A council report noted that 71 per cent of the 137 respondents to an online survey supported reducing the High Street speed limit to 30km/h.

Mestan said cities overseas still had thriving streetscapes with fewer vehicles.

“Traders often think that their business will be badly affected. I can understand the worry, but I think it’s a mistaken worry,” he said.

Darebin Council will now start detailed design and advocate for state and federal governments to add to the $4.1 million that the municipality has set aside for the project over the next three years.