Bayside City Council puts on-street car parking before cycling

A proposed ''no stopping zone'' designed to improve bike safety along a stretch of road in bayside Melbourne will again be knocked back [that’s Australian for ‘rejected’ – Ed.] by a local council tomorrow night, despite robust support from the Victorian roads minister.

The Bayside City Council, which has responsibility for parking along sections of Beach Road, has told bike enthusiasts and proponents of the scheme it can see ''no reason why it should change [its] position on the matter''.

The proposal would see a no stopping zone enforced on Beach Road from 6am to 10am Saturday and Sunday mornings, which proponents argue would ''improve traffic flow for motorists, safety for pedestrians through increased visibility, safety for cyclists and improved visibility for residents entering Beach Road from driveways.''

''It's mostly a small group of residents who own houses on Beach Road who don't like cyclists who are opposing the initiative,'' said Marcel Lema, a member of lobby group Beach Road Cyclist….60 or 70 residents continue to turn up to push councillors not to implement it.''

In September last year, Bicycle Victoria counted nearly 10,000 people using the road for recreational cycling on a typical weekend morning.