Controversial planned Belmont bike lanes have received the green light from Geelong’s council despite staunch opposition from some traders and residents.
In a heated debate on Tuesday council voted 6-3 to build one-way separated bike lanes and remove 30 of 83 parking spaces on High Street.
Councillor Ron Nelson said the lanes would lead to cycling deaths, prompting angry murmurs from the project’s supporters attending the meeting.
“This will lead to the fatality of a cyclist, it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” he said.
Businesses would “go bust” if the plans proceeded, Cr Nelson said.
Mr Nelson described TAC’s compulsorily-designated route along High St as “social engineering at its greatest” as he backed an alternative motion by councillor Eddy Kontelj.
TAC previously threatened to withdraw its $4.7 million Better Bike Connections grant for the project if council selected another route.
Cr Kontelj proposed cars and bikes sharing High St as “the most popular” of “four options” in a council survey for the southern bike link.
Council officers recommended option 2B, which, combined with option 2A received the majority community support, they said.
“That is deceiving in some ways because there actually was no option 2,” Cr Kontelj said.
But councillor Sarah Mansfield argued grouping the two options was appropriate as they were basically the same except for minor differences.
The three options that proposed separate or ‘protected’ bike lanes received 63 per cent of the survey vote, she added.
Separated bike lanes would be much safer than cyclists sharing High St with motorists, Cr Mansfield said.
Many people, often women and children, were afraid to ride in Geelong due to the lack of cycling infrastructure, she said.
She argued that doing nothing would actually lead to a fatality, in speech that ended with applause from a mostly pro-cycling chamber audience.
The project was also a chance to make a High St a boutique shopping strip, councillor Pat Murnane said.
“High St has a chance to think about its future. (It could be) a Pako south of the river.”
Council earlier voted 6-3 for separated bike lanes and the removal of 41 car parks on Gheringhap St, and a two-way cycling lane separated from traffic near Kardinia Park.
The southern link plans will also see the loss of 48 car parks for separated cycling lanes on Moorabool St.
Council rejected Cr Kontelj’s call to write to TAC requesting it consider a different route.
Cr Kontelj said the route was forced upon the city and did not suit Geelong in its current state.
Councillor Trent Sullivan supported the call, saying the reduction of the already “busy” Gheringhap St from four to two lanes would bring it to a “standstill”.
The route put the “cart before the horse” on one of Geelong’s main north-south connectors, he said.
Cr Nelson also labelled the plans inappropriate for Geelong.
“We’re not in London or Amsterdam,” he said.
But Cr Mansfield argued that a failure to plan for the future would lead to infrastructure projects being obsolete soon after construction.
Council needed to plan for population growth and reduce traffic congestion in central Geelong by encouraging people to ride, she said.
Councillors Kylie Grzybek and Anthony Aitken abstained from the vote.
