by Luke Voogt
Geelong’s controversial Green Spine has won an Australia-wide award despite angering traders and motorists who blame the project for congestion.
The joint council-government project won the civic landscape category at the 2019 Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture National Awards last month.
The award’s judges described the Green Spine as a “shining example of how traditional retail streets can become inviting public spaces during the day and at night”.
The judges commended the project’s “intimate spaces” and water-sensitive design.
Construction of stage two of the Green Spine between Gheringhap and Moorabool Sts will begin in mid-2020, according to City Hall.
Stage two will join with stage one beginning at Yarra St.
The Green Spine has received funding from local, state and federal governments and will eventually link Johnstone Park and Eastern Gardens along Malop St.
Geelong Mayor Stephanie Asher congratulated everyone involved in the “beautiful and welcoming space”.
“It’s an exciting time for the Green Spine project,” she said.
“As the works are completed over the coming years, our community will reap the social, economic and environmental benefits of this beautiful, linear park.”
But the praise contrasts with criticism from central Geelong traders like Sebastian Loader, who slammed stage one for reducing parking and deterring costumers.
The design was impractical given the city’s low population density and high car use, Mr Loader said in February.
“Malop St is a clogged artery. There’s a real ideology around how Revitalising Central Geelong wants the city to operate.”
Councillor Eddy Kontelj described the project as “over-engineered” while motorists on social media have slammed “unused” bike paths and the removal of turning lanes.
Traffic had almost halved on Malop St from 2016 to 2019 (11,500 to 5944 vehicles per day) with pedestrians increasing 11 per cent, according to a council report in June.
But nearly all that traffic had diverted onto on Brougham St and other east-west central Geelong roads.
The number of motorists turning right from Malop St into Moorabool St during afternoon peak traffic had increased 268 per cent, according to council.
Delay times for traffic travelling east along Malop St at the Moorabool St intersection had increased from 20 seconds to 137 seconds following the construction of stage one.
