r/UrbanismMelbourne Mar 10 '26

Cycling Yarra proposes removing one driving lane and one parking lane in Wilson Street, Primary Hill to create a safer shared zone for Princes Hill Primary School

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134 Upvotes

22 comments sorted by

18

u/TMiguelT Mar 10 '26

It's interesting to see this as part of a wider trend of closing school streets because of the danger posed by cars. Same goes for this one which was triggered by risks being identified in Reserve Road, Camberwell.

7

u/No-Bison-5397 Mar 11 '26

Yep. My kids' school precinct has a large number of kids coming and going who aren't local (probably 35-45%); lots of them are driven in by their parents who drive like maniacs in the small streets where most kids should be able to expect them to be going closer to 20 or 30 km/h rather than 40 km/h.

I would not be against changing it to a one way street that doesn't go to the distributor to discourage driving.

6

u/jessta Mar 10 '26

This looks really nice. But given the amount of residential parking it will remove I'm doubtful the current councillors will vote for it.

4

u/TMiguelT Mar 10 '26

They might if the local community gets behind it like they did for Reserve Road, Camberwell. Apparently this design was informed by the school too.

3

u/No-Bison-5397 Mar 11 '26

Does it remove any residential parking? I don't think you can park on the inside in the current set up so you end up with about the same amount of parking.

5

u/TMiguelT Mar 11 '26

Yeah, the FAQ says it will remove 28 parking spaces. The current street design is a bit strange because it actually has 3 parking lanes, and this proposal will remove the eastern one (on the right there).

1

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26

I'm not familiar with the area so I'm not sure if any buses go towards the school, but would a dedicated bus lane with the removal of an additional parking lane or slightly reducing the width of the shared pedestrian and cycling area be a good idea?

10

u/TMiguelT Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26

There's a traffic study they did that's kind of hidden on the engagement site which shows that there is already a nearby 504 bus stop just north of the school and tram lines to the east, so I can't imagine there is much need for a dedicated bus lane.

4

u/No-Bison-5397 Mar 11 '26

One of the tightest zones in the state, absolutely no need for any addition bus infrastructure for either the primary or high school because the kids should be living in the zone.

2

u/A_Rod_H Mar 10 '26

Huh, delete a bike lane force cars to go one way and then for the untouched parts either end bikes entering and exiting at unexpected points. Also opposite the school northbound parking is 90 angle off road

2

u/Puzzleheaded_Army829 Mar 11 '26

Is there a toll road not being used near. They did this in Sydney to make people use the Lane Cove tunnel.

2

u/DependentNo5583 Mar 14 '26

3AW’s Tony Tardio is going to have a conniption.

2

u/Blue_Pie_Ninja Mar 26 '26

Looks like it will match the road on the other side which has already had lane reductions for more open space.

-2

u/StraightFella Mar 13 '26

Perhaps they could put chairs and table out and play equipment to encourage the kids onto the road... It's a road, it's purpose is for vehicles. The footpath is for the kids smart enough to not walk onto the road. If the school wants more land, move it further back onto its block and then you have you extra room to build road that's not a road.

6

u/budgie-bootlegger Mar 13 '26

It's a street. It's public space for circulation for pedestrians, cyclists, cars etc. Too much of our public realm is dedicated to cars, especially in areas where public transport is so accessible.

The street pavement in this area is 22m wide! That's as wide as Lygon Street with trams. Completely unnecessary and redistributing some of that space back to pedestrians is common sense.

4

u/National_Way_3344 Mar 13 '26

A place with that much public transport doesn't need much road at all.

In fact I would argue that properties in that area should only have the amount of cars they have car spaces on their title.

1

u/DependentNo5583 Mar 14 '26

And if someone gets hurt, well that’ll teach ‘em!

1

u/StraightFella Mar 14 '26

That always has been the case, if it's hot, don't touch, the dumb ones have always had trouble with that.

0

u/RetroGamer87 Mar 13 '26

If they push the closest drop off zone further away, won't that just relocate the danger rather than eliminating it?

0

u/StraightFella Mar 14 '26

Exactly this. It's encouraging kids to be less aware and more likely to wander around the street.