Swanston St - Reopening to traffic
Initially Swanston St was closed to traffic, they were promoting it as being our "Champs-Elysees" but instead it become home to $2 shops, fast food joints and homeless people.
I think it's a great idea, time to clean up the street!
30 Comments
It also became the city's busiest cycle route, so returning to normal traffic will result in more deaths. There should be cycle lanes separated from the cars by safety barriers. And if they return it to traffic the buses will still have to be moved as they were going to be anyway. Whether more cars will discourage junk food places is another matter!
Lord Mayor Mr Robert Doyle is going to get a lot of opposition with his new ideas of re-opening Swanston St. A lot more oposition than when he was part of the Liberal Party. On paper it sounds good but in reality I doubt its such a great idea. And as BrianWard said the cars aren't going to discourage junk food places : )
What's his reasoning for wanting to reopen it to traffic? All I've heard that it was a failed experiment...but why did it fail?
On a purely selfish and personal note, I don't like the fact that I can't drive down Swanston Street, so I am all up for reopening it to traffic.
AJ
Exactly AJ why is it a failed experiment ? It's been closed now for almost twenty years , I think we can call it a little more than an experiment now. It's typical politician talk, he's just pulling at straws and seeing what ridiculous ideas he can come up with next. Like banning buskers, some of them are great ! If he wants to ban something why doesn't he ban those annoying bludgers that intimidate us into letting them clean our car windows at traffic lights. Ban hoons and certainly ban councils whose only priority is to squeeze as much as they can out of the hard working rate payer. These days you can't even breathe without needing a permit !
It's more that Swanston St is hardly the biggest issue in the CBD - rates, services, parking, homeless people, violence on King st, there's a lot of things the Mayor could do if he had any real ideas...
Well said BrianWard !
The only good thing Doyle has said is that he will cut down on councillor junkets - the last council spent hundreds of thousands of dollars flying councillors around the world for nothing. If they want to learn how things are done elsewhere they shuld start by making phone calls and getting reports not attending conferences that don't lead to any positive changes here in Melbourne.
In answer to your question, yes I have a good understanding of local government and what councillors do. Perhaps you could try to address the issues rather than attack the messenger. Play the ball not the man.
"Play the ball not the man." I haven't heard that one before, I like it : )
have to try to get people in forums to actually talk about the subject not just flame people...
So does anyone know what the fallout from this was? Was the proposal scrapped straight away?
Something has to "give" though, Swanston street is really dirty and disgusting.
Collins Street on the other hand is looking fantastic! All the new fashion stores have opened up (Gucci, Prada etc) and so has the new Grand Hyatt redev. I'm yet to walk through it, but looks great from the outside.
Doyle seems to have gone very quiet... let's see if he is all talk and no action. He needs to release more detailed plans about the city.
Brian - you must love how Robert Doyle is going on a taxpayer funded trip to Russia!
Why is a Mayor going to St Petersburg? Surely this is more for the state or even federal trade minister to be doing?
He promised no junkets and now has taken a HUGE one! They're all the same. None of these politicians seems to deal with real issues. It's all spin and PR and no action.
It's a viscious cycle though. When your opponent promises outlandish things, why wouldn't you? I'm not justifying it, I'm just saying it doesn't suprise me why it happens.
AJ
Now Doyle is NOT going to Russia again... it's too late though, he's destroyed his credibility already.
Free trams while they are in the CBD, in my opinion. In the CBD == inside the 'city loop' tram line.
Free public transport within the CBD grid (like they have in Perth) would be great and would reduce congestion in the city!
Now it seems Swanston St will remain car free - see http://www.theage.com.au/national/swanston-set-to-stay-free-of-cars-20090226-8j80.html
I've given up on Swanston Street. I was there pretty late on Friday night, and it was disgusting as always. I don't see how they are ever going to change that.
Not unless Doyle's other plan to get rid of all the bogans works!
Hi guys,
Here's an update to this thread:
http://www.streetadvisor.com.au/victoria/forums/public-backs-car-ban-in-swanston-street
I don't think getting rid of the cars is the problem. Solve the homeless problem, and that might revive some positive energy into the street.
AJ
So Melbourne council is now not going to allow cars in Swanston St, and is still working on the plans for what it will look like...
Swanston is better now compared to 5 years ago. Much more vibrant. The less desirables tend to congregate towrads the Flinders St end, don't think it's unique to Swanston, Elizabeth St is the same, if not worse.
The issue with Swanston St is that it's neither here nor there... no cars but free flow of taxis, delivery vans at all hours. Why not turn it into a pedestrian mall like Bourke St between Swanston and Elizabeth? That could save a few cyclists falling over as well.
Taxi's and Commercial vans also need to go, like AprilFlame said - at least during the daylight hours. Taxi's at night are fine (after 10pm). same with van's.
U shouldn't be stocking up during the day -> get that crap done outside of work hours.
Also get rid of the tourist trap tourist busses that park outside the hotels. People can walk a block or so.
Finally, make sure that homeless guy with the 1 cymbal gets a new _set_. He's kewl.
Definitely get rid of the buses!
I still cant help feel that the lack of traffic is a breeding ground for trouble. Gangs and other undesirable activity thrives in quiet locations and hidden laneways.
Bring back the cars!
But Swanston St is never quiet, always full of people.