Council comes under scrutiny for “clever” bike lane backflip

The City of Melbourne’s decision to cut its cycling infrastructure program has sparked a furore among the thousands of riders who commute through the city every day, alongside cycling advocacy groups.

This year’s draft budget revealed that the council has reduced its four-year commitment to cycling infrastructure from $13 million to $9 million, with a significant portion of this allocated to reconfiguring existing lanes rather than building new ones.

In light of this, local cyclists turned out in droves at the June 17 Future Melbourne Committee (FMC) meeting to express their concern about the council’s investment in cycling infrastructure, stretching the meeting to more than five hours.

More than 1500 submissions were received regarding the draft budget, with more than 90 per cent of submitters in support of bike lanes.

Many argued that the council was failing to deliver on its 2030 Transport Strategy, which commits to building 50 kilometres of new, physically protected bike lanes on local roads, and a further 40 kilometres on state-managed roads.

At the meeting, Steve Manders said that “delivery is already lagging” and that the money allocated in the draft budget falls short of what is required. He called on the council to increase its investment to $5 million per annum for the next three years.

Nicolas Dow was also among those concerned and said that the Lord Mayor Nick Reece had tabled a “very clever” budget that manages to spend money on rearranging existing lanes without adding a single kilometre to the four-year bike program agreed to last year.

However, Lord Mayor Nick Reece told CBD News that there was “confusion” around how the spending was presented.

“We’ve also changed the way we present budget figures,” Cr Reece said. “This budget no longer includes external funding sources – offering a more transparent and accurate picture of council’s direct infrastructure spend.”

According to the council, the funding table shows new investment from council as $1.5 million; however, the total spend is currently calculated to be $3.44 million.

The additional funds come from an $800,000 boost from Metro Tunnel works, $600,000 in carry forwards, and $540,000 from the remaining Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund.

“Delivery of the cycling program has been consistent over the last few years, with actual delivery expenditure being in the order of $3 million,” a City of Melbourne spokesperson said.

Between 2020 and 2025, the council constructed 31 kilometres of protected bike lanes and over the past year, 18.7 kilometres were added using adjustable infrastructure.

An additional 6.6 kilometres were funded by the Victorian Government along St Kilda Rd and Grattan St for Metro Tunnel works, while 800 metres of protected bike lanes are to be delivered by the state government over the next 12 months.

However, former elite cyclist and current staff member at the not-for-profit organisation Bicycle Network, Matilda Reynolds, does not believe enough has been – or is being – done to uphold the council’s pledge for 50 kilometres of new protected bike lanes.

She expressed concern about the council’s lack of commitment to new bike lanes, arguing that the city was lagging behind others, both domestically and internationally.

“I’m begging you to be brave enough to follow what already works. The city deserves to be proud again,” she said. “That means keeping the promised bike infrastructure investment and delivering on your commitments.” •