The awkward and risky succession of crossings along the Upfield Trail at Royal Park Station may soon be sorted.
Riders really must have their wits about them in this precinct as the risks come at you from every which-way.
Coming from the south on the trail, first you cross Poplar Road, playing chicken with fast rat-running cars. Then the tram tracks. Next the train tracks.
All to the soundtrack of trumpeting elephants at the Melbourne Zoo next door.
It doesn’t look like a simple fix, but the Department of Transport (DoT) is making a start, launching a project to make interchanging between trains, trams, buses, and local attractions more convenient and less risky.
And safer for bike riders and motorists as well.
The DoT has now launched public consultation to kick off a redesign of the way people on foot, on bikes and in vehicles flow through the precinct.
"Public transport passengers in this interchange also interact with bike riders and pedestrians using the Upfield Shared Use Path, as well as drivers on Poplar Road and customers visiting Melbourne Zoo,” the DoT says.
"DoT will consult with the local community on their interests and priorities for the precinct in its locality.
"We’ll communicate and engage in a two-stage approach. We’ll seek community interests and priorities via online surveys and in person at pop-up information sessions and a stakeholder design workshop.
"We’ll take this feedback into account when developing preliminary designs. We’ll seek further feedback on these designs to help us to finalise our designs,” the PTV says
Bicycle Network has been providing input into the design process.
Having a tram and boom-gate controlled rail crossing so close to each other has confused inattentive drivers; pedestrians from the tram are forced to cross Poplar Road and then back again to get to the Zoo; bike riders on the trail sometimes suddenly switch to the road; nothing seems to line up with desire lines.
All the problems are linked to each other and the whole issue just can’t be fixed with tinkering.
This is a popular riding route with many riders, so it is important you have a say.
You can fill out a survey, join a pop-up information session at Royal Park Station and attend a design workshop (available for up to 15 community members).