Moreland BUG

News from VicRoads:

Please be advised that VicRoads will be undertaking bridge maintenance works on the Heidelberg Road over Merri Creek from Tuesday 17 July until Friday 3 August 2012 between 7am and 3pm, weather permitting.

There will be some changes to traffic conditions. These include temporary lane closures and reduced speed limit. There will be some delays affecting pedestrians, vehicle traffic and cyclists during these works. Due to these bridge maintenance works, Merri Creek Trail between Heidelberg Road and Walker Street in Northcote will be closed on Tuesday 17 July to Wednesday 18 July and on Thursday 2 August to Friday 3 August 2012 between 8am to 4pm.

During this time all pedestrians and cyclists travelling towards St Georges Road will be diverted along Heidelberg Road Bridge, from Cunningham Street to Walker Street.

Signs have placed around the area advising pedestrians and cyclists of the detour. For more detour details refer to the detour map (PDF file).

The works have been designed so that residential amenity and business will not be adversely affected. It should be noted however that there may be minor noise associated with these bridge works.

Access to residential and business properties will remain available at all times and if restricted, for any reason, will be made available upon request to traffic controllers on site.

VicRoads regret any inconvenience caused while these essential bridge repairs are undertaken.

Should you have any queries regarding these bridge works, please contact Nusrat Islam from VicRoads on 03 9313 1366 (during business hours only).
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Works affecting traffic on the Upfield Shared Path
Brunswick Baths
16 July – 28 July, 2012
Between 9 am and 3:30 pm

Please be aware that works on the wall abutting the bike path are required as part of the renovations to the Brunswick Baths.

The path will NOT be closed but will be narrowed on the wall side so that cyclists going in opposite directions will not be able to cycle past each other. The sections of closure are short (around 10m) and works will only occur between the morning and evening peaks; and not every day (e.g. outside painting is weather dependent).

Please stop and/or give way if necessary and exercise patience and care.

There may be short delays; it may be an inconvenience; so allow extra time for your journey if you have a deadline to meet.

If you have any questions or problems, please email or call Nicholas Elliot (p: 9240 1294), or Gordon Blake, Traffic Engineer (p: 9240 1155).
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As many of you would know, a riders rally is planned for next Thursday, June 21 to protest against the Baillieu Government’s decision to cut the Victorian bike budget to zero.

Bicycle Network Victoria and various BUGs are organising the event and the estimate is that there’ll be 3-4000 riders there on the day.

The rally is from 7.30 am to 8.30 am in front of Parliament House.

If you are not happy with the Baillieu Goverment’s decision, make your voice heard and come along to the rally. You can make your way into the city at your own leisure or join one of the organised rides. More details on the rally and various meeting points and times for rides can be found here.

Moreland BUG member Tim Read is organising a ride to the rally from Brunswick. We meet at Cafe L’Amour, 76 Lygon St. (next to Gelobar), Brunswick East at 7am and ride in together along Canning St.

And Anna has set up a Facebook event and so far 72 people are going. You can join here.

While some elements of the rally are still on the drawing board, a rough run sheet for the morning currently looks like this:

0730 – rally starts, Victorian Parliament steps, Spring St, Melbourne
0745 – we plan to unfurl a fabric bike path to symbolise the types of facilities that will now not be possible with zero funding. This “path” can be passed around overhead or perhaps symbolically laid!!
0815 – speech and pics
0830 – event ends

Hopefully we will have a good turn out so make sure you are coming along!
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Update: due to the bad weather, tonight’s ride has been cancelled!

The next Moreland BUG ride is the ANZAC Glow Stick Ride and the details are as follows:

Date: Wednesday, 25 April 2012

When & Where to meet: 7pm in front of the Noise Bar (on the corner of the Upfield Path and Albert Street, Brunswick)

Description: Ride to the Espy (Hotel Esplanade) in St. Kilda via St. Kilda Road and enjoy free live music, drinks and good company.

Make sure to lighten up your bike with usual or unusual lighting devices!

If you have any questions send an email to secretary@morelandbug.org.
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Today is the Moreland cycling count day where we work with council to count cyclists at 30 different locations throughout Moreland. You might see some volunteers counting so feel free to clap and cheer and if you have a spare minute maybe asking if they would like a ‘convenience break’.

The next BUG meeting will be held on Thursday, February 23rd at the Edinburgh Castle Hotel (681 Sydney Road, Brunswick).

We invited Gavin Anderson along to give a presentation on his cycling holidays in England. He rode along the National Cycling Route Number 4. Hampton Court and Windsor were a just a few attractions he saw along the way. For a sneak peak you can have a look at his photos here.

The meeting starts at 7.30 pm and will finish around 9.00 pm. Food and drinks can be purchased there. We meet at the little dining room out the back. Members and guests are welcome!

News from Nicholas Elliot at Moreland Council:

Just a quick note to let you know that the De Chene Reserve Bridge that was damaged in the Xmas Day flash flood, has been reopened for pedestrians and cyclists. Cross with Care. The damaged hand rail will be repaired on Monday (Jan 23rd) – until then barricade tape has been placed across the gap.

The other bridge that was damaged, in the Edgars Creek park land near Ronald Street, will remain closed until it has been repaired. Repairs will start next week.
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This is just a quick reminder for the get together on Friday.

When: Friday, December 16 at 6.30 pm

Where: Bridges Reserve, meet at the bike parking area in front of the Coburg Leisure Centre (access via Russell Street)
So feel free to come along and enjoy some music, food and drinks at the Coburg Night Market.
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Christine Campbell, the MLA for Pascoe Vale, attended the AGM on Thursday night. Among the items that she talked about was an acknowledgement she gave the BUG, Council and individuals who have worked on various bike infrastructure projects within Moreland.

From Hansard on October 26, 2011 (PDF):

Moreland Bicycle User Group

Ms CAMPBELL (Pascoe Vale) — Congratulations to the Moreland Bicycle User Group (BUG) for its great work in promoting healthy and clean-energy transport. Its work assists all Moreland cyclists, from those for whom it is their principal transport to those who enjoy being recreational cyclists. Its website and email communication keeps everyone informed of current and future events. Thanks to Julia Mischke, whose emails keep us informed, and to all those at the Moreland BUG committee for their commitment. Thanks to those who work at Moreland City Council and dovetail in with local cyclists, particularly the infrastructure team headed by Nerina di Lorenzo, who has completed the ‘shovel ready’ plan for the final link of the Upfield shared pathway. Thanks to Sebastian Motta, whose work has addressed safety width and beautification around the Western Ring Road, which has been widened. When partnership, hard work and a comparatively small amount of funding all combine, sustainable and healthy cycling transport occurs.

The next big project is the Craigieburn rail corridor bike path, which is the next project for the Moreland BUG. The Moreland BUG, Moreland City Council and the Department of Transport all require action to bring this great idea to fruition. Because of the work by Moreland
City Council’s infrastructure team, detailed designs are available for Department of Transport staff when they are ready to action a rail corridor project. Congratulations to Cr Kathleen Matthews-Ward, whose vision and persistence taught us that it was possible, and to Paul McKay and Rod Overall, who showed up the pitfalls and solutions.

Update: this work is now scheduled to start on Monday 24th October.

News from Simon at Council:

If you ride along the Merri Creek Trail in East Brunswick please be aware of the following works.

Contractors will be pruning trees near the ACES facility in East Brunswick (between CERES and Albion Street – Melways 30 B6).

The contractors will be pruning trees to remove dead wood and improve tree structure. The works seek to address branches overhanging the ACES facility and the Merri Creek Path.

Most of the works will be away from the path but there will be times when the contractors require vehicle access to the path to remove timber and branches.

The works area will be clearly signed and contractors have agreed to avoid obstructing the path during peak times to minimise disruption to regular path users.

It is expected the works will commence on Monday 17th October (Today) and take about 1 week to complete. This estimate is dependent on good weather.

If you have any queries about these works please call 9240 1111 or email:

info@moreland.vic.gov.au
Attn: Lori Arthur Natural Resource Management Officer
Moreland City Council