Inkerman Street has had a high number of crashes compared to other Council-managed roads with 33 recorded crashes between St Kilda Road and Hotham Street in the 5-year period ending June 2022. 14 of the 33 crashes resulted in a serious injury. For these reasons, Council’s Move Connect Live: Integrated Transport Strategy 2018-28 identifies Inkerman Street as priority for a protected bike lane from St Kilda Road to Hotham Street.

During initial engagement for the Integrated Transport Strategy in 2018, ‘walking and bike riding improvements’ were rated as the community’s top transport priority. Council’s recent Sustainability Survey reinforced these findings, with respondents overwhelmingly identifying safer cycling infrastructure as the key factor that would encourage them to ride a bike more often.

The road surface along Inkerman Street between St Kilda Road and Westbury Street is currently in poor condition and is scheduled for re-sheeting as part of Council’s standard asset renewal program. This maintenance work presents an opportunity for us to address safety concerns along the street at the same time, to minimise disruption to the community and reduce project cost.

Each design option aims to address the street’s repetitive crash history and improve safety for all road users – including people driving, motorcycling, riding bikes / scooters, and walking.

Included in the scope of both design options is:

• Three new raised pedestrian priority crossings with flashing lights and kerb outstands
• Implementation of signalised ‘early start’ for pedestrians and bike riders at traffic lights
• Installation of green treatments and linemarking for bike lanes at both signalised and unsignalised intersections, to provide awareness for bikes crossing
• Installation of kerb extensions at two unsignalised intersections where crashes have occurred
• Introduction of a safer 40km/h speed limit.

Council investigated a range of design options to assess the feasibility of improving traffic safety on Inkerman Street.

These included additional bike lane configurations, as well as a ‘do minimum’ option with only minor traffic calming measures. These concept designs were prepared to allow comprehensive analysis relating to:

• safety outcomes and road user experience
• ability to facilitate increased uptake of walking and riding
• changes to car parking
• impact on traffic, including waste collection and emergency vehicles
• financial cost

Design Options A and B – which have been shared with the community – were endorsed by Councillors over other options as they align best with project objectives. The design report available allows community members to provide informed feedback on the future of Inkerman Street.

The following features will make it easier and safer for community members to cross and travel along Inkerman Street:

• The inclusion of three new raised pedestrian crossings with flashing lights, which will provide:

- More opportunities for people to cross Inkerman Street with a shorter walking distance between crossings for those who have difficulty walking longer distances

- More time to cross the street for those who require extra time.

- Step-free access to cross the street without having to mount off and on the kerb.

• Widened parking bays which will make it easier to get in and out of a parked car for those who need extra time or room.

• ‘Early start’ for pedestrians (and bike riders) at traffic lights, allowing pedestrians to begin crossing major intersections earlier before vehicles turn left (removing a potential conflict point).

• An accessible parking space added near the Aldi supermarket entrance.

Accessible parking spaces

As mentioned above, an accessible parking space will be added near the Aldi supermarket entrance.

Two existing on-street accessible parking spaces are located at the following locations:

• 189 Inkerman Street – this parking space would be relocated 18 metres east of its current location.
• 235B Inkerman Street – this parking space would remain in its current location.

Option A also includes the following features:

• Widening of the bike lane to accommodate different types of riding abilities and bikes, including cargo bikes and trikes in the bike lane.
• ‘Kerb outstands’ at side street intersections, which provide safer, more comfortable crossing for people walking due to shortened crossing distance and better sightlines for vehicles turning into side streets
• Both the designs comply with the Victorian Disability Discrimination Act 2006.

Along the 1.2km length of Inkerman Street between St Kilda Road and Hotham Street, there are currently only four safe designated priority crossings for pedestrians. These are located at major intersections with traffic lights, at St Kilda Road, Chapel Street, Westbury Street, and Hotham Street. This creates a distance of up to 435m between formal pedestrian crossing locations. The long distance between crossing points leads many to cross Inkerman Street informally and without priority.

Informal mid-block crossing is difficult for people with limited mobility, those using walking aids, or pushing strollers as they may be required to navigate level changes and moving traffic.

Three new raised pedestrian crossings are proposed with flashing lights, at:

The addition of pedestrian crossings would make it safer and easier for people of all abilities to cross Inkerman Street and provide vital links between businesses and residences along both sides of the street.

Traffic modelling has been undertaken to determine the impact the project would have on the functionality of intersections in particular during peak times. The Department of Transport and Planning, who manage and approve signal changes, support the proposed changes and impacts.

Both options have the same traffic impacts, which are:

• Inkerman at St Kilda Road: 90 seconds (AM peak), 14 seconds (PM peak)
• Inkerman at Chapel St: negligible
• Inkerman at Westbury St: negligible
• Inkerman at Hotham: 23 seconds (AM peak), 2 seconds (PM peak).

Early start crossings use dedicated pedestrian and bike traffic lights at intersections. Green lights on these crossings activate a few seconds before the green lights for car traffic, allowing people walking and bike riding to begin crossing the intersection earlier before vehicles begin to turn left. This removes a potential conflict point between cars, bikes and pedestrians, reducing the likelihood of crashes.

Green bike lane surfaces are generally used where there is a potential conflict point between cars and bikes, to alert drivers and people riding bikes to take care. These are often used at intersections, which generally have a higher crash risk than mid-block locations. Highlighting the presence of a bike lane with green surface coating improves safety for both drivers and bike riders.

Similar surfaces were recently installed at the intersection of Chapel and Inkerman Streets, for bike riders travelling along Chapel Street.

The current parking layout along Inkerman Street is unsatisfactory from a safety perspective, for both drivers and bike riders. At some points along Inkerman Street, parking spaces are only 1.9m wide which is below recommended/standard width. This causes lane crossing of wider vehicles into the bike lane, especially when opening doors to enter and exit a parked vehicle, presenting a safety risk. Both design options increase the width of parking bays to 2.1m, allowing for larger vehicles (SUVs) to park, which are not currently accommodated safely on Inkerman Street.

Option A would provide 64 on-street parking spaces along the southern side of Inkerman Street, with 116 car spaces removed. In this design option, there is a total parking supply of 517 on-street spaces within a 100m catchment including side-streets.

Option B would provide 160 on-street parking spaces along Inkerman Street, with 20 car spaces removed. In this design option, there is a total parking supply of 613 on-street spaces, when including side-streets within a 100m catchment.

The feedback we collect from the community and traders in this engagement will be presented to Council in early 2024 and will help to inform decision-making about travel safety on Inkerman Street. Feedback from the community and traders will be included in an Engagement Findings report, which will be shared on this project page.