Barkly (or Burnley) is designated as Council’s Local Area Place Making (LAPM) precinct #21, bounded by Church Street, Swan Street and the Yarra (Birrarung) River.

Image credit: City of Yarra

Context

Schools and educational areas in LAPM 21 Barkly include:

The western section of LAPM 21 Barkly was assessed in 2012 as part of the study for LAPM 20 Cremorne, and is presently 14th on the priority list of 21 LAPMs. If Yarra assesses two LAPMs per year it will be seven years (2027) before Barkly is re-assessed.

Issues

Footpaths and road infrastructure in Barkly are far behind where they needs to be in order to support the safe and sustainable moveability of children and adults alike. Areas to focus on include:

  1. Coppin Street and Swan Street intersection crossing predominately used by children and adults alike commuting to work / school and bikes commuting to the City Trail (LAPM 18 Coppin).
  2. North of Barkly Gardens – Madden Grove and Coppin Street intersection
  3. North of Barkly Gardens – Madden Grove and Mary Street intersection
  4. South of Barkly Gardens – Mary Street school crossing
  5. West of Barkly gardens – Barkly Avenue school crossing
  6. West of Barkly gardens – Brighton Street school crossing

Solutions

Streets Alive Yarra (and our local champion for Barkly, Sally) welcomes a consultation with The City of Yarra’s Traffic and Civil Engineering department, to improve these sections of road and footpath infrastructure and make it safer for our kids to walk, scooter or bike to school.

Removal of driver blind spots

Pedestrians cannot be seen on the crossings, especially at Madden Grove / Coppin Street and Madden Grove / Mary Street. If sight lines can’t be improved then a wombat crossing should be installed to slow vehicles.

People walking south on this footpath are hidden from drivers going west and turning left. Image credit: Sally Welbourn.
View from driver going west and turning left. Image credit: Google Street View.

Re-paint crossings

Many crossings need to be re-painted and in a bright colour.

Install wombat crossings

Wombat crossings are required in many locations, refer to the crosses on the map below.

Locations where improvements are required. Image credit: Sally Welbourn and Google Maps.

Install LED speed signs

LED road signage which shows the adjacent road speeds (40 km/h) around Richmond Primary School.

Convert to a 30 km/h superblock

Even better, the whole LAPM area would be improved by converting it into a 30 km/h superblock.

Image credit: Streets Alive Yarra and City of Yarra

Example

A good example of recently upgraded crossings near a school are these wombat crossings near Fitzroy High School.

Image credit: Victoria Walks

Local champion

Your local champion for LAPM 21 Barkly is Sally Welbourn. View all of Streets Alive Yarra’s champions on our supporters page.

From a professional perspective the environmental benefits of walking, riding and taking public transport are clearly understood. As a Richmond resident and mum of two young children however, it is apparent that the City of Yarra’s footpath and road infrastructure is far behind where it needs to be in order to support the safe and sustainable moveability of children and adults alike within the municipality. I am the champion for LAPM 21 Barkly (Burnley) including streets and crossings near Richmond Primary School. I welcome a consultation with The City of Yarra’s Traffic and Civil Engineering department, to improve these sections of road and footpath infrastructure and make it safer for our kids to walk, scooter or bike to school.

Sally Welbourn
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