Only one way to go on Surf Parade, they say

A LOT of people say they don’t want it and the council acknowledges there will be angst among the nearby residents but there’s no stopping it now, an important section of Surf Parade Inverloch is only going one way.

Manager Strategy and Growth at Bass Coast Shire Council Donna Taylor confirmed it, “advice received from the Department of Energy Environment and Climate Change (DEECA), indicated that the coastal reserve cannot be utilized for this project”.

That is, the shire can’t, as was originally proposed, cut into the vegetation along the beach side of Surf Parade, for a sealed two-way road and car parking.

Not going to happen, agreed the councillors at last Wednesday’s council meeting.

So, we might as well look on the bright side, as discussed by Cr Brett Tessari, and embrace the new coastal promenade that will be created in one of the coast’s most popular summer hotspots.

“I've heard from so many people that the priority with this project is the path and no one in the community would deny that. So, number one is to get the path, and number two, that I've heard from the majority of people is the parking,” said Cr Tessari.

“The only way we can get the pathway and the parking, as it stands right now, is the one-way strip.

“So, I understand the frustration from people because this has been going on for so long, but to send in emails and to make the comments as such, ‘let's just do it the way it was and don't worry about what they say’; it just doesn’t work that way.

“They’re the state government that we have to get permission off to do the project. They've told us umpteen times now that they're not going to give us permission to take away the foreshore and it would be irresponsible to take away the foreshore anyway, when we’ve lost almost 60 metres from the other direction,” said Cr Tessari.

“So, why would we cut into this side when we can avoid it? We've done this sort of thing before, turn two ways into one way and it's worked fantastically, okay not to this scale, but we did it on the Esplanade in Cowes and it’s become a real nice little vista, where I guess you can wander along and there’s room for community members to walk, bike riders to ride, and also the cars can still travel along.

“I'm sure that this is going to cause grief to the people who live in that area, because change does cause grief, but I know that we can work together to come up with a solution that is going to be fitting and in that, I am more than comfortable to vote on the recommendations put forward.”

So, the two-way option with carparking that was originally going to run the full length of Surf Parade until some bright spark on council called for yet another report to be done, after all the authorities ticked it off, is dead and buried.

At the council meeting the councillors were asked to vote on one of two options but it was always going to be one-way from Ozone Street, where the path terminates presently, to the Inverloch Surf Lifesaving Club at Goroke Street.

The scene of mums with prams dodging cars and little nippers hurrying out on the road of a busy summer morning will be no more.

“The purpose of this report is to present the outcomes of the recent community engagement process on the alignment of stage 3B of the Surf Parade path project,” said senior shire officer Donna Taylor, noting that the report addressed a petition signed by 564 people which was tabled at the December 2023 Council meeting, requesting Council cease with the current two options.

Those options are:

• Option 1: Allows for parking and one-way vehicle traffic on Surf Parade between Ozone Street and Goroke Street reportedly with 67 carparking spaces.
• Option 3: No parking provision. Retain two-way vehicle traffic on Surf Parade.

There was a third option with two-way road traffic, and lengths of one-way with limited parking (17 spaces).

“The report outlines the results of the community engagement process and advice received from the Department of Energy Environment and Climate Change, which indicated that the coastal reserve cannot be utilized for this project,” said Ms Taylor.

“The report recommends that a one-way option with inclusion of parking on one side of the road is the preferred alignment for the past. If approved, next steps for the project will include commencement of the statutory process to make the section of the road one way. In addition, additional funds required to complete the project will be considered as a part of the 2025-26 budget process.”

There is $620,000 available in the 2023/24 capital Works budget for the construction phase of this project. At this point, prior to detailed design being completed, it is anticipated that an additional $350,000 would be required to complete construction for either option – so almost $1M.

Cr Leticia Laing has also taken a keen interest in the progress of the Surf Parade path, especially consulting with stakeholders and she offered her thanks for their participation and patience.

“This has always been the priority so that when young families or whoever want to get out of the car, adults don't have to anxiously supervise this road to get to the beach, nor do people with a disability or accessibility limitations have to move along on a very dangerous road navigating it with other vehicles. I'm sure there will be some adjustment challenges and there will be further work that will be undertaken and it's not the end of finding parking solutions on that road.” Ms Laing said.

The road traffic is proposed to travel west-bound, away from the Inverloch CBD, in other words, cars travelling west along Surf Parade will not be able to turn around and travel back east after passing Ozone Street.

How this will ultimately impact traffic movement in Ozone Street, Lohr Avenue and Goroke Street is unknown.

Perhaps the council should model the changes before making it permanent.

Conclusion and recommendations

Taken from the council report (link below):

The results of the modelling undertaken as part of this investigation indicate that options 1 and 2 not only provide space for the proposed shared path but also lead to improvements in traffic performance along Surf Parade. In Option 1, this is due to the removal of the slow point and removing the conflict between cars and pedestrians caused by the lack of footpaths and in Option 2 it is due to the removal of parallel parking delaying vehicles Option 3 shows significant increases in travel times, especially on the eastbound direction due to the increase in one-way slow points and speed bumps. This is likely to result in drivers avoiding the area and may not offset the benefits of providing the 17 car spots. The GPS data has shown that 91% of vehicles travelling eastbound in the AM and PM commuter peaks and the summer holiday interpeak are able to shift their routes to Toorak Road with no impacts on journey time. Under this scenario, the Toorak Road and Goroke Street intersection is still expected to perform with low levels of delay and drivers able to find safe gaps. Option 1 has the additional benefit, not shown in the modelling, of pedestrians from parked cars not having to cross the road to access the beach. Option 1 provides the most parking and would likely result in the least amount of pedestrian/traffic interaction. Due to the benefits to the traffic flow, the provision of the high amounts of parking and the safety benefits of connecting the parallel parking directly to the shared path, it is recommended that council proceeds with Option 1. While it does reduce some connectivity through the network, the GPS study shows the most trips are available to shift their routes to Toorak Road with no increase in travel time. All options reduce the amount of parking provided on Surf Parade. It is recommended that under any of the three options, Council does further work to develop a vision for how parking arrangements will work on Lohr Avenue and if increased vehicle demand is not accepted by the local community, asset and non-asset solutions to reduce traffic volumes, such as those in section 10.4 be explored and monitored.

Check out the councilreport here