Cyclists protest Yarra’s Elizabeth St bike lane downgrade in Richmond

Cycling advocates and local residents gathered on Elizabeth St in Richmond on Sunday, March 15 to protest the City of Yarra’s decision to narrow the street’s protected bike lanes, warning the move will make one of inner Melbourne’s key east-west cycling links less safe.

The protest came just a day before works began to remove the existing separators as part of road resurfacing and redesign works that will reduce the width of the lanes in order to reinstate 45 car parking spaces along the street. 

For riders, the issue reaches beyond Richmond. Elizabeth St forms part of a major cycling corridor connecting through Hoddle St to Albert St in East Melbourne and on to the CBD, making it an important link into the City of Melbourne’s broader bike network.

Advocates say narrowing the lanes undermines the role of the route as a Strategic Cycling Corridor and risks creating a weaker connection just as the City of Melbourne prepares to upgrade and widen the Albert St protected lanes in 2026-27.

In a media release issued after the protest, campaigners said residents had sent hundreds of emails to Roads and Road Safety Minister Melissa Horne and Minister for Public and Active Transport Gabrielle Williams, urging them to intervene and stop the changes.

With no action taken by the state government, protesters returned to the street as works commenced on Monday, March 16, as crews began removing the yellow traffic separators protecting the current lanes.

The Yarra Bicycle Users Group said riders using bicycles, e-bikes and e-scooters would now be left without protection from traffic for the next four to five weeks during construction.

Critics argue the narrower lanes and reduced buffers will increase the risk of close passes and dooring, particularly for people riding larger bicycles such as cargo bikes, as well as delivery riders who rely on the corridor daily.

Local resident Karen Hovenga said the timing of the downgrade was particularly concerning.

Campaigners have also argued that Yarra’s redesign falls short of state design guidance for Strategic Cycling Corridors, which recommends a minimum rideable width of two metres for protected bike lanes on streets such as Elizabeth St.

The existing lanes were first trialled in 2020 and made permanent in 2023. But after a change in the makeup of council, councillors voted in April last year to pursue a redesign that would make room for more parking on the north side of the street.

The issue has remained contentious ever since.

As previously reported by Inner City News, councillors voted in August 2025 to proceed with concept designs narrowing the lanes, despite concerns from cycling groups, transport experts and some councillors that the change would make the route less safe and potentially compromise a state-significant corridor.

The council later approved additional funding in February this year for resurfacing works, bringing the reported total cost of the project to $720,000.

Supporters of the existing bike lanes say the money is being spent to make the corridor worse.

Streets Alive Yarra’s Herschel Landes said the controversy exposed a broader problem with cycling infrastructure standards.

“These minimum design guidelines have never been made mandatory, and local streets, even those which are Strategic Cycling Corridors, are at the mercy of local politics and influence,” he said.

Greens councillor Sophie Wade, who has opposed the changes, said residents had been let down.

“Labor has stood by while Yarra Council rips up safe bike lanes,” Cr Wade said. “Residents deserve safe and affordable options in Richmond, as they were promised.”

The City of Yarra has previously argued the redesign is intended to balance cycling access with local parking needs.

Photos: Hanna Komissarova.