How we make roads safe
We deliver infrastructure to help make Yarra's streets safer through:
- investigating community road safety concerns
- delivering programs such as road safety studies or local area place making studies
- applying for and delivering road safety infrastructure via Federal and State road safety programs
- delivering actions from Council's Safe Travel Strategy 2016-26 [ PDF, 1.91 MB] .
Reporting a road safety issue
Any concerns you may have regarding traffic or road safety within Yarra should be reported to our Traffic Unit.
What happens next?
We will undertake an investigation into your concerns. If there is no immediate safety issue, officers may refer this issue for further investigation during one of our strategic road safety programs or to the relevant team within Council.
If we do identify a potential safety issue, we will consider the appropriate course of action to address the issue
Traffic management
Traffic management comes in many forms. Common treatments in Yarra include:
- speed reduction treatments such as road humps, threshold treatments and raised intersections
- treatments that promote walking and cycling such as wombat crossings, zebra crossings, bicycle lanes and bicycle symbols.
Although perhaps less well known, the following traffic treatments are becoming increasingly popular with residents:
- Street-trees in the center of the road.
- Shared zones (sections of streets which legally provide priority to pedestrians).
- Painted streets.
Improvements to safety and amenity are sometimes required to be traded off against inconvenience for local communities.
Traffic treatments which aim to reduce through-traffic, vehicle speeds and crashes may result in increased travel times for local road users. In some cases, they require the removal of on-street parking spaces.
Road safety studies
Road safety studies are a new initiative we are exploring that focus on identified road safety issues within precincts, along corridors or at sites (i.e. intersections or outside a school or a rail station).
We are planning to deliver two road safety studies during 2021/22.
Further information will be available once these studies commence.
What we try to achieve
These studies might look at:
- minimising conflict between different modes of transport, with higher priority given to vulnerable road users, like pedestrians and cyclists, without compromising the functional role of streets
- reducing vehicle speeds in locations where there is interaction between vehicles and vulnerable road users
- making it safer to cross streets
- removing barriers to accessibility
- implementing other Council priorities relating to tree planting and greenery and sustainable management of water if there is an opportunity as part of the delivery of works.
Road Safety Study Policy
On 5 October 2021 Council adopted the Road Safety Policy 2021 for the purpose of undertaking two initial Road Safety Studies to assist with the goals of Yarra's Road Safety Strategy 2016-2026.
Council has instructed officers to review its implementation to ensure we capture what is working well and identify where any improvements could further improve this approach.
Read the Road Safety Study Policy 2021 [DOCX 17.7 MB]