Residents of Glenroy, in the north-west of Merri-bek, need far better options for getting around safely and sustainably. In this blogpost, we look at walking, cycling and public transport issues in Glenroy and what can be done to improve them.

Many Australians are locked into car dependency due to poor options for walking, cycling and public transport. It is vital that Australia address this as part of its climate policies. The Australia Institute notes that “broad adoption of active and public transport would reduce emissions more than either of the federal ALP government’s cornerstone climate policies.” And of course car dependency is bad for our health and social connections, and is worsening the cost-of-living crisis, with Melbourne households spending around $30,000 per year to run their cars.

To find out Glenroy residents’ concerns, we conducted a survey at the Glenroy Festival and online. We had 111 responses, mostly from Glenroy and Hadfield. We also examine what Council and the state government are doing (or not) to provide safe, sustainable transport for Glenroy. In 2022, Merri-bek Council also asked residents where they wanted better walking and cycling infrastructure. A map with residents’ suggestions is available here, with Glenroy shown below.

Glenroy has one of Merri-bek’s three major activity centres. Activity centres are typically hubs for walking, cycling and public transport. The shopping strips along Pascoe Vale Road, Glenroy Road and Wheatsheaf Road are busy pedestrian areas. Glenroy has a new railway station, and a shared cycling/walking path is being built along the Craigieburn rail line. On Glenroy’s eastern boundary is the Upfield rail line, with a shared cycling/walking path to the south (but not to the north).

Many of the residents’ concerns are actually the responsibility of state government. In Glenroy, the state-controlled roads are Pascoe Vale Road, Wheatsheaf Road, Plumpton Road and the section of Glenroy Road between Pascoe Vale and Wheatsheaf Roads. The state government is also responsible for public transport. Merri-bek Council also needs to seek permission from the state government for many safety initiatives, such as reduced speed limits and crossings.

Results of our survey on Safe Sustainable Transport

In our survey, we first asked about walking, then cycling, then public transport. We wanted to find out what issues were important to residents.

We asked specifically about pedestrian safety on Pascoe Vale Road. 70% of respondents said that this was important. We asked if there were other roads where pedestrian safety needed improving. 43% said yes, nominating a range of locations, in particular Plumpton Road, Wheatsheaf Road, Hilton Street, and West Street (Hadfield). 31% of respondents wanted reduced speeds on particular roads, and 28% wanted new pedestrian crossings at various locations.  

We asked about cycling safety, in particular if they thought the following cycling routes were important.

• 36% said “Complete the Craigieburn shared path”
• 60% said “Build a safe cycling path along Glenroy Road”
• 51% said “Build a safe cycling path along West Street, Hadfield”

We asked respondents about particular public transport options and also to indicate if they wanted better bus services on particular routes.

• 62% said “Upgrade Jacana Station”
• 49% said “Duplicated and extend the Upfield Rail Line”
• 27% said bus routes needed to be improved, with route 536 (Gowrie Station to Glenroy Station) mentioned several times.

Overall, nearly half of the respondents made specific suggestions of where they wanted pedestrian safety improvements. This is not surprising – nearly everyone walks and we all encounter busy roads near our homes. Only 6% of respondents nominated other specific areas where they wanted safer cycling infrastructure. Yet, there was much interest in improving cycling corridors – particularly the east-west routes. And about 22% made suggestions on improving bus services. This low proportion may reflect that few people see buses as a viable transport option.

What is happening about pedestrian safety?

Pascoe Vale Road is a major concern for residents. It’s a shopping strip, but also a major thoroughfare for motor vehicles. The Glenroy activity centre is one of Merri-bek’s hotspots for pedestrian road trauma. The past 12 years of government data show that 40 pedestrian injuries and fatalities have occurred there (including 2 deaths, and 22 hospitalised). This represents one in every 15 of Merri-bek’s pedestrian casualties. The locations are shown on the map below. Nearly two thirds occurred on Pascoe Vale Road.

Over the past decade, Council have installed a few safety measures, including raised thresholds at several T-intersections (Finchley Avenue, Belair Avenue, Post Office Place, Lytton Street, Grandview Street). These are intended to slow traffic and facilitate walking.

Residents have raised concerns about cars not stopping at the signalised pedestrian crossing near Belair Avenue. Both the Council and the State MP Kathleen Matthews-Ward have requested a fixed red light camera but this has been refused.

One particularly hazardous location is around Belair Avenue T-intersection, where four pedestrians have been injured in five years, despite already having a raised threshold. In 2020, Merri-bek (then Moreland) Council selected a number of T-intersections where they wanted to install a zebra crossing, with Belair Avenue being one. However, this site has not yet been approved by the state Department of Transport and Planning (DTP).

The Pascoe Vale Road shopping strip also has a 40 km/h speed limit between 9am to 7pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 3pm Saturday (with 60 km/h at other times). At the September 2023 meeting, Councillors moved a motion that they write to the state government requesting that this speed zone be made 40 km/h from 7am to 9pm every day.

Unfortunately, Council has been slow to act on Glenroy safety issues. It took Council officers eight months to write to the DTP requesting a reduced speed limit. In regard to the proposed zebra crossing at Belair Avenue, Council informed us that they would first be pursuing these in other activity centres (at sites that have already been approved). So, despite its significant history of pedestrian injuries, the Belair Avenue / Pascoe Vale Road intersection does not seem to be a priority.

Wheatsheaf Road also has a shopping strip, which Council is upgrading. A reduction in the speed limit to 40 km/hh has been approved and should be implemented in 2025.

 Being able to safely cross the Plumpton Avenue / Wheatsheaf Road intersection is another long-standing concern, and particularly important since the Glenroy Community Hub was opened. This has been raised in parliament with the Minister giving the following non-committal answer:

“In 2022, DTP completed a safety assessment at the intersection of Wheatsheaf Road and Plumpton Avenue in Glenroy.  Any identified safety improvements, including a potential upgrade of Wheatsheaf Road and Plumpton Avenue, will be considered in future network planning.”

What is happening to improve cycling safety?

Merri-bek Council has the following cycling paths projects planned:

• Craigieburn shared path – to be extended to Western Ring Road in stages.
• West Street separated bike lanes (Boundary Road to Glenroy Road) – Scheduled for 2031/32.
• Glenroy Road shared path (Cardinal Road to West Street) – Scheduled for 2030/31.

The state government is working on the Upfield Shared Use Path up to the Western Ring Road. More details here. This will include a pedestrian/cycling crossing on Box Forest Road.

Council has also been planning a safe cycling route from Glenroy to Coburg since 2011. Following the 2023 Council decision to remove protected cycling lanes on Kent Road, Pascoe Vale, Council explored several other alternative routes. At the June 2024 Council meeting, Council resolved to:

• Write to Department of Transport and Planning in response to community feedback to request safe cycling infrastructure along Pascoe Street and Boundary Road to support east west bike movements along the state’s Strategic Cycling Corridor.
• Upgrade way-finding signage and line marking to support the Pascoe Vale Shimmy Route.
• Report on a comprehensive plan for a safe, direct and comfortable bike network between Glenroy and Coburg as part of the Streets for People Plan being prepared in the 2024/25 Financial Year.

One road that badly needs improved cycling infrastructure is Hilton Street. This is discussed below.

What is happening to improve public transport?

Glenroy’s public transport is highly inadequate. It is serviced by two train lines – the Craigieburn line in the west and the Upfield line on the eastern border. However, the distance between the two lines is around 5 kilometres, meaning that only a small proportion of the population can readily walk to catch the train. There are bus services to the stations, but frequency and connections are poor.

Recent Census data shows that for residents close to Glenroy railway station over 40% of work trips were made by public transport. For residents far from the station, it was typically less than 10%. So proximity to quality public transport is critical.

Glenroy Station was rebuilt as part of the level crossing removal project. But to the north-west of Glenroy is Jacana Station, which carries around 700 passengers per day. (For comparison, Glenroy Station carries around 2500). Jacana Station has described as “bleak” and “post-apocalyptic”, and voted as the worst station in Melbourne. It is considered one of the least safe railway stations.

Improving safety at Jacana Station has been an advocacy priority for Merri-bek Council. In 2022-23, the state government provided funding for access and safety improvements. State member Kathleen Matthews-Ward recently asked in parliament about at safety improvements at Jacana Station, and the Minister’s response indicated that upgrades were underway. There are also works planned for Jacana Station as part of the Inland Rail project. This could involve upgrading the pedestrian bridge over the rail line, and possibly replacing the access ramp with elevators. See here for details on the design (including a fact sheet) from 2018. Further correspondence from 2019 can be found here. Since then, Inland Rail has been quiet on proposed changes.

Services on the Upfield line are not frequent enough due to the single track between Gowrie and Upfield Stations, and the single platform at Upfield. There would need to be some duplication (track and/or platforms) to increase service frequency.

In 2022, the State Government consulted on Bus Network Reform in Melbourne’s northern suburbs (including Glenroy). They found that people overwhelmingly wanted buses that run frequently and on-time, that connected with trams and trains, with real-time bus arrival information. However, the plan to reform buses has stalled, with little funding provided in state government budgets

Friends of the Earth has been running a campaign for better buses, but their current focus in on Melbourne’s west.

Merri-bek Council advocacy for public transport

In its latest Transport Strategy Action Plan, Merri-bek Council has undertaken to advocate to the state government by June 2025 for the following:

• Track duplication of Upfield line from Gowrie Railway Station.
• Connecting Upfield line to the Craigieburn line.
• Delivery of bus reform in line with Victoria’s Bus Plan and the current Bus Reform project for the North-Western suburbs, including: Increased service frequency; Increased span of operating hours/days; More direct bus routes; Rationalisation of bus stops; Improved amenity at existing bus stops; and Improved connections between train, tram, and bus services.

The following items are mentioned for consideration in the 2025-2029 action plan.

• Track duplication between Gowrie and Upfield Railway Stations and connection of the Upfield line to the Craigieburn line.
• An accessible Jacana Railway Station with safer pathways to the platforms.

Recently seven councils in Melbourne’s north, the Northern Councils Alliance launched a campaign to improve public transport in the north (Merri-bek’s statement here).

Hilton Street / Box Forest Road

Hilton Street / Box Forest Road need significant upgrades to make it safe for people to walk and cycle. This 4 km long road stretches across much of Glenroy. It is a Council-controlled road which carries about 15,000 vehicles per day. Residents are also concerned about the amount of hooning.

This stretch has many roundabouts, but there are no pedestrian crossings (apart from a school crossing). While the roundabouts enable people trying to cross to stop half way, the roundabouts are of poor quality, and not designed with pedestrians in mind. Council has been installing zebra crossings at some roundabouts to improve pedestrian safety and give priority to pedestrians. However, they are not considering these for Hilton Street.

Hilton Street / Box Forest Road also desperately needs quite a few signalised pedestrian crossings along its length. Indeed, Councillors were calling for this in Moreland’s 2010 Pedestrian Strategy. State MP Kathleen Matthews-Ward recently noted in parliament:

“Hilton Street is one of the longest streets in Merri-bek, yet it does not have a single pedestrian crossing, even though people need to cross it to access several schools, including Belle Vue Park Primary School, Glenroy Central Primary School, St Thomas More Primary School, Corpus Christi Glenroy, Glenroy Private, Ilim College and Glenroy College, plus two aged care facilities, open space and shops in North Street, East Street and West Street, Hadfield.”

The 2022 Council budget did finally allocate funds for one set of pedestrian signals near Everard Street. The crossing is not yet functioning.

In February 2023, Council also resolved to undertake a study into improving traffic safety on Box Forest Road, near the cemetery entrance (which is a crash zone). This included investigating a new pedestrian/cyclist crossing on Box Forest Road between the Upfield train line and May Street. It also resolved to seek state government approval for a 40 km/h speed limit from 8am to 4pm on weekdays. At the April 2024 meeting, the proposal for a new pedestrian/cyclist crossing was rejected. Apparently the new crossing planned for near Everard Street and a possible new pedestrian crossing at Sages Road were considered sufficient. These crossings are nearly 1.4 km apart! Do they expect pedestrians to walk such a distance in order to cross safely?

As to cycling, Hilton Street and Box Forest Road would be an ideal east-west route to reach the Upfield and Craigieburn path – if it had a safe and complete bike path. The footpath on the northern side has been widened to allow a shared walking and cycling path; however, this goes only between the Upfield rail line and May Street.

Improving walking and cycling safety on Hilton Street and Box Forest Road is something that Merri-bek Council can do to address the need for safe sustainable transport in Glenroy. Many of Glenroy’s other issues require action by the state government. But Hilton Street and Box Forest Ward are Council roads, which have too long been neglected.

Under the new ward structure, Glenroy will be mainly split between Box Forest and Djirri Djirri ward, with a small section in Bababi Djinanang ward. We look forward to meeting with the new Councillors in these wards to discuss their plans to improve safe sustainable transport in Glenroy.