When road safety concerns are deterring residents from walking to nearby shops, we have a big problem. That was one of the key messages from the Coburg Road Safety Forum held at the Coburg Library on November 22. The forum was convened by Merri-bek Bicycle Users Group, with several Councillors attended. We heard from five community groups from Coburg and Coburg North, who are campaigning for safer roads for walking and cycling.

To reduce transport emissions, we need many more people walking, cycling and using public transport. We know that many more people would ride a bike, if there were safe, protected cycling lanes. Safety is also important in encouraging people to walk, particularly older people (who are the main victims of pedestrian road trauma) and children.

Since May 2025, four vulnerable road users have been killed in Coburg (including on the Brunswick border). These tragic deaths have been devastating for their family and friends. And for Coburg residents, it’s alarming that so much road trauma has occurred in this suburb. One reason may be that Coburg has a lot of people walking and cycling, while there is a lot of through traffic, with speed limits of 60 km/h. Coburg also has Merri-bek’s sole “arterial highway” cutting right through the middle – Bell Street. This road carries nearly 50,000 vehicles per day.

The five groups who presented at the Coburg Road Safety Forum were:

• Safer Moreland Road
• Safer Walking and Riding for Murray Road (SWARM)
• Safe Access over Bell St Bridge for Everyone (SABBE)
• Liveable Sydney Road
• Pedestrian Safety for Nicholson Street, Coburg

Moreland Road

Safer Moreland Road formed after the two tragic deaths on Moreland Road (between the Upfield line and Melville Road). They are on Instagram and are currently running a petition. They are calling for reduced speed limits, protected bike lanes, more signalised pedestrian crossings, and a safe and well-lit connection across Merri Creek. The speed limit on Moreland Road is currently 60 km/h (with 40 km/h school zones), and it has painted bike lanes.

Indeed, residents have long campaigned for a safer Moreland Road, particularly for more pedestrian crossings. With distances between safe crossing points of around 800 metres, people are more likely to cross midblock. In 2022, residents, with the help of Tim Read, got a new pedestrian crossing near Everett Street. There has been another campaign for a crossing near Queen Street (the site of a former convenience store, where a supermarket opened about 6 years ago). This campaign has seen three petitions (starting in 2020). In 2021, the Minister for Road Safety declared it to be “low priority”. Fast forward to September 2025, and the news is much better, with the Minister for Road Safety stating, “DTP supports a signalised pedestrian crossing near Queen Street and will consider it for future funding.”

Murray Road

Safer Walking and Riding for Murray Road (SWARM) are on Facebook and Instagram. They have recently launched an Incident Reporter website. They call Murray Road a “race track”, where the design of the road encourages unsafe driving. This road has seen many crashes, which SWARM tries to document. They also urge residents to report crashes on their website. Murray Road has four lanes (two each way). It formerly had a single lane each way, but the government changed the road marking (and removed a pedestrian refuge in the process). It has very narrow shared user paths, which are used by people walking and cycling, including children going to school. Too many vehicle crashes have needed up on the footpath, including two that destroyed bus shelters. Monitoring by Council has shown significant proportion of vehicles speeding.

SWARM have been engaging with the DTP for some time, and they were successful in getting the school speed zone moderately extended over the Merri Creek bridge (though they maintain it should be lengthened). They want the speed limit reduced, the road environment changed back to a single lane each way, traffic calming, road space reallocated for people to walk and ride safely and a redesign of the Outlook Rd / Connolly Avenue intersection, including at minimum a pedestrian crossing.

Bell Street Bridge

Safe Access over Bell St Bridge for Everyone (SABBE) is active in both Merri-bek and Darebin. They are particularly focused on the safety of the section of Bell St that crosses Merri Creek, where the footpath is very narrow and people need to walk very close to high volumes of vehicles travelling at high speed. SABBE are also concerned with the safety of nearby streets, including the intersection with Nicholson Street (the terminus for the route 1 tram.) This area is used by many children accessing schools, playgrounds and sporting area.

The government have responded to their requests with a new school speed zone and a bit of paint on the road – dragon teeth and “slow down” signs. We are reminded that “paint is not infrastructure”.

Sydney Road

Liveable Sydney Road are focused the 60 km/h section of Sydney Road, between O’Hea Street in Coburg North and Boundary Road. They have a Facebook group and are currently running a petition. They want a reduced speed limit, improved signage, enhanced pedestrian crossings, dedicated turning lanes, traffic calming measures, greater provisions and protections for pedestrians, cyclists and road users, and stronger enforcement. They noted that too many vehicles are not stopping at pedestrian lights.

Our analysis of crash has found that this section of Sydney Road is Merri-bek’s most hazardous road, with the highest number of crashes per kilometre. It is even the most hazardous stretch per kilometre for pedestrians. This is is very concerning as is not an activity centre. This stretch of road also has two of Merri-bek’s most hazardous intersections for pedestrians – at Bakers Road (where 2 pedestrians have been killed) and Boundary Road. Bakers Road also has the route 19 tram terminus and is used to access nearby schools.

Pedestrian Safety for Nicholson Street, Coburg

Pedestrian Safety for Nicholson Street, Coburg started in 2016, following three pedestrian deaths at or near the intersection of Nicholson St / Holmes St / Moreland Road. They have drawn attention to the large rate of vehicle crashes particularly along Nicholson Street. This group has had significant achievements, including a new pedestrian crossing, a reduced speed limit to 50 km/h, and over a million dollars allocated for road safety in the 2024 state budget. Sadly the speed limit reduction has had little effect, so more needs to be done.

Walk on Merri-bek have made a video that describes some of their achievements. This group has been a ready source of advice and inspiration to other road safety groups in Merri-bek.

A particularly interesting idea that this group raised is that accessible tram stops are also important for safety. They reduce traffic speeds and make it safer for tram passengers.

So what is happening to make our roads safer?

In August 2025, the Victorian government released its new speed zoning guidelines. These new guidelines allow for the speed limits to be reduced from 60 km/h to 50 km/h on most of the arterials roads discussed above. This is what the guidelines specify for Urban Connectors.

Since the guidelines were released we haven’t seen any speed limits drop from 60 km/h to 50 km/h, though the earlier speed limit achieved on Nicholson Street, Coburg clearly foreshadowed these changes. Note that the government has committed to reducing the speed limit on Melville Road / Dawson St / Grantham Rd, but we are yet to see action on this.

The Minister for Road Safety has responded to a request from Walk on Merri-bek to reduce the speed limit on Moreland Road and Normanby Avenue (in Darebin). They wrote, “DTP has noted your proposal for a speed limit reduction along Moreland Road and Normanby Avenue and will assess it as part of its future network planning, adhering to the updated Speed Zoning Policy.”

Another earlier development was the 2024 report from the Inquiry into the impact of road safety behaviours on vulnerable road users. We reviewed this report here. The government’s response to the recommendations is here.

Earlier this year, the government released its Road Safety Action Plan 2, which included this statement: “Responding to keen interest from local governments and their communities, we’ll consider proposals for speed limit reductions in areas with significant interface between pedestrians and bicyclists and vehicles.“

It is clear we have a lot of “keen interest” in Merri-bek. Let’s hope it brings results.