Re: “A friendlier Shelbourne Street could take until 2021 to build,” April 13.
The changes proposed to Shelbourne Street pose a problem for the residents of Gordon Head. The Urban Systems report shows 20,000-plus vehicles per day use Shelbourne, and 6,000 to 9,000 cars a day will be diverted if Shelbourne is choked to two or three lanes.
Shelbourne is also expected to have an 11 per cent increase in traffic by 2038. These diverted vehicles will be forced into residential streets.
The article says two-thirds of the corridor will remain four lanes. This is incorrect, as part of this corridor from Mount Douglas Park to Feltham has already been converted to two lanes, which will mean that 2.7 of the 4.7 kilometres from the park to North Dairy will be two lanes, 57 per cent of the corridor.
The people who live and invest in Gordon Head should not have to dodge commuter traffic in order for seniors and families to walk or children to ride bikes or inline skate on the streets where they reside.
Diversion will reduce the livability, safety and property value in the area.Transit would like to double its ridership by 2025. Urban Systems said that if the four-lane option is dropped “the efficiency and effectiveness of planned frequent transit services would be dramatically reduced.”
To paraphrase Ben Williams, head of the transit union, the Shelbourne plan represents the biggest problem faced by Transit: the assignment or right-of-way to move the few while making it difficult for those who move the many.
Lloyd Neville
Victoria
