The Victorian Greens have slammed Yarra Council and Mayor Stephen Jolly's decision to rip up bike lanes as fuel prices skyrocket as farmers are pleading with people in the city to reduce their car use.
The Greens say that the spike in petrol spikes highlights why governments should be helping people shift away from expensive petrol cars to cheaper and cleaner transport options like cheaper and more frequent public transport, electric vehicles and bike lane infrastructure.
The Victorian Greens have slammed Yarra Council's decision to spend $750,000 to rip up the only safe bike lanes in Richmond to insert a handful of car parks onto Elizabeth Street as reckless and a waste of taxpayer money.
Yesterday, Greens MP for Richmond Gabrielle de Vietri joined local residents and cyclists protesting the removal of protective infrastructure today as contractors began ripping up barriers along the corridor.
The changes will reduce riding space along Elizabeth Street corridor to reintroduce a 48 car on street car parks - reversing changes that were made only a few years ago to make the bike lanes more safe and efficient for cyclists and motorists.
Greens MP for Richmond Gabrielle de Vietri said that cycling is one of the cheapest and fastest ways into the city and as fuel prices soar, ripping up safe bike lanes aren't just bad for people's safety, it's bad for people's hip pockets.
As stated by the Victorian Greens MP for Richmond, Gabrielle de Vietri:
"Fuel prices are soaring and people are desperate to find cheaper ways to travel around. It's the government's job to build the infrastructure to help them, not to rip it up.
"The last thing we should be doing at a time like this is making it harder to get around using one of the cheapest ways to travel.
"This reckless and wasteful decision from Yarra Council and the Mayor Stephen Jolly isn't just bad for safety, it's bad for people's hip pockets.
"Safe bike lanes are one of the cheapest ways to help people get from A to B. When you build them properly, more people ride, there's less traffic and you save money.
"Victorians deserve safe, affordable ways to get around, not expensive roadworks that make our streets more dangerous.
"If state Labor really cared they would step in instead of standing on the sidelines while safe infrastructure is being ripped up."
