Improving safety for pedestrians on East Boundary Road

Project overview

The Department of Transport and Planning is investing $61.6 million over multiple years to continue supporting active transport projects and initiatives across the state.

This includes investigating a signalised crossing and bike lane improvements on East Boundary Road, near Clarence Street in Bentleigh East.

East Boundary Road is highly used by motorists with limited crossing points. It is a popular pedestrian area due to Bentleigh Secondary College.

Concerns have been raised about the amount of school students crossing the road unsafely. A new signalised crossing will give the community safer access to local schools, childcare, shops, and recreational facilities.

We want to hear your opinion

We’ve investigated several options to improve safety and connectivity on East Boundary Road and want to hear your opinion on our proposed design.

What we’re proposing:

• Installing a staggard signalised crossing on East Boundary Road south of Clarence Street 
• Installing raised crossings at the entrance to Clarence Street, Lahona Avenue and Reserve Access to support pedestrian movement and calm turning traffic 
• Widening sections of the footpath on East Boundary Road between Clarence Street and King George VI Memorial Reserve
• Making improvements to bike lanes on East Boundary Road with sections of separated lanes and green surface treatments at conflict points
• Shortening the right turn lane into Clarence Street.

These improvements will:

• Improve safety and connectivity for people on East Boundary Road
• Offer a safe crossing place for pedestrians on East Boundary Road 
• Encourage the uptake of walking and bike riding for community members
• Create a safer environment for pedestrians, bike riders and motorists around Bentleigh Secondary College. 

A high-quality pedestrian network is a fundamental building block of the transport network and helps people make active transport choices that reduce transport congestion, minimise emissions and support vibrant economic precincts.

Improving active transport

Creating safer roads, intersections and crossings for pedestrians and bike riders will help save lives and encourage people to use active modes of transport. When pedestrians and bike riders are involved in a crash with a vehicle, they’re at a higher risk of being severely injured or killed.

Improving walking and bike riding connections that enable more Victorians to walk or get on their bike for everyday trips supports the climate change pledge of 25% active transport mode share by 2030.

If 50% of short vehicle trips were switched to riding a bike or walking, the Victorian economy would save $165 million every year in congestion, health, infrastructure, and environmental costs.

Question & Answers

Why are you proposing a signalised crossing on East Boundary Road?

We’re proposing a new signalised crossing on East Boundary Road, Bentleigh to give pedestrians, school children and families, a safe place to cross the road.

East Boundary Road is highly used by motorists and has a speed limit of 70km/h, with no safe crossing points south of Bentleigh Secondary College or Bentleigh East Childcare, encouraging pedestrians and bike riders to cross the road unsafely.  

There has been community concern about the amount of school students crossing unsafely in this area and this signalised crossing will provide a safe place for school students and pedestrians to cross the road.

Families at Bentleigh East Childcare will also benefit from a safe place to cross to access the centre.  

How will this impact parking?

We’ll make every effort to retain existing on-street parking for residents, visitors, and businesses in the area though some changes may be required.

Our proposed designs may impact up to 10 parking spaces on East Boundary Road between Clarence and Kalimna streets on the eastern side and between Catherine Street and Mawby Road on the western side. This will create a safer environment for pedestrians.

Where parking is impacted, we’ll speak with impacted businesses and residents to understand and mitigate the impacts as much as possible.

How can you justify removing parking spaces so close to businesses?

Research suggests that creating or improving options for pedestrians and bike riders generally has a positive impact on businesses in the area.  

Investing in better streets and spaces for walking can provide a competitive return compared to other transport projects, for example, research from UK based charity Living Streets, shows that walking and bike riding projects can increase retail sales by 30% or more.  

It is often assumed that more parking will encourage shoppers, however this is not supported by available research. Studies have linked the quality of public spaces to people’s perceptions of attractiveness of an area, contributing towards their quality of life and influencing where they shop.

Project timeline

We are in the development stage for this project and are investigating a suitable option to improve safety and connectivity on East Boundary Road.  

We will talk to the community about our proposals from September 2023.

Once we have the final design, we will share this with the community and seek additional funding to deliver our improvements.

Contact us

To send feedback on the proposed option, or to find out more about the project, please contact us.

Email: [email protected]