Beach Street Separated Queuing Lane - Update

We have received the following update from the City of Port Phillip (CoPP) on this proposed change. Sorry for the longer entry than usual but it was rather difficult to effectively summarise.

Council is investigating options to improve the function of the roundabout and access for locals to Beacon Cove, by establishing a separated queuing lane to divert cruise ship/Spirit of Tasmania passengers. This is a key action identified with the community as part of the Port Melbourne Waterfront Urban Design Framework. Council has appointed a Consultant team, which includes traffic and civil engineers, landscape architects, water engineers and traffic modellers.

Phase one - what we heard 

Thank you to everyone who completed the survey, which closed on Friday 24 July. The draft success criteria that were developed with stakeholder and community representatives at a workshop held on 7 July 2015, were distributed to the broader community to review and provide comment, as well as add any additional criteria.

The survey respondents nominated which criteria were most important to them and provided some additional narrative around their experiences and ambitions for this section of Port Melbourne. 
A summary of feedback received can be downloaded here for your review.  A full report of the consultation feedback will be available on the website next week.

Next steps 

Your feedback from phase one has been provided to the consultant team and will help guide the draft concept design options. The feedback highlighted some preferences for protecting or improving certain elements of the public space, including heritage elements, parking, pedestrian and bike riding facilities, so this will be taken into consideration in developing the concept designs. Your feedback will also inform the final the success criteria, which will be used to assess the concept design options.

The success criteria will also have input from Council technical staff and external stakeholders. This will include assessment of the designs for value for money, constructability, overall impact and scale of traffic improvement benefit.

Next opportunity to have your say 

Phase two of the community consultation commences in late August 2015. This will be the second opportunity to input into the concept design phase. You will be asked to rate each of the concept design options against the success criteria developed in phase one to help determine a preferred design.

• Have your say online - the concept designs and feedback form will be available on Council’s Have Your Say website from Friday 28 August. 
• Come to the drop in session on Monday 7 September - drop in any time between 5 pm and 7 pm at the Port Melbourne Town Hall. This will be an information session where you can view the concept designs and ask questions of the consultants and Council to help inform your feedback. It is recommended that you attend the session prior to lodging your feedback.
• Pick up a hard copy of the designs and feedback form at the drop in session or at the Port Melbourne Town Hall ASSIST counter from Friday 28 August.  

Community feedback will be considered along with input from technical consultants and Council.  A preferred concept will be presented for consideration at a Council meeting in late 2015. The preferred concept will be made available on Council’s web page along with a summary of the community’s feedback.

More information

For more information, please visit our web page: www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/queuing-lane.htm 
To stay in touch, please register for project updates by emailing portmelbudf@portphillip.vic.gov.au  
To speak with the Project Manager, please contact ASSIST on 03 9209 6777.