This inner-city suburb could become an entirely 30km/h zone
Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece has supported calls for a blanket 30km/h limit across East Melbourne to improve safety and deter motorists from driving through the area's small streets.
Reece said he had written to Victoria's Roads Minister Melissa Horne to request the state government consider running consultation on a 30km/h zone in East Melbourne, which is already in place on local streets in nearby Fitzroy and Collingwood.
He said he wanted to avoid people using the suburb as a 'rat run', or driving through small streets to avoid major arterials.
'East Melbourne is notorious for people speeding through suburban streets to get to the MCG or the city,' he said. 'Residents have told me they are frustrated by the prevalence of suburban rat-runs, impacting pedestrian safety and creating congestion on neighbourhood streets.'
Reece said that if community feedback favoured the idea, East Melbourne could become 'the City of Melbourne's first 30km/h suburb'.
The World Health Organisation recommends speed be limited to 30km/h on urban streets where cars and pedestrians mix, and the limit is widely used in European cities.
But 30km/h is not a standard speed limit in Victoria and so can only be used in trials with the state Transport Department. A handful of trials are taking place statewide including in the City of Yarra across Collingwood and Fitzroy.
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