2025-09-23
Victorian Greens Leader and local Melbourne MP Ellen Sandell has said separated bike lanes must be installed on Macaulay Road as a matter of urgency, and the dangerous intersection urgently reviewed, following the tragic death of a cyclist yesterday in Kensington, where Ms Sandell also lives.
A young cyclist reportedly tragically died in a crash with a truck near the intersection of Macaulay Road and Rankins Road on Monday afternoon, close to Kensington train station. This follows several other cyclists who have died or been seriously injured following collisions with trucks in the last few years in the electorate of Melbourne, including Angus Collins in West Melbourne.
However, despite the Council approving funding for separated bike lanes along Macaulay Road every year since 2021, the bike lanes have been constantly delayed due to the Victorian Government Department of Transport not approving them.
The Greens have also called on the City of Melbourne to urgently review the safety of the Rankins Rd/Macaulay Rd intersection where the death occurred.
As part of this review the Council should also explore whether the current traffic management plans have been sufficient amid all the construction happening in Kensington, and increase in trucks using local roads.
The Greens say that, while the circumstances are not yet fully known, it would be heartbreaking if yesterday’s death could potentially have been avoided if safer transport infrastructure like separated bike lanes had been installed.
To prevent future cyclist injuries, collisions, and deaths on Victorian roads, the state must make improving bike and pedestrian infrastructure a matter of priority.
Quotes attributable to Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell MP:
“My thoughts are with the man who was tragically killed on his bike yesterday, and his loved ones.
“Every year in Australia nine cyclists are killed on our roads, yet Governments often make safety for cyclists an afterthought. Pedestrians and bike riders should be able to use our roads without fear of being killed.
“Yesterday’s tragic death needs to be a wake-up call for the State Labor Government. Too often, Labor makes safe bike lanes an afterthought, when they must be a priority, so no more bike riders die after being hit by cars and trucks.”