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On previous occasions, the council has backed down following community backlash. At a community meeting on Friday evening, councillors received a largely hostile reception from well over 100 locals, who quickly launched a campaign to stop the works.
T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “kangaroos, not cars” have been printed. Signs that read “save not pave The Boulevard” have been hung from balconies, while more than 670 people signed a petition online.
“This battle has been fought before,” says architect and Boulevard resident of 15 years, Simon Scillio.
Urban planners all over the world try to design humanistic streetscapes such as this, but it can’t be manufactured and can only evolve with time, Scillio argues.
“It’s almost happened by accident,” he says.
David Gentle has lived there for 11 years and says it is a unique Melbourne treasure. The slow and infrequent traffic means the street is more often populated by pedestrians than motorists.
Fewer than 200 vehicles a day on average drive along The Boulevard, according to council traffic counts, though numbers have grown by 25 per cent in the past two years.
“The official speed limit is 50 km/h, but the advisory speed limit is 30km/h, and some people go at 20km/h, because they’re worried about their suspension,” Gentle says.
“That keeps it very quiet, and the end result is that people wander, they meander along the street side by side, talking with their friends, walking a dog. And it’s just got a really lovely, rural, country lane atmosphere.”
Gentle, who is president of the Yarra Precinct Protection Association community group, says the poor state of the road deters traffic, and residents fear any repair work will only encourage rat-running.
“The Boulevard runs parallel to this very busy main road, and naturally, they’d like to take a shortcut along The Boulevard, but they don’t, because of the potholes.”
The council, which is legally obliged under the Road Management Act to maintain and repair The Boulevard, says it is still seeking feedback on the proposal.
A council spokesperson said the road “is showing significant signs of wear, including cracking, potholes, edge breaks, drop-offs, wheel ruts and corrugations”.
“These defects pose risks to all users and create challenges for ongoing maintenance,” they said.
The proposal aims to maintain the “country lane feel”, with no new footpaths, lighting, kerbs or channel, the spokesperson said. It converts part of The Boulevard into a no-through road between Linn Street and McCubbin Street, to counter rat-running.
“Encouraging safe walking and cycling is a key goal of the project, with potential connections to the Main Yarra Trail and improvements to nearby roads, like Gruyere Crescent, also under consideration,” the spokesperson said.
They added that the proposal has not been costed and no final decision has been made.
Boulevard resident George Kalpakis was prepared to stick his neck out and speak in favour of the council’s plan, arguing that the road had been neglected for many years.
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“We walk our dog here every morning, we love the area, but I think it needs to be resurfaced, as long as they do it tastefully,” he said.
But Kalpakis said he knew he was heavily outnumbered and had seen the fierce opposition to the proposal at last week’s council meeting.
“It was very vocal. It was very hard to contain some of the people there.”
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