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A local council in Melbourne has found itself in a dispute with residents after cyclists and other advocates protested the reduction of bike lanes to reintroduce more than 40 on-street parking spaces.
Yarra Council – which governs North Richmond, an inner-city suburb in Melbourne – has started renovating the road along Elizabeth Street in Richmond on 16 March 2026.
The roadworks – expected to be completed within four to five weeks – will reduce the width of the bike lanes to 1.5m, including gutters, to make room for 45 car park spaces along the street.
Mayor Stephen Jolly visited the site on Monday and defended the council’s decision, stating the street has been “a superhighway for cyclists”, with local community members urging authorities to make room for more on-street parking.
“It means that people in this area will be able to access their temple, their homes, their businesses. There’ll be a little bit of an increase in parking, and we’ll have a street once again that’s shared by everybody,” Mayor Jolly said in a social media video posted to Facebook in March 2026.
“We don’t just listen to one interest group. We listen to everybody. We’re bringing Elizabeth Street back to the people."
A Yarra City Council spokesperson confirmed it will not charge for these car parks.
“Council has not proposed to charge for these parking spaces, which were lost when the temporary [bike] lanes were installed in 2020,” a Yarra City Council spokesperson told Drive.
However, cycling advocates – including one Greens MP – have slammed the council’s decision over safety and travel concerns.
According to a 16 March 2026 report by The Age, some cyclists gathered to protest the roadworks, with Bicycle Network – Australia’s largest rider organisation – previously requesting urgent state intervention from Roads Minister Melissa Horne to postpone the work.
“The City of Yarra once regarded itself as a leader in the design and delivery of bike lanes, but sadly, it has lost its way,” Bicycle Network Chief Executive Alison McCormack told the masthead.
Greens Richmond MP Gabrielle de Vietri was among the number of protesters who gathered at the work site.
In a March 2026 media statement, de Vietri condemned the council’s decision, stating it would cause further financial pressure due to the lack of cheaper transport alternatives.
“Fuel prices are soaring and people are desperate to find cheaper ways to travel around … the last thing we should be doing at a time like this is making it harder to get around using one of the cheapest ways to travel,” she said.
“Safe bike lanes are one of the cheapest ways to help get people from A to B. When you build them properly, more people ride, there’s less traffic and you save money.
“This reckless and wasteful decision from Yarra Council and Mayor Stephen Jolly isn’t just bad for safety, it’s bad for people’s hip pockets,” de Vietri added.
According to The Age, an independent safety audit commissioned by the council revealed that introducing the 48 car parks posed a “safety risk” due to reduced sight lines for drivers. Despite this, councillors voted in favour of narrowing the lanes.
A spokesperson from the local council reaffirmed its stance that the decision was made to support residents.
“The Council’s decision was made on the basis that the roads need to be shared. Residents on Elizabeth Street had lost some parking access to their homes and businesses, and Council’s decision seeks to respond to this,” a Yarra Council spokesperson told Drive.
The spokesperson said increased traffic congestion was "not the anticipated outcome” of narrowing bike lanes in favour of parking spaces.
Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
