News / Road Safety
Melville Road speed limit to be cut to 50 kmh
Changes to extend to Grantham Street and part of Dawson Street
Mark Phillips
THE State Government has committed to lowering the speed limit in Melville Road to 50 kmh, delivering a major win for local road safety campaigners.
Roads and Road Safety Minister Melissa Horne has confirmed in writing that a reduction of the speed limit from 60 kmh will take effect sooner rather than later not only along the full length of Melville Road, but also where it links with Dawson Street and Grantham Street.
In addition, a 40 kmh limit school speed zone will be introduced in a section of Melville Road that is frequently crossed by students from three primary schools.
The changes, which were confirmed in a letter from Horne to a Brunswick West resident earlier this month, follow several years of campaigning by families, schools, Merri-bek Council and parliamentarians for changes to the road, which is a major link between Brunswick and Coburg.
Strong advocacy from MPs Tim Read and Anthony Cianflone forced the Department of Transport and Planning to conduct a “holistic review” earlier this year of the corridor between Bell Street and Dawson Street. Read’s electorate is on the east of Melville Road, and Cianflone’s is on the west.
The review included remote school zone speed limits near St Joseph’s School and Brunswick North West Primary School and looked at the function of the road, crash history, vehicle types, the design features of the road, and passenger vehicle, freight, cyclist, and pedestrian movements through the area. Some students from Brunswick North Primary School also use the road.
Melville Road is the only north-south link between Dawson Street and Bell Street that currently has an uninterrupted 60 kmh speed limit and is heavily used by motorists seeking to avoid CityLink tolls. It is also part of the #58 tram route.
It is part of a road network that also includes Grantham Street, along which one-in-eight of Merri-bek’s pedestrian injuries take place.
In 2023, an elderly man was killed when he was struck by a car crossing Melville Road at Hope Street, and last year a female driver was seriously injured in a two-car collision at the Albion Street intersection.
In her correspondence with Dr Rachel Lamarche — who stood in the seat of Brunswick for the Animal Justice Party in the 2022 state election — Horne said the review had been finalised and the department had proposed to reduce the existing 60 kmh speed zone along Melville Road, Dawson Street and Grantham Street to 50 kmh between Bell Street and Brunswick Road, with a 40 kmh school speed zone between Mattingley Crescent and Dawson Street.
“Development and planning work for these proposed changes will commence in coming weeks,” Horne wrote.
Walk On Merri-bek convenor Andrea Bunting last year analysed accident data for Melville Road and found about 30 people were killed or injured each year along Melville Road, Dawson Street, Grantham Road.
Bunting said the new speed limit the full length of the Grantham-Melville corridor from Brunswick Road was better than expected and should be the catalyst for further safety improvements.
“It’s fantastic news and well done to all of the people who have been advocating for safe speeds,” she said.
“Fifty is still problematic especially as there’s schools and trams and shopping centres, it’s still high but it was outrageously high.
“It [reducing the speed limit] is a cheap thing that they’re doing, it’s good but people are getting knocked over at intersections often by turning vehicles so there’s a lot that needs to be done about those intersections, particularly Albion and Hope.”
Bunting said she would like to see the speed limit in Grantham Street eventually reduced to 40 kmh in line with Sydney Road and Lygon Street.
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Read, who has been raising the speed limit on Melville Road in Parliament and directly with government ministers since 2021, said the changes were a great first step but given the extent of accidents and crashes on the street he would like to see more being done for pedestrian and bike safety.
Among further improvements, Read said there should be adjustments to the crossing signals to ensure early crossing for pedestrians and tactics to make intersection traffic lights and pedestrian crossings more visible.
“The community has been calling for improved safety on Melville Road for over 10 years, [so] it’s great to see the government finally start to listen,” Read said.
“Melville Road has some fantastic local spots, but with so many deaths and injuries on the road it’s not hard to see why people would avoid the street.
“Lowering the speed limit is the first step at injecting life back into the area, but we can’t let it be the last step.
“Next let’s get a separated bike lane and improved pedestrian walkways and crossings, so that Melville can be a place for people and community, instead of cars.”
Cianflone has also previously championed a 50 kmh speed limit coupled with a 40 kmh school speed zone.
“We’ll continue to keep the local community updated as we assess and plan for necessary road safety upgrades on Melville Road,” he said.
Confirmation of the new speed limit in Melville Road follows several other recent road safety developments in Brunswick.
Earlier this month, Merri-bek Council approved a trial of 30 kmh in council-controlled streets in parts of Brunswick and Coburg after also approving a 30 kmh trial in Lygon Street in March.
Campaigners for a new pedestrian crossing in Moreland Road have stepped up their advocacy after a skateboarder was killed there earlier this month, and residents of Albert Street in Brunswick West are calling for the introduction of a modal filter to control increased traffic from new apartments in their area.
This Saturday, Read and Randazzo ward councillor Liz Irvin are hosting a public meeting to discuss possible safety measures in Ewing Street in the southern part of Brunswick.
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