In 2018, the City of Darebin launched an exciting project to transform part of our local street network into more people-friendly places.

The Streets for People Northern Reservoir Final Strategy and Concept Designs Report was endorsed by Council on Wednesday 6 November 2019.

The Northern Reservoir Corridor follows Broadhurst Avenue from the east to High Street, then Crookston Road from Cheddar Road, to McMahon Road and the Darebin Creek Trail. Council will now begin design and delivery of the priority projects.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the three rounds of community engagement and who helped shape the final outcomes.

Engagement Summary

The concept designs and strategy were developed through three rounds of community engagement which included:

• Public survey on issues and opportunities (March 2019)
• Public drop-in session on issues and opportunities (March 2019)
• Street champion workshop on addressing the issues (March 2019)
• Public survey on the draft concepts (April/May 2019)
• Public drop-in session on the draft concept designs (May 2019)
• Street champion workshop on confirming the direction of the draft concept designs (May 2019)
• Community survey on final strategy and plans (September 2019)

You can view the outcomes from the previous engagament in the Round 1 Engagement Summary, Round 2 Engagement Summary and Round 3 Engagement Summary.

What's next?

• Design and construction will begin in early 2020

You can also keep up to date on the Preston Activity Link via our Streets for People Preston Activity Link page.

Project Background

As our city continues to grow, the role and function of our local streets is changing. Darebin City Council is committed to working with our community to help define what our streets will look and feel like in the future.

Following a successful consultation in 2018 for our first Streets for People Corridor in Thornbury / Northcote (available in the document library), Darebin Council is working on our second Streets for People project, the Northern Reservoir Corridor, which runs along Broadhurst Avenue from Merri Creek to High Street, and Crookston Road from Cheddar Road to Boldrewood Parade, continuing on McMahon Street to the Darebin Creek Trail.

In October 2018, the Streets for People Feasibility Study was endorsed by Council, and two of the eight corridors were selected for investigation in 2019 - the Preston Activity Link, and the Northern Reservoir Corridor. The focus of this study is the Northern Reservoir Corridor which includes Broadhurst Avenue in the west and Crookston Road and McMahon Road (between Boldrewood Parade and the Darebin Creek Trail), in the east (shown in the above map). To read the full Feasibility Study Report, download it from the Document Library (on the right).

The corridor is affected by its intersections with major roads, and accommodates high levels of local walking and cycling activity by a range of people of all ages and abilities moving between homes, Ruthven train station, local schools and creek trails. This route is also being considered for designation as a primary or secondary transport cycling route as part of the State Government's Strategic Cycling network. These various transport considerations must be balanced with the need to provide safe and attractive streets for the local community to not only use, but also enjoy and be proud of.

Our vision for the Streets for People project is:

“to create a neighbourhood that is safe, green, clean and welcoming”