Friday, December 13, 2024

Albury reveals draft plan for transport future

AlburyCity Council has released its draft future transport strategy for feedback from the community.

The MOVE: The Albury Wodonga Integrated Transport Strategy looks at transportation across the region over the next 10 years, focusing on improved connectivity, accessibility, and sustainability.

It covers all modes of transport including walking, riding, driving, freight, aviation, micromobility such as bicycles and scooters, and public transport.

“The way we get around is an important part of our everyday life and can have both positive and negative impacts on our wellbeing. It’s important that as our region grows we continue to improve connections and offer variety in the way we move around,” said AlburyCity Mayor, Kylie King.

“The MOVE Strategy was developed based on extensive consultation with our community to ensure it aligns with their values and aspirations, and addresses the everyday challenges being faced. I encourage our community to review the strategy and provide your feedback to ensure your voice has been heard.”

Council says extensive consultation with the community was undertaken in mid-2022, including an online survey and interactive map where community members could pin their ideas, as well as face-to-face presentations, workshops and pop-ups.

“There was strong community desire to allow for more active and sustainable modes of transport such as walking and riding, as well as ensuring our network offers environmentally friendly options to reduce our carbon emissions,” Council said in a statement.

“Many people were also receptive to introducing new and emerging transport modes such as electric powered vehicles to allow for more variety in how we get around.”

Council says the community raised issues around connectivity across the region, as well as a range of barriers which are causing dissatisfaction with current public transport networks such as wait times and route availability.

“They also highlighted safety as a key issue that needs to be addressed across different modes of transport,” it said.

Some of the key actions in the strategy include advocating to the NSW Government for increased bus and train services, including improved links between the Albury Train Station and Airport; exploring game changing modes of transport such as rapid buses, shuttle buses, monorails or a light rail corridor; exploring options for shared micromobility (e-scooter and e-bike) trials; developing an electric vehicle charging policy; investigating opportunities to introduce active transport infrastructure on four lane roads; advocating to state government for additional active transport crossings across the Hume Freeway and Murray River; installing additional bike parking and repair stations; advocating for improved safety at state government managed intersections; conducting a speed zone review; and installing traffic calming measures such as raised zebra crossings.

Feedback on the draft strategy is being invited before Sunday 5 November on the AlburyCity website.

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