What you need to know
Holmes Precinct Local Area Traffic Management Study
In 2014/15, we undertook a Local Area Traffic Management (LATM) study of the Holmes Precinct as part of our ongoing LATM program. The study area is bounded by Buckley Street, Mt Alexander Road, Maribyrnong Road and Waverley Street in Moonee Ponds.
During the study, a working group comprising of community volunteers, Ward Councillors, Council officers and traffic engineering consultants met on three occasions to discuss various sections of the study.
Council adopted the Holmes Traffic Management Plan (pdf, 641KB) and the Holmes Parking Management Plan (pdf, 210KB) at the Ordinary Meeting in July, including the following actions:
- Note the additional traffic issues raised by the local community as identified in Appendix D.
- Refer the works within the final Traffic Management Plan and Parking Management Plan to future Capital Works Budget for funding consideration.
- Advise residents and traders within the Holmes study area of the outcome of this report.
- Undertake further consultation with residents in Athol Street, Darling Street, Normanby Street, in regards to parking changes outlined in Appendix C.
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Undertake further consultation with residents in Smith Street, in regards to traffic changes outlined in Appendix B, and parking changes outlined in Appendix C.
- Complete a more localised investigation of the Leslie Road, Stanely Street and Sherbourne Street school zone, reviewing measures proposed in the Draft Holmes Road LATM, with a report to come before Council prior to December 2015.
- Undertake a weekday, Saturday and Sunday occupancy review of Chaucer Street, Montgomery Street and Browning Street, Moonee Ponds, and if required undertake consultation with residents.
- Implement measures as determined from the reviews outlined in 4, 5, 6 and 7 above.
The following Simplified Holmes Parking Management Plan only include streets where parking changes have been adopted by Council and where further community consultation is required.
Consultation during study
A questionnaire on traffic and parking issues in your area was posted to properties in the study area in September 2014 and has closed. The information provided helped to identify problem areas and assist us develop draft traffic and parking management plans for the area.
Traffic Management Plan
We then developed a draft Traffic Management Plan which set out recommended solutions to traffic issues. This was circulated with a questionnaire to all properties and property owners in the study area for community comment. The questionnaire was also available online. The consultation period closed on 23 March 2015.
The draft plan aimed to address key issues identified by the community in the initial questionnaire as well as feedback from the working group. The proposal has been considered on an area-wide basis to minimise any adverse impacts on adjacent streets.
The objectives of the draft plan were to:
- reduce the incidence and potential for vehicle and pedestrian crashes in the local area
- improve the safety of local streets by reducing traffic speeds
- discourage through traffic from using the local area
- develop proposals that address traffic concerns raised by the community, while maintaining adequate levels of accessibility for local residents, local businesses and emergency services
- maximise the safety benefits with the available funding (with priority given to reported crash locations and those streets with the greatest level of community concern)
The community response to the draft plan was then reviewed by the working group. The recommended Traffic Management Plan was taken to the Ordinary Meeting of Council in July 2015 for adoption.
Parking Management Plan
As part of the LATM study, the existing parking conditions within the local area were reviewed. A draft Parking Management Plan setting out proposed changes to the parking arrangements in the Holmes area was developed.
This component of the project has involved the collection of an extensive set of parking occupancy data in addition to community and working group feedback.
The streets where parking changes are warranted have been determined based on our Parking Demand Management Framework.
Our Kerbside Road Space User Hierarchy was then used to determine appropriate parking restrictions in each street.
The community response to the draft plan was then reviewed by the working group. The recommended Parking Management Plan was taken to the Ordinary Meeting of Council in July 2015 for adoption.
Narrow Street
Parking on nature strips is illegal under the Victorian Road Rules, but we have in the past allowed certain streets to ignore this restriction while a consistent approach to parking and traffic issues was identified. Parking deemed dangerous (such as vehicles blocking sightlines or footpaths) was still policed, but otherwise parking on the nature strip has been tolerated in those streets.
We have been investigating conditions in these streets to identify whether any particular changes could be made to alleviate parking and safety concerns. We are consulting streets one-by-one on those changes, and then removing the exemption allowing parking on their nature strips.
Unless advised otherwise by Council, you should assume any street in the Holmes precinct, and Moonee Valley in general, operates under normal Victorian Road Rules, and that parking on the nature strip is not allowed.
One of the few streets where parking is currently tolerated on the nature strip is Waverley Street. A proposal (pdf, 4MB) has been developed by Council and VicRoads to address parking and safety issues in the street, and funding is currently being sought.
Contact details
If you require any further information or assistance with the questionnaires, please contact our Transport Unit on 9243 8888.