Melbourne City Council has reduced its cycling infrastructure commitment from $13 million to $9 million over four years.
The City of Melbourne’s draft 2025-26 budget, unveiled on 13 May, revealed the $732.4 million spending plan allocates just $1.5 million in new council funding to bike lanes and cycling infrastructure.
This represents a significant reduction from the previous council term, which committed $5 million per year and $20 million over four years, plus carry-forward funding for unfinished projects.
City of Melbourne cycling infrastructure
- Funding slashed from $5M to $1.5M
- Council claims total spend is $3.44M
- Final budget decision 30 June
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The budget changes prompted an unprecedented response from the cycling community, with more than 1500 submissions received regarding the draft budget.
An overwhelming 94 per cent of submitters supported investment in bike infrastructure, with the majority calling for increased funding.
Australia’s peak cycling organisation, Bicycle Network, is calling on the City of Melbourne to:
- Allocate $5 million in new Council funding for bike lane infrastructure in 2025–26, and
- Commit to $5 million per year for the three years following – a total of $20 million in new funding over four years.
- Specifically deliver the Council-endorsed (in April 2024) four-year cycling infrastructure program.
A record-breaking 179 people registered to speak at the 17 June Future Melbourne Committee meeting, creating a marathon council session that ran until almost midnight.
Many cyclists argued the council was failing to deliver on its 2030 Transport Strategy, which commits to building 50 kilometres of new, physically protected bike lanes on local roads, and a further 40 kilometres on state-managed roads.
A significant portion of the reduced funding has been allocated to reconfiguring existing lanes rather than building new infrastructure.
However, Lord Mayor Nick Reece told CBD News there was confusion around how the spending was presented.
“We’ve also changed the way we present budget figures,” Cr Reece said. “This budget no longer includes external funding sources – offering a more transparent and accurate picture of council’s direct infrastructure spend.”
According to the council, while the funding table shows new investment as $1.5 million, the total spend is currently calculated to be $3.44 million.
The additional funds reportedly come from an $800,000 boost from Metro Tunnel works, $600,000 in carry forwards, and $540,000 from the remaining Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund.
Bicycle Network noted that at the 17 June council meeting, the Lord Mayor and councillors listened carefully to every speaker and stated they would review the draft budget in light of public input before finalising it on 30 June.
Between 2020 and 2025, the council constructed 31 kilometres of protected bike lanes and over the past year, 18.7 kilometres were added using adjustable infrastructure.
An additional 6.6 kilometres were funded by the Victorian Government along St Kilda Rd and Grattan St for Metro Tunnel works, while 800 metres of protected bike lanes are to be delivered by the state government over the next 12 months.
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