Earlier this year, City of Ballarat asked the Forest Street community to share their knowledge of existing conditions for people walking, riding a bike, riding mobility scooters or otherwise moving around Forest Street without a car, and the improvements they might like to see.

We are now in the early stages of designing changes that will make Forest Street a safer and more pleasant street for everyone who moves through it or lives on it. You can help with the design process by answering a few questions.

The knowledge and ideas we received from the community highlighted some major areas for improvement:

• Safe crossing points
• Car speed and behaviour
• Roundabouts
• Road and footpath condition
• Safe cycling infrastructure

Key aspects of the concept plans are:

• Safe crossings for all side streets
• Additional Forest Street crossings
• Shared pedestrian and cyclist paths along school frontages. These wide, shared user paths will allow easy, safe access to the schools, away from the busy parking and drop off zone
• Outside of the school zones, an on-road, protected bike lane on each side of Forest Street will provide safe and pleasant cycling from Giot Drive to Wendouree Parade
• Central median from Norman Street to Giot Drive. This will help to lower car speeds and control traffic movement during peak school hours. It also provides tree planting opportunities.
• Safe raised pedestrian and cyclist crossings on all roundabout arms
• Multiple tree planting opportunities from Norman Street to Giot Drive