In response to community interest and suggestions, the City is interested in seeking feedback about the installation of a permanent rainbow crossing in the Geelong CBD.

This crossing will be a vibrant and colourful representation of our region’s support of the local rainbow community and continue to celebrate our local our LGBTQIA+ communities.

The crossing locations under consideration are:
• Malop Street crossing (central) – between Market Square & Westfield (signalised)
• Yarra Street underpass pedestrian crossing (signalised)
• Malop Street crossing – near Clare Street (signalised)
• Fenwick Street pedestrian crossing – near Johnstone Park (zebra crossing)
• Western Beach Road pedestrian crossing - Novotel (zebra crossing)
• Western Beach Road pedestrian crossing – Cunningham Pier (zebra crossing)
• Gheringhap Street pedestrian crossing – Deakin (zebra crossing).

Since the outcome of the community engagement, the City has been working through a range of options to deliver the Rainbow Crossing.

What we have learnt since, is that there are some emerging issues which has meant we have had to rule out some of the original choices of crossings that were included in the consultation.

Some of the issues included:

• Some surfaces such as bluestone do not allow paint products to stick and then the Rainbow Crossing then would not be permanent.
• Some paint products cannot cope with heavy loads of vehicles crossing on then. This would mean the crossing over a short amount of time would peel and become faded with daily traffic.
• The condition of the road means some roads are due for replacing which would mean these roads (including the crossing) need redoing in the near future.
• There were some safety concerns for pedestrians on some crossings as outlined from the feedback we received in the survey. We need to amend the original plans to keep both pedestrians and vehicles safe.

The City has assessed going forward the best option is the Yarra Street Crossing location. It addresses safety concerns and a suitable product has been tested to ensure the Rainbow Crossing has a long life. The City's LGBTIQA+ Advisory Committee has been consulted about this option and has their support.

The City appreciates the patience of the community who want to see this Rainbow Crossing come to fruition. We aim to have it installed at the end of the year.

The City of Greater Geelong has unveiled a permanent rainbow pedestrian crossing on Yarra Street, under the Westfield flyover, as a symbol of pride in the diversity of the region and a celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community.

The rainbow flag (also known as the Pride flag) is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) pride and social movements.

The rainbow design chosen for the crossing is based on Valentino Vecchietti’s progress pride flag design, the most current and inclusive rainbow flag to date.

The flag has integrated, alongside the traditional rainbow colors, the transgender flag, intersex flag and the brown and black lines to represent all people of colour, including First Nations Australians.

The need for a rainbow crossing in Geelong has been expressed by the community consistently over the last four years.

Planning was initiated which included the installation of a non-permanent mini crossing in Little Malop Street, at the launch of Geelong Rainbow Festival 2020. However, the planning for the permanent crossing stalled until 2022 due to the COVID 19 Pandemic.

A number of potential locations have been identified based on safety, visual amenity and feedback received from the local rainbow community.

Please select your preferred location by clicking on the image and then the blue submit button.

If you have time, please take our very short survey below. Your input is important and will be considered as part of this project.

Do you have a few moments to take our short survey?

Your input to this online survey is important and will be considered as part of this project.

The survey will only take a couple of minutes to complete. We appreciate your feedback.