After a wait of several years, Hobart’s first city centre separated bike lane has been installed on Campbell Street.
The new separated lane joins the current painted lane at Brisbane Street and ends at the Davey–Campbell streets intersection.
Separation has been achieved through bollards and parked cars in non-peak hour times and just the bollards during peak hour.
New wider kerb ramps have been put in at the Davey–Campbell streets intersection to make it easier for riders to cross over Campbell and Davey streets via the pedestrian crossings to the shared path to the Intercity Cycleway or waterfront.
Bicycle lanterns will also be installed at some of the traffic lights to give riders and turning drivers different go times to avoid potential crashes.
The one interruption in the cycleway is the block between Liverpool and Collins streets where people must ride in the slip lane used for parking outside the Royal Hobart Hospital. This is a signed shared zone with a speed limit of 25km.
To make room for the cycleway, car parking has been moved to the left and becomes a clearway in peak-hour traffic.
The concept plans for a separated cycleway were first approved for limited consultation at a December 2019 council meeting but COVID-19, funding changes and resourcing issues have all held up its introduction.
Bicycle Network encouraged the City of Hobart to consider a cycleway down Campbell Street in 2018 at its Bike Futures forum, held in Campbell Street to highlight the presence of several large workplaces and educational and health centres.
Some people online have already pointed out the flaws with the cycleway – it’s narrow, there’s no protection at intersections and the bollards are flexible, but this was always envisaged as a trial and these issues can be addressed in future iterations of the cycleway.
This is the first of the City of Hobart’s planned separated cycleways, with a new lane on Augusta Road in Lenah Valley the next in line for funding applications and bike lanes to be trialled in three blocks of Collins Street.
The cycleway has been built with funding from the federal and state governments’ road safety programs. It will be officially opened next month once the bike lanterns are installed.