Construction works and rail disruptions will impact bike travel in Melbourne over the coming weeks. Read on for details.
Swanston Street bike lane closure
The Swanston Street bike lane into the city from the south will be closed at nights only later this month at the Young and Jackson corner from Flinders Street through to Flinders Lane.
The closures will be after the last tram and before the first tram each night – 1am to 5am – and will last for about one month.
There may be some nights when the lane is open. After the first month, periodic closures and other restrictions are expected until September.
When the lanes are closed, bike riders are advised to detour to other routes when approaching the city from the south or to walk their bikes on the eastern footpath.
Confident riders may choose to cross Princes Bridge and turn left or right on Flinders Street. Others may choose to divert earlier and skirt the construction precinct entirely.
Now that most of the station has been completed underground, work is getting underway on constructing a major station entrance right next door to Young and Jackson.
Other activities soon to start include removing the overhead site offices and gantries, installing an underground tank which will divert stormwater into the station for re-use, and kerb, repaving and landscaping works.
A notable element of this phase of works is that the footpath on the west side of Swanston Street will also be closed and fenced off between Young and Jackson and the Nicholas Building.
Pedestrians will detour to the Swanston Street eastern footpath, (crossing the Swanston Street southbound bike lane) or via Degraves Street and Flinders Lane.
In addition to these disruptions, Greater Western Water is renewing the water main in Swanston Street (between Collins Street and Flinders Street) as it is reaching the end of its operational life.
Works will start in the coming weeks, taking place at night, 8pm Sunday night to 6am Friday morning, and will take about eight weeks to complete.
More details will be available closer to the date.
More impacts on bikes in CBD north
As Swanston Street north of La Trobe Street continues to be reconfigured by work at State Library Station, constraints on northbound bike movements will continue for the rest of June.
Dismantling of the huge concrete pump in Swanston Street has closed the bike lane and footpath between 10pm and 6am. This will be extended from next week to a closure between 10pm Monday to 6am Saturday, and will last until late June.
A long-term partial footpath closure of the Swanston Street western footpath adjacent to the La Trobe Street site will be introduced from mid-June to enable work on the station entrance to continue.
To accommodate the large pedestrian flow at this point, walkers will be directed onto the existing bike lane, resulting in northbound bikes being shifted across to a water barrier protected on-road bike lane during the day.
Riders heading north from the city in during the night closure times should be taking another route through Carlton, or alternatively, walking their bike across the street at the traffic signals and then along the eastern footpath from La Trobe Street to Little La Trobe Street before resuming their journey.
The works on the east side of Swanston Street to extend the kerb are ongoing and the temporary bike lane will continue during the day, with closures at night when riders will be required walk their bikes on the footpath.
The Swanston Street pedestrian crossing on the north side of La Trobe Street is no longer in use, with pedestrian now using the south side crossing only.
Various construction activities will be underway in Little La Trobe, A’Beckett and Franklin Streets during June.
The acoustic shed in Franklin Street east should be gone by next week, however major works will continue along the street and in Franklin Street west to remove below street structures that were used in tunnel and station construction.
Sewer tunnelling starts in Elizabeth Street
The long-running disruption to northbound bike traffic along Elizabeth Street will continue as new sewer tunnelling operations get underway from tomorrow.
Two new sheds have been installed, one just north of Lonsdale Street and the other just south of Little Lonsdale where tunnelling will be underway during the day until Monday 24 June.
The move of activities to this area means that Elizabeth Street north of La Trobe Street will be reopened for about four weeks.
However, works will return to that block by early July, again requiring the closure of the northbound lanes until mid-July, when that section of the street will be permanently re-opened to traffic.
As the two tunnelling compounds further south will remain active until early August 2024, Elizabeth Street will finally reopen to northbound traffic in August.
Rail disruptions on the Pakenham line
Riders travelling along the Pakenham line next week should be mindful of disruptions as buses replace trains between Glen Waverley and East Pakenham stations.
Riders should note that bikes are not permitted to be carried on replacement buses, unless they are folded and bagged.
Buses will replace trains between the two stations, from approximately 8.30pm on Monday 10 June until the last service on Wednesday 12 June.
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