The Franklin Street bike lanes between Elizabeth Street and Victoria Street are now open as works to complete the streetscape rush towards completion.
The opening of this section of Franklin Street to vehicles is a major milestone in the construction of the State Library Station and its connections in the surrounding precinct.
The reconfiguration of Franklin Street is a significant contribution to the north end of the city, with separated bike lanes, wider footpaths and new seating and lighting.
The City of Melbourne will deliver a matching transformation of the street between Elizabeth and Queen streets.
Inevitably, we report that since the bikes lanes have opened they have frequently been unusable due to cars and trucks parking themselves in and across them.
There is ample parking along the street for logistics and passenger vehicles, however the city authorities expect that it could take months for drivers to adjust to the new layout. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
There may be further roadworks in the days ahead as small defect works are attended to on both Franklin East and West.
Franklin Street will have its own entrance into the new station and will host some of the services structures to the station below.
The station entrance is at the corner of Swanston and Franklin streets between Melbourne City Baths and RMIT.
This entrance is accessible with lifts and escalators taking passengers to the station’s concourse. More lifts and escalators connect to platforms for services on the Sunbury or Cranbourne and Pakenham lines.
State Library Station is also connected to Melbourne Central Station via a shared concourse, where passengers can change to City Loop services.
As works are still underway to remove the last remnants of tunnel construction structures in A’Beckett Street, riders have some time to wait until the northbound bike lane is reinstalled at the A’Beckett Street intersection.
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