New tram stops coming to North Melbourne will reconfigure the arrangement of bike lanes in several places.
With longer, low-floor G-class trams coming to Route 57, changes are needed to tram stops on Victoria Street, Errol Street and Queensberry Street.
Queensberry Street, a popular east–west bike route, will see significant changes as old tram stops are replaced with new structures in changed locations.
Because of the width of the new stops, the bike lane will move to a kerbside arrangement that places it along a heritage-protected, wide, cobbled bluestone surface which would be impracticable to ride along.
The Department of Transport and Planning will therefore need to get permission to treat the surface to a ridable smoothness.
This has been undertaken in numerous other inner-city locations without undue problems.
As part of the process of planning for these and other changes, the Department of Transport and Planning has placed the proposal out for consultation.
You can fill out the feedback form or email a submission, and visit one of the community information sessions on Errol Street outside the North Melbourne Town Hall this Saturday 6 December from 10am to 12pm or Tuesday 9 December from 4pm to 6pm.
The new G-class trams will be 25 metres long, which is almost 50 percent longer than the oldest trams that currently operate on Route 57.
The stop changes include ensuring the boarding zone is long enough to enable access to all doors on the tram, ensuring passengers are visible when crossing to the tram stop and ensuring the longer trams are not blocking intersections when stopped to pick up passengers.
Where existing tram stops are close together, two stops will be merged into one to make tram services more efficient and reliable.
On Queensberry Street, Stop 13 at Curzon Street and Stop 14 at Abbotsford Street will be merged.
On Errol Street there will be changes to Stop 11 at Errol Street and Victoria Street and Stop 12 at Queensberry Street outside North Melbourne Town Hall. The Department of Transport and Planning is seeking feedback on two options for the changes to these stops.
On Victoria Street, Stop 9 at Howard Street and Stop 10 at Chetwynd Street will be merged.
The tram stops are located within the North and West Melbourne Heritage Precinct which is of historical, social and aesthetic significance to the City of Melbourne as a predominantly Victorian-era area.
Concept drawings of the proposed stops are on the consultation page.
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