The City of Hobart is preparing to open the final stage of the Collins Street improvement trial in the first week of May.
Work on the final stage has been happening for weeks and there are just a few final touches to come, however, the new bike lane remains closed.
The section of trial between Victoria Street and Murray Street includes a partially separated bike lane on one side, platform extension bus stop, planter boxes and new footpath space for retailers to use.
Bike travel
Riders heading towards Murray Street ride in the middle of the traffic lane past the outdoor dining section then veer left into the bike lane after the Victoria Street intersection.
The novelty with this section is that you have to ride up and over the bus boarding platform.
If there is a bus stopped at the platform you must slow down or stop to give way to people getting on and off the bus, otherwise treat it like it’s part of the bike lane. For people who’ve ridden in Melbourne, it’s just like riding up and over the tram super stops.
There is now a bicycle storage box at the Murray Street intersection so you can stick to the left if heading straight through or go to the bicycle box in front of the traffic lane if wanting to turn right.
Bikes using scramble crossings
The council has sought legal advice on bicycle use of the scramble crossings as Part 15 of the Road Rules 2019 only covers bicycles using standard pedestrian crossings, and has determined that:
- you should dismount and walk your bike across the crossing during the day as the footpath ban on bicycle riding at this intersection means you cannot ride across the crossing as the law allows you to do at other pedestrian crossings.
- you need to get on the footpath before the stop line on the road to cross at the pedestrian crossing, you can’t start crossing from the road.
The legal advice on how to interpret the Road Rules in the absence of specific rules for scramble crossings is summarised at: www.hobartcity.com.au/Council/City-projects/Current-projects/CBD-scramble-and-pedestrian-only-phase-crossings.
The other changes to this section of Collins Street include a new widened section of footpath outside Fullers Bookstore, the introduction of planter boxes to separate the bike lane from traffic at one end and the removal of the formalised pedestrian crossing across Victoria Street.
Full details of the project are at: www.hobartcity.com.au/Council/City-projects/Current-projects/Transforming-Collins-Street
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