Riding your bike through the city could become easier and safer, with a plan to expand Melbourne’s bike path network to include several cycling black spots, including La Trobe and Elizabeth streets.
The City of Melbourne will spend almost $5 million in its budget next year (plus $600,000 carried over from last year) on 15 kilometres of new bike lanes and cycle trails. The council’s preferred option for La Trobe Street is a separated lane to the left of parked cars, while Elizabeth Street would gain a peak-period bike lane between Flinders and La Trobe streets, which means cyclists on the Capital City Trail can circumnavigate the city.
Under the proposal one lane of south-bound traffic on Princes Bridge would become a wide bike lane, separated from cars by 30-centimetre rumble strips. Other additions include a bike path on Clarendon Street and a new bike path under the Charles Grimes Bridge.
The extended city network might offer some solace to cycle lobby groups, which were incensed that the state government gave VicRoads no new bike funding in this year’s budget. But it is likely to be unpopular with car lobby groups such as the RACV, which say the La Trobe Street proposal would increase congestion. It has proposed widening the street and narrowing the footpath to accommodate the separated lanes, at the cost of more than $14 million.
Greens councillor Cathy Oke said the council had to ensure the safety of both cyclists and pedestrians, and said the separated lane on Princes Bridge would remove bikes from the footpath.
The plan would establish a ”superior” cycling network in Melbourne and allow riders to travel from one end of the city to the other on delineated paths, Cr Oke said.
”Over the last four years we’ve delivered a lot on climate change and climate adaptation and it was important … that we address the lack of funding on bikes,” she said.
The council’s transport strategy, released for public comment this week, paints a less-than-rosy picture of the city’s troubled bike-share scheme, which was launched by the RACV in 2010. There has been fewer than one use per day per bike - there are 400 bikes in total - compared with up to 10 uses per day in more successful schemes overseas. The need to buy or bring a helmet is believed to be the main reason why demand is weak, but a lack in central Melbourne of high-quality bicycle facilities, such as separated lanes, may also play a role, the report says. The council’s 2012-13 budget will be voted on at a meeting tonight.
