Bicycle Network: Metro Routes

26 May 2009

They're in! Riders leaving town can now use the lane shown on the left climbing up Argyle (left hand photo). These lanes connect to the northern two-way section of the road shown in the right hand panel.

Cambell Street (right hand photo) is interesting as the riders are heading into town on the right hand side of the one way street. It was judged that the likely rider destinations were more on that side than on the left.

17 December 2008 A Christmas present from the Premier
Today Premier David Bartlett appeared on his bike and announced that the State will match the Hobart City Council funding (see below) for the Argyle Street bicycle route.
Well done everyone who wrote to the Premier. We suggest that you send him a thank you – they are more powerful than complaints!

See related story.

10 Sept 2008 Last Monday night the Hobart City Council voted in favour of the continuation of the Argyle St bike lanes. Two bike routes will be developed as part of this commitment. The outbound lane will run up Argyle to the existing lanes. The inbound route will leave Argyle and travel along Campbell towards the CBD. We have seen the plans and support the proposed design.

Please write and thank the Lord Mayor Rob Valentine lord.mayor@hobartcity.com.au this is a break through move by the City and they deserve the congratulation of every existing and future bike rider.

The unanimous Council decision commits $160,000 to the project on the condition that it is matched by an equivalent contribution from the State.

On 20 June this year at the Local Government Association of Tasmania Conference the Premier made a general commitment to projects like Argyle Street when he said: 'I am pleased to announce today that the State will match on a dollar for dollar basis the Greater Hobart Cycleways Project. This partnership between the five Councils that make up greater Hobart is a firm example of acting strategically for a whole region rather than for individual councils. There are natural links there which are being exploited. I extend the same dollar for dollar pledge to Greater Launceston, and to the North-West Coast, for similar, integrated, cross-council cycling models.'

Please also write to the Premier, tell him of your support for the Argyle St plan and ask him to implement his commitment to jointly fund the project.

Without support from both levels of government the project will remain a good idea.

The continuation of the Argyle lanes has been a key recommendation in the Hobart City Bike Plan, the Hobart Regional Bicycle Network and the Draft Hobart Sustainability Strategy.

That strategy said 'The provision of on-road cycle facilities to access North Hobart, New Town and Lenah Valley is achievable with minor disruption to existing stakeholders. This has now been demonstrated with the Argyle Street facilities installed in February 2007.
Both Argyle and Campbell Streets north of the City block have significant excess road space that can be used immediately. The connection of Augusta Road to the Argyle Street facility generates a spine route with significant urban catchment. Grades along this route are relatively good with only a minor hill adjacent to The Friends’ School. The April 2007 City Services Committee meeting adopted a resolution to continue with the design for the Argyle-Campbell corridor for the portion between Lewis and Brisbane Streets. Efforts to document and cost the work are currently underway for this portion of the route.'

You still have a chance to make a comment on the Hobart City Sustainable Transport Strategy.

Next week there will be a changing of the guard at DIER. The new Secretary will be Norm McIlfatrick. McIfatrick has been Secretary for the Department of Economic Development. It would be great if you could write a positive note to the new Secretary, welcoming him to the job. We would like DIER, among other things, to include bike facilities when they are building major infrastructure projects. This is common with road authorities in Australia but is not part of DIER's normal procedure.

It was great to see recently the Premier David Bartlett, Liberal Leader Will Hodgman and Greens leader Nick McKim riding together and agreeing that they want to make Tasmania a more bike-friendly State. Here is the Mercury's coverage.

Oct 07 Bicycle Network Victoria has received many emails from bike riders who have enjoyed riding on the Argyle Street bike lanes. The only complaint riders have is that they do not run for the whole length of street.

If you would like to see more bike lanes on Argyle St make sure you write to council to support the draft Principle Bicycle Network by the end of October.

Argyle St gets Hobart's first CBD Bike Lanes

Feb 07 The first ever exclusive bike lanes in Hobart's central business district have been installed on Argyle St. Congratulations to Hobart City Council for supporting riders.

The lanes are a technical breakthrough for traffic engineering in Hobart. The motor vehicle or ‘travel lanes’ as they are called by the traffic engineers, are 3m wide - narrower than Hobart has ever gone before.

The width is significant. With a three metre travel lane we can fit bike lanes on roads all over the City.

It is a good time to send a thank you email to Rob Valentine the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen. It can be really brief, but it is really important to say thank you. Send it to  lord.mayor@hobartcity.com.au

If you have a bit more time, it is also useful to put in a bit about your riding, where you ride and what you think about bike lanes. Keep your note positive.

When these lanes have bedded down, we will shift our attention to the one way section of Argyle. Sandy Bay Road and bike lanes feeding the intercity bikeway are also on the list.

Cycling South are putting the new Hobart map out into bike shops. If you don't have a copy yet or need more for your friends drop into your local shop.