Hobart gets short, painted lanes
The City of Hobart has painted two new sections of short bicycle lanes in New Town.
The Forster Street lane starting at New Town Rd and going past New Town Primary School feels the more comfortable to ride in even though space is still tight. A rider should be able to position just outside the dooring zone but still stay in the lane. Forster Street has high traffic volumes and vehicles travelling at the speed limit of 50 km/h so the lanes will generally only suit confident riders.
The other lane is a very short strip on the eastern side of New Town Road starting north of Pirie Rd and finishing just before Sunnyside Rd. It runs alongside parked cars and riders will have to position themselves just inside the outside line of the lane to be clear from dooring.
VicRoads has come out with a good manual to help councils put in bicycle lanes that don’t put riders at risk of car dooring, including different types of approaches to rider safety and infrastructure depending on the speed and traffic volumes on that street.
Collaborating to cut climate emissions
Bicycle Network has teamed up with Corpus Christi Catholic School in Bellerive to get more students riding bicycles to lower their transport emissions as part of the school's Tasmanian Youth Climate Leaders project.
The Youth Climate Leaders project supports students to come up with a project that will educate the school community on how to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
As well as delivering the regular Ride2School program we're helping students create an Active Map to show the best routes for students wanting to ride.
Surveys to be filled out
Several surveys are doing the rounds this week looking for rider feedback to help with transport planning, tourism and cycling safety:
This one is looking at Tasmanian transport movements before and after the arrival of COVID-19. You get to comment at the end of the survey about your experiences while the restrictions have been in place.
This one is short and sweet and will help out a Hobart rider whose working on an idea concerning bicycle safety and wants to test his assumptions with other riders.
This survey explores visitor experiences in Derby rather than the quality an type of trails, although there are a few questions about those, and you go into the running for a prize pack when you fill it out.
Coastal Pathway erosion to be fixed
The Tasmanian Government is set to spend the money needed to fix erosion between Wynyard and Cooee that is holding up the Coastal Pathway.
$12 million has been allocated to the pathway in the government's $1.8 billion infrastructure recovery plan.
Work on the pathway was all set to go when a large storm eroded parts of the route and the Burnie City Council refused to take on the cost of fixing it, saying it was state government land and its responsibility.
City deal money flows for buses
The Tasmanian Government and Kingborough Council have announced budgets for several public transport projects under the Hobart City Deal agreement, but bicycle riders come out with little.
The council will get $20.8 million to spend on constructing park and ride hubs, bus shelters and improved bus services, with $7 million still unallocated that could be used to construct much-needed cycling links.
Of the money already allocated, $20,000 will be spent on preparing a bicycle network plan for the region and an unspecified amount will go to bicycle parking at the Park and Ride hubs planned for Huntingfield and Kingston.
The council detailed the spending at its 25 May meeting.
North Hobart consultation supports bikes
The City of Hobart’s recent public consultation on accessing the Elizabeth Street shops in North Hobart has published its engagement report.
The consultation was prompted by business complaints about parking along the strip and calls to develop the council-owned Condell Place car park.
There was over 700 responses to the surveys and workshops, which teased out what people dislike and like about Elizabeth Street and what they’d like to see in the future.
A desire for better cycling and walking conditions were strong responses from residents, visitors and local businesses.
An Access and Parking Plan for the area is due to go to councillors in mid June, with a public release date not yet set.
