Apr 192012
 













It might seem strange that the highest quality non-separated bike lanes in Melbourne are being singled out as the problem of the week, here’s why.  By non-separated we mean, only paint (& vibraline) is betweeen bikes and cars, and the bike lane is between parked cars and traffic.   This is similar to two of the proposed treatments in Latrobe Street, which Council is asking for your thoughts on right now.  The Queensberry St lanes are the best of their type – wide, and with a wide, painted buffer between bikes and traffic.

The problem with Queensberry Street is that the width of the lanes is part of their problem, they are big enough to fit a car, so some drivers use them when it suits them.  Tell Council we don’t want this type of lane in Latrobe St (or on any busy road, actually).  Melbourne BUG recommends option 2a, which will be similar to the existing lanes in Swanston Street between Victoria and Grattan Streets.

 Posted by at 10:55 am

  5 Responses to “Queensberry Street”

  1. Well there is clearly a mismatch between what I consider to be safe, and what city engineers consider safe. Cars are constantly intruding in the bike lanes along Queensberry St.

  2. […] Options 3 and 4 – unseparated bike lanes (green paint), similar to Queensberry Street […]

  3. I almost got hit exactly there on Friday the 27th of April!

  4. How can you describe a bike lane that places cyclists in the door zone as being “the highest quality”? Or does this refer to quality of the paint job, rather than safety of the design?

    Placing a buffer zone between the bike lane and traffic moving in the same direction as cyclists (responsible for approx 0% of urban car-bike collisions) but not between the bike lane and parked cars (responsible for approx 14% of urban car-bike collisions) is madness.

    • These lanes are so wide (at least in parts of the street) that there is no need to ride anywhere near the door zone. From the City engineers’ point of view they are the safest lanes built, other than the Copenhagen lanes in Swanston St north. What the engineers don’t take into account is the propensity of some car drivers to use the bike lane when it suits them.

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