Inner: Southbank of the Yarra

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This pages covers the bike route on the south side of the river from Punt Road (City of Melbourne boundary) to the Eel Trap Bridge at the western end of the Convention Centre project.

Swan Street Bridge Detour

2 March 2010.  The Capital City Trail under Swan Street along southbank will be blocked for three weeks from next week.

As per the item below on 5th November the City of Melbourne advises that work will start on the rebuilding of the Capital City path under Swan St Bridge on Tuesday March 9th.

Cyclists will genearlly have to use the northbank Yarra Trail by crossing at Morell Bridge or Swan St Bridge footpath.

Melbourne City will put up advisory detour signs to assist although regular riders will easily understand the alternative route.

Cyclists from Chapel St area however are not yet properly catered for as they will need to get up to the top path. Bicycle Victoria will be working with City of Melbourne to improve their alternative route.

The three weeks or so of inconvenience should be rewarded with a much improved path on southbank under Swan St bridge.

 

Bingle blocks Birrarung Marr

1 March 2010. Worksafe Victoria has temporarily closed the Capital City Trail along Yarra northbank approaching the city following a collision between a bike rider and Moomba Festival crew member on Friday.

It will remain closed until Thursday, March 4, when Moomba set up is completed. It will be closed again for the Moomba pull out from Tuesday 9 March and Friday 12 March.

Notoriously, there is no defined path for the Capital City Trail through Birrarung Marr.

The City Of Melbourne has asked bike riders to take an alternative route.

  •  Inbound cyclists will be directed to continue along Batman Ave to Flinders Street and on into the CBD;
  • Alternatives for outbound cyclists from the top of Princes Walk and Federation Square, are either St Kilda Road to Alexandra Gardens, or St Kilda Road to Flinders Street, then along Batman Ave to their chosen destination.

Birrarung Marr closed to traffic for event

4 February 2010. Riders should note that the Sustainable Living Festival will require a bike traffic diversion along Yarra Bank from 15-22 February.

Signage will be in place to assist with the re-direction.

Fix for Capital City Trail flooding at Swan Street Bridge

5 November 2009. The City of Melbourne will re-align a 100 metre section of the Capital City Trail at Swan Street to make it less susceptible to flooding.

The work follows 12 months of intensive work by VicRoads to strengthening the abutments of the Swan Street bridge, which had settled due to City Link tunnel water extraction.

Instead of reinstating the path to existing levels VicRoads will contribute to the City plan to rebuild the path at a higher level.

The project will supplement a riverbank strengthening plan by Melbourne Water, which will start first and close the Trail for seven to ten days from 8 November.

Rider will be detoured over Morell Bridge.

The work on the new path will start soon after, on a date to be notified.

Bank Rehabilitation Works

Works will take place from the Swan Street Landing extending underneath the Bridge to the Henley Landing, involving about 120 metres of waterway.

Detours will direct cyclists to use the top path via a temporary diversion up the slope or via signage at Morell Bridge. Most works will be done outside commuter hours.

More detail for path users will be given as works progress.
 

Southbank craft market move

18 June 2009. Major redevelopment in the Arts Centre precinct will require a temporary relocation of the Sunday Craft Market along the Southbank bike route.
 
This will create some inconvenience for riders who use this shared path, but the redevelopment should ultimately deliver benefits for the bike community.
 
Work will start on Hamer Hall modifications this time next year and the market will move from the Princes Bridge undercroft to the promenade between the river and thee Southgate complex.
 
About 100 stalls will be arranged in a linear format. This will reduce the width of the promenade and through traffic will be squeezed in a number of places.
 
As the existing market layout and associated crowds already makes passage along this route quite difficult on typical Sundays, the new arrangement is not expected to make a significant difference.
 
The Arts centre redevelopment will result in a new bike route from Sturt Street through to Princes Bridge, and create other opportunities for improving bike facilities in the surrounding precinct.
 
The inconvenience of the temporary market site will be offset by the overall gains.

Sinking feeling at Swan Street

6 November 2008. A 42 week diversion of the south bank Yarra path at Swan Street Bridge is imminent, as work starts to revive the sinking structure.

As well as the VicRoads bridge works, Melbourne Water is working in the vicinity on river bank rehabilitation.

These projects require the re-routing of the shared path. Bicycle Victoria has been consulted on the plans, which are designed to minimise disruption to bike riders.

Signage and public notices will forwarn path users.

The Melbourne Water project is upstream of the bridge in two stages, the first starting now and stage two in the Spring of 2009. These activities will divert the path up the bank to the pedestrian path closer to Alexander Avenue.

The Swan Street Bridge has been subsiding because of drainage for the CitiLink tunnels. VicRoads will be working under the bridge on the south side.

For these works the path will be cantilevered over the river.

Southbank

May 06 Cyclist dismount signs have been removed and the area defined as a shared zone on our request. We support this approach as it maintains rider access to Southbank destinations and low speed through travel. It is our understanding that the Northbank cycle route will allow for higher speeds. The north bank is currently carrying twice as many riders as the south.

The advisory speed limit is 10kph which is appropriate for a high use pedestrian zone (see below)

We ask riders to respect the other users on Southbank.

The Capital City Trail along the Yarra River through Southbank is an integral part of Melbourne's bicycle network. Not only is Southbank a popular destination for recreational bike riders looking for refreshments, it is also a through route for cyclists riding the trail to other destinations.

 

Melbourne Experience Trail

Bicycle Victoria's vision for a path on both sides of the Yarra between Docklands and Birrarung Marr. In 1994 we developed a proposal for a shared bicycle and pedestrian path on both sides of the Yarra River between Webb bridge and MacRobertson Bridge.

The cornerstone of the project for the Melbourne Experience Trail is the section between Birrarung Marr and Docklands along the Yarra's northbank. The $18 million dollar project will enhance Melbourne's riverfront precinct and provide an attractive walking and cycling route along the Yarra's north bank.

Bicycle Victoria wants to see this section constructed prior to the Commonwealth Games to enable walking a cycling access to games venues along the trail network.

 

Earlier

 

Despite Southbank being a shared zone for pedestrians and cyclists since the promenade was opened (and maps published by City of Melbourne in 1993, Parks Victoria's Open Space Strategy released in 1992 and Melway maps all recognise Southbank as a shared zone for cyclists and pedestrians) the City of Melbourne has done a back-flip claiming that the Capital City Trail through Southbank is not a bike route.

This contradicts signage which was installed when Southbank was constructed stating it is a 'shared pathway'.

Melbourne City Council is claiming that the bike route is only 'proposed' and have stated in correspondence that they consider the promenade is 'a non-designated bicycle area'.

In Dec 2002 'Cyclists dismount' signs were installed at Princess Bridge, primarily to encourage people to dismount when the markets are on. Although only advisory they give confusing messages, especially outside market times when the bridge undercroft is empty.

During market times we believe this public thoroughfare should not be blocked to people walking or cycling along the Capital City Trail.

Space should be maintained to allow people in wheelchairs, pushing prams or on bikes to enter Southbank under Princes Bridge without getting caught up in the bottleneck created by the markets.

Suggested improvements for Southbank

Managing how people use Southbank's mixed zone would be improved by:

  • Replacing 'Cyclists dismount' signage at Princes Bridge with a clearer and more appropriate message: "Shared zone. Slow. Cyclists give way to pedestrians. This is similar to Hardware Lane or MacKillop St which are shared zones for motor vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians.
  • Reducing the concentration of market stalls by relocating some beyond the undercroft of the bridge(particularly in the sunny and popular summer months) to eliminate the unsafe bottleneck.
  • Construct the Northbank path to provide an additional walking and cycling route to give people an alternative to using Southbank.

Exhibition Centre to Webb bridge

There is a gap in the trail between the Exhibition Centre and Webb bridge in Docklands. Currently there is a bumpy wooden boardwalk along the river that is unsuitable for wheeled devices such as bicycles and wheelchairs (although access is still available). It also has a set of steps near Charles Grimes bridge so trail users must detour through the south wharf carpark to avoid the steps.

See link (right) for photos and suggestions for completing this missing section.

Sandridge Bridge

Jun 05The state government and City of Melbourne's are converting the historical Sandridge Rail Bridge into a pedestrian and cycle river crossing. Work commenced early in 2005 on the south side of the river as part of the Queensbridge Square development.

Bicycle Victoria commented on draft plans in 2002. We emphasised that the final design needed to include the following:

  • Maintain direct access for bicycles through Queensbridge Square as the route is part of the Capital City Trail.
  • Provide connection for biycles with Southbank Boulevard (a Principle Bicycle Network Route)
  • Provide a ramped connection to Sandridge Bridge. Ideally the ramp should have generous width to allow easy movement by wheelchairs, prams and bikes as well as pedestrians
  • Provide for bicycle access over Queens Bridge and along Queens Bridge Street (north and south).

In April 2005 we contacted City of Melbourne about the connection from Southbank Boulevard to the Capital City Trail as we were concerned that a good connection for bikes may be overlooked. This is an important route for people travelling from St Kilda Rd bike lanes to the west end of the city via Queensbridge and Market St. Recent road works on Southbank between City Rd and Freshwater Place provided an opportunity to install bike lanes on this section of road but they weren't included.

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What we are asking for

A bike route on the south side of the river from Punt Road (City of Melbourne boundary) to the Eel Trap Bridge at the western end of the Convention Centre project.

We support the shared zone through Southbank and encourage riders to ride slowly, use your bell and watch out for pedestrians.

We are determined to keep this route open to bike riding. It is continually under threat by those who wish to exclude bike riders.

It is also under threat by a few riders who ride through the area irresponsibly at high speed and give the opponents of the route something to complain about.

Key connections need to be developed to the CBD through the Alexandra Gardens, and over Queensbridge to Market Street.

Key connections to the Southbank need to be developed from St Kilda Road, Southbank Boulevard, Queensbridge, Clarendon St.

The Linlithgow Avenue, Southbank Boulevard alignment has potential as a 'bypass' for riders from the Yarra Trail to get around the narrow Southgate section. This route would have to be separated from traffic to be successful as an alternative.