On-road: Bicycle lane guidelines
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Engineering guidelines for building bike lanes
Cyclists need to ride on roads to get to where they want to go - to visit friends, travel to work or school or to go shopping. Bicycles are legal vehicles entitled to safe travel on roads.
VicRoads is responsible for bike lanes on main roads. Local councils are responsible for bike lanes and routes on local roads.
In order for bike lanes to offer a good level of service and improve the safety and comfort of cyclists using the road, Austroads Guide to Traffic Engineering Part 14 - Bicycles outlines the guidelines for designing bike lanes.
VicRoads Cycle Notes offer a simplified summary of the guidelines. Cycle Notes 9 describes nine methods for fitting bike lanes onto existing roads. The Campaigns toolbox-local government also has a page called "It can be done" which provides greater detail on the nine methods.
Key criteria for providing for cyclists on roads
When designing new roads bicycle lanes should ideally be a minimum of:
- 1.5m wide in 60 km/h zone
- 2.0m wide in 80 km/h zone
- 2.5m wide in 100 km/h zones.
Where there is room, the bike lanes should be wider than the minimum to increase the safety and comfort of users. An extra 10cm of space makes an enormous difference to a cyclists but very little difference to someone in car.
All new main roads and collector roads should be constructed with bicycle lanes. Bicycle lane marking should have continuity lines over minor intersections.
Where there is inadequate road space for providing bicycle lanes on an existing road, a wide kerbside lane is acceptable:
- 4.2m wide on 60 km/h roads
- 4.5m wide on 80 km/h roads.
When retrofitting bike lanes on existing roads sometimes there is opportunity to install bike lanes instead of wide kerbside lane markings when traffic conditions are suitable.
Bike lanes offer a better level of service than wide kerbside lanes. For example the City of Yarra has kerbside bike lanes of 1.2 m next to a travel lane of 3.0 m instead of a 4.2m wide kerbside lane.
Protected bike lanes
These bike lanes provide greater separation from motor vehicles. Click here for more information on 2nd generation bike lanes.
Local bike routes
Many local streets are too narrow to fit bike lanes but they can still make ideal cycling routes. Councils have an important role to play in making local streets 'bike-friendly'.
Traffic-calming treatments that slow speeds and reduce traffic volumes (particularly 'rat-running') help to make local streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
However, traffic-calming devices that create 'squeeze points' discourage cycling and roundabouts are a hazard to cyclists and pedestrians.
Providing space for cyclists through road closures and constructing contra-flow bike lanes on one way streets also improves bicycle mobility and access.
See link (right) to designing cycle-friendly local streets.