Inner: Elizabeth St - Albert St
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This will become one of the main east west commuter routes from Church St and Lennox St in Richmond to the CBD. As it develops it will attract riders off the Yarra trail at Gipps Street for a more direct route.
Plans go to VicRoads
September 08 Designs have gone to VicRoads for approval. The plans show a kerbside bike lane separated from traffic (in the am peak) and parked cars (in the off peak) by a 30cm wide rumble strip - shown as black lines in the diagram. The lane will have painted chevrons - shown in red in the diagram - to indicate the swept path of the passenger door.
Builders buckle on Albert Street. Council poised to start.
03 July 2008. The Master Builders Association has withdrawn its objection to Melbourne City's bold plan for Copehagen Lanes in Albert Street, East Melbourne. The Council will now forge ahead.
The MBA had noisily announced its plans to confront the Council before VCAT (Victorian Civil & Administrative Appeals Tribunal) last Friday. But it was a case of 'no appearance your worship', when the association pulled out at the last moment.
VCAT sought and obtained Melbourne City's consent to the withdrawl, and has now officially signed off on the matter. The Council has now processed the legal formalities and is ready to start work.
Council studies have identified Albert Street as having great potential for city access from the east and north. With its wide median the street has sufficient real estate for Copenhagen treatment, thus greatly increasing the flow of bike riders, and, as a consequence, relieving risk and congestion on surrounding, less suitable roads.
There never was any sound legal reason for the MBA objection; that it chose to make an issue of the proposal is a mystery to many. To lose in VCAT would have been an embarrassing blow to its reputation and prestige.
Bicycle Victoria will remain alert to developments on this issue. There are still a few fossils in the business community who may yet make another attempt to keep Albert Street free of bike lanes.
Opponents to bicycle route prepare for fight
02 June 08 The Master Builders Association has lodged an appeal to VCAT against the proposed Bike Route on Albert St. The hearing is due to held on 27 June. We will keep you informed as the campaign progresses.
One interesting development has been the arrival of the Transport Workers Union entering the debate and supporting the MBA's VCAT appeal. A recent column (refer below) has appeared in their members magazine.
The opposition is curious given that the Consultant's Assessment Report on the Swanston St separation project clearly showed that pedestrians preferred the higher level of separation from vehicle traffic. Melbourne CIty made changes to the Mark One Swanston design after seeing it in action to improve lines of site for all users at entry/exit points. These changes addressed the concerns on which the TWU has based their objections. These lessons will be brought to the design on the Albert St project which should be done with all road users in mind.
As we understand it, the next iteration of the design for Albert will use painted chevrons and rumble edge paint to establish the separation. This will mean it will be easy to move a hand truck from a parked vehicle to the kerb. However there will still be lots of bike riders!
"Rethink needed on new bike lane
By Bill Noonan for the May edition of Transport Workers Union member magazine 'Owner Driver'.
The Union has called on the Melbourne City Council to reconsider its proposal to install bike only lanes between the footpath and parking areas in Albert Street, East Melbourne. The proposal would create a new safety hazard for delivery drivers using the street and endanger cyclists using the new lanes.
If a truck or van driver has to pick-up or deliver from a property along Albert Street, they will have to cross a bicycle lane that is likely to be blocked from view by parked cars. This is more likely to endanger cyclists than protect them as they will be all but invisible from the centre of the road. Indeed, this problem will exist for any traffic accessing properties along the street, not just commercial vehicles. The proposal could also imperil pedestrians, who will be obliged to cross a bike lane when parking or re-entering their cars.
Albert Street hosts both the Freemasons and Eye and Ear Hospitals together with Dallas Brooks Hall, all of which generate a lot of street parking and pedestrian traffic, often involving elderly or infirm people.
I cannot understand how this proposal could have seen the light of day."
Motion carried, but...
Feb 08 Melbourne City Council approved the application for a Quality Bicycle Route along Albert St between Gisborne (St Patricks Cathedral) and Hoddle streets. Well done everyone who wrote. The Council received more than 500 letters of support.
A condition of the successful motion.was a revision of the design. The design that was submitted included shaving 75cm off each side of the central grassy median. Councillors instructed staff to put the bike facility in without cutting back the median. This will be difficult.
Council staff are now working up some options and there are some interesting mid block solutions that would give us a 24hour separated lane without cutting back the median or reducing the motor vehicle peak hour capacity.
Providing space for the bike facility at intersections is achievable but will be more difficult under the Councillor's conditions. There is no lazy space at the intersections that could be reallocated. The bike space will have to come from somewhere. Starting from the property line, the space will have to come from the footpath, the motor vehicle lanes or the median. We think that the City should analyse the turning movements to see if it is acceptable to combine a right or left turn lane with a straight ahead lane thereby releasing the space we need.
The third problem lies in bound between Hoddle and Clarendon at the beginning of the Gardens. In the proposal, this section was to be an exclusive bike lane with 24 hour parking against the kerb for the residents. By cutting back the median, there would be space during the peak for four channels: 2 travel lanes, 1 bike lane and 1 lane of resident parking. If the median is retained, then one of the four users of space listed will miss out.
Bicycle Victoria will continue to consult with the City of Melbourne to try and achieve the best result for bike riders. Click email me updates to stay abreast of this project.
A note on capacity: Each lane of Albert Street carries 600 vehicles per hour in the peak out of a theoretical capacity of 900. It shoudn't be hard to get more people (on bikes) down the bike lane than travel down the motor vehicle lane. There are around a six hundred riders in bound each hour on the Yarra path in the peak. A well situated separated path on a road like Albert Street should be able to reach those numbers. There are already over one hundred riders in bound each hour on Albert in the peak and there aren't even any bike lanes!
Planning Application lodged
Feb 08 Melbourne City Council Planning Committee will determine on Tuesday 5 February the outcome of Albert St, East Melbourne. We need your help to make this happen by showing Council your support. You can write a letter of support to Council by clicking here.
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This project will be in the ‘
This is great news for riders coming to and from the North-East and Eastern suburbs, providing a viable alternative to Victoria Parade which has been designated as a premium bus route and carries high traffic volumes. Albert St also connects directly to the east end of the CBD and surrounds.
Feasibility Study Announced
Jul 07 In great news for bike riders, Melbourne City Council has begun a feasibility study into putting Copenhagen-style lanes on Albert St, East Melbourne as well as Rathdowne and Queensberry streets in Carlton.
The lanes would run from Nicholson St to Hoddle St on both sides of the road. At this stage there are no plans to extend the lanes to Elizabeth St in Richmond.
You can find out more in a related article that appeared in The Age on July 28 2007.
Fitzroy and Treasury Gardens
Melbourne is fortunate to have a number of beautiful parks and gardens in and around the CBD. Some are extensive and spread over large areas of land.
People travelling between Richmond and the city are attracted to the east-west paths in the Fitzroy Gardens because the alternative is to cycle Wellington Pde, Victoria Pde or Albert St. There are no bike facilities on these roads and traffic volumes are heavy and intimidating. We would like to see Albert St improved for cycling and a designated route through the gardens investigated.
Policy around use of gardens should take into consideration:
- A safe place for children to ride. Roads in inner Melbourne are busy and congested. The wide boulevards within parks and gardens made an ideal safe place for children to learn to ride or improve their skills.
- Direct and pleasant routes. In some cases parks and gardens can become barriers to cycling when allowances are not made for cyclists to pass through. Detouring around can add considerable time and distance to a bike journey and roads around gardens often don't cater for cyclists.
Nov 05 You may notice some temporary signage being erected in Carlton, Fitzroy and Treasury Gardens relating to a Children's Cycling Trial. On 5 July 2005, City of Melbourne Council's Planning and Environment Committee recommended that Council approve a 6-month trial within the Carlton, Fitzroy and Treasury Gardens to permit cycling by children under the age of 12, where accompanied by an adult, providing that all such cyclists obey all other park regulations such as speed limits and relevant signage.
The trial will last for 6 months, beginning on 14 November and observations and questionnaires will be conducted by council staff, including Park Rangers, throughout the trail period. At the conclusion of the trial, Parks and Recreation will compile the results and present them back to the Planning and Environment Committee.
