Inner: Queensberry St
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An important East-West inner route
East West study
Queensberry St was part of one of the East West routes mentioned in the Eddington Study.
It is important to have a high quality east west route – not only for east west travel but also so that north south riders can ‘realign’ themselves on it to reach their destinations. This route could be used for example by a northbound rider from Richmond using Church St to reach Melbourne University.
The report said
Upgrade to a separated or ‘Copenhagen’ standard the eastwest cycling link from the Maribyrnong Trail at Footscray to the northern CBD and on to the Capital City Trail at the Abbotsford Arts Precinct and the Collingwood Children’s Farm. This route extends from the former stock bridge on the Maribyrnong Trail along Hobsons Road and Childers, Arden, Queensbury, Gertrude, Nicholson and Abbotsford Streets to the Capital City Trail. This upgrade would provide a high quality parallel link to Footscray Road, connecting the northern part of the central city to the Maribyrnong and Capital City Trails. It would provide a separated east-west cycling link across the city, giving access to Footscray, Kensington, North Melbourne, Carlton, Fitzroy, Collingwood and Abbotsford. Estimated cost: $7 million Total length: 8.8 km
This is a sound proposal which would have immediate impact.
We disagree however with the detailed alignment.
Our first concern is at Childers Street:
– At Childers and Ormond there is a railway underpass. The route could cross the railway here and travel along the south side of the rail line, turning north up Lloyd Street to reach the intersection with the Moonee Ponds Creek trail.
– Alternatively the route could follow the north side of the rail lines emerging onto Lloyd Street before continuing to the intersection with the Moonee Ponds Creek trail.
– The route could follow the current alignment from Childers to Tennyson to Arden and over the rail lines before continuing to the intersection with the Moonee Ponds Creek trail. This would require solving the problem of the significant change in grade between the west and east side of the rail lines.
At the moment we are unsure which street best connects Arden and Queensberry: Dryburgh, Abbotsford, Curzon or Errol.
We support the Queensberry, Exhibition Buildings, Gertrudge, Langridge section.
We don’t support the next section proposed. The route should move along Nicholson to Gipps and then turn east to the Gipps St/Collins Bridge. From here riders can reach the Childrens Farm and the Convent across the bridge that is being developed by Parks Victoria.
City of Melbourne take the next step in North/West Melbourne
Sep 07 Council has just voted to forge ahead with making the inner northwest of the City of Melbourne more pedestrian and cycling friendly. Through their recent 'Wheels and Heels' project a number of issues were identified and through consultation a range of improvements were identified.
A key element of this strategy is a separated 'Copenhagen' treatment along Queensberry St, west of Elizabeth St. This is a great result for riders and will help to enhance a part of the network which has needed upgrading.
Also included in Council plans are:
- a separated 'Copenhagen' treatment along Flemington Rd
- stronger delineation of bike lanes along Arden St, using chevroned paint and green paint treatments
- stronger delineation of bike lanes along Victoria St (east of Elizabeth St), using 'Premium' lanes (refer below) and green paint treatments
- trialing of new roundabout treatments at Arden/Chetwynd Sts and the Haymarket Roundabout
A part of this strategy many new pedestrian initiatives have been proposed, including 'Greenlight' treatments at a range of signalised intersections. These involve advance phases for pedestrians, longer crossing times and less waiting for lights to be activated. Bicycle Victoria believes that this can also quite easily (and economically) become a double-win for Council as Bike Lanterns could be added to these signals to give riders an advance phase (as currently in place along Swanston at Flinders and Latrobe Streets).
Queensberry St gets the Premium Lanes treatment
Melbourne City Council has just given this key east-west route an upgrade for cyclists. There was previously, a standard 1.5m wide exclusive bike lane but due to the volume of 
riders using this route and the ease with which it could be implemented, Queensberry St now has 'premium lanes'. These are comprised of a standard lane as previous (where possible they are wider than 1.5m) and are emphasised by a chevron border on the right hand side to clearly delineate to drivers that this space belongs to bicycle riders. We think the premium lanes will give riders reassurance that they have a clearly dedicated space.
City bound commuters on the north south routes such as Brunswick or Rathdowne Streets might like to try Queensberry and Peel as a way of reaching the west end of the City.