According to RTA guidelines, construction companies must submit a Road Occupancy plan when they plan to use part of the road for construction purposes. In this case the needs of cyclists seem to have been left out of any plan. The Council wasn't enforcing any plan either.
What was needed was a temporary new centre line shifted over about 1.5 m to the right to allow safe passage for bikes City bound. Parking on the other side of the road should be banned so that cars coming in the opposite direction can use that part of the road.
Cyclists should have merged into the traffic lane well before the blockage so that following motorists have time to slow down - if motorists will, that is. Many cyclists left it too late to merge and got squeezed. A 40 K zone during the construction period would have helped too. Now that the buildings have been finished there is more car parking on this section of road. The crest and inside bend make it a tight squeeze in the shared bike parking lane. Centere line could be moved over a bit and parking restricted on other side to get a wider shoulder eastbound.
Left: Looking east. Cyle lane blocked ahead by bricks and barriers in lane, Little room if cyclist is in traffic lane. No warning if cyclist tries to use cycle lane. Right: the cyclist has left it a bit late to merge into the traffic lane. Pedestrians at risk too.
Left: cycle lane blocked by bricks and barrier. Right: another day. Cycle lane blocked. Oncoming car drifts over centre line. The restricted view on the crest is apparent.
Left: Motorist crosses centre line to pass cyclist. Right: cyclists in traffic lane.
A recent site meeting (July 2007) was held at the western end of Lilyfield Rd where the road stops and a path goes across the old bridge over the Hawthorne Canal. A turning circle is marked for motor vehicles but cyclists generally ignore it and go straight across at high speed after the long descent down from James St. Council traffic engineers decided to put in some extra linemarking to formalise the cycle route and some stop signs for motorists coming out of the side street. Wont stop high speeds though, onto the bridge cyclepath, which can be dangerous.
Other problems are:
a squeeze point just east of James St, where a median strip and kerb side parking channels motor vehicles and cyclists into one narrow lane.
Bus terminus near Helena St. Parked buses occupy most of the cycle shoulder lane, forcing unwary cyclists out into the traffic lane. An indented parking bay would be better.
Bumpy section in cycle lane near Catherine St, eastbound, and another median and car parking creates a squeeze for westbound cyclists. Lane marking is bad there too. Needs redoing to carry bike lane through the intersection. Cyclists are at risk of left hooks from motorists turning into Catherine St.
Gordon St needs attention- danger of left hooks and cars not stopping at give way signs. Has been addressed in bike plan.
At Victoria Rd cyclists turn right onto the footpath, but motor vehicles must turn left only. Can be dangerous as motorists are not aware of this movement by cyclists. Also dangerous to wait in centre of road to make the right turn because large vehicles turning left off Victoria Rd into Lilyfield Rd swing wide across the centre line. Need a refuge for right turning cyclists or some better way to make the right turn.
General poor state of line marking. At time of writing (8/2007) the line marking crew were gearing up to rectify this.