Inner City Bypass
Although it connects a number of heavy motor traffic, cyclist-unfriendly arterial roads, the Inner City Bypass itself is quite accommodating of bicycles. There are large, usually clean shoulders and many of the entrances and exits have special crossings marked for continuing cyclists to cross the exiting or joining lane.
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Eastbound
Shortly after the lane from Kelvin Grove Road joins the end of Hale Street and becomes the Inner City Bypass is an intersection at the end of Ithaca Street. Stay in the leftmost lane until you are past this, and then you can move across into the shoulder, assuming that's your preference.
As you approach the Royal Brisbane Hospital there's a turnoff to Gilchrist Avenue. At this point it's fairly easy to both maintain good speed and check behind for cars, so if it's clear you can easily move back into the leftmost lane before the exit and back onto the shoulder again after it. Alternatively, if traffic in the left lane is heavy, stay in the shoulder and use the designated bicycle crossing spot shortly after the lanes separate.
You can pick up some good speed as you descend into the tunnel under the RNA Showgrounds, but you will lose it shortly afterwards as the tunnel returns to the surface. This is slightly problematic because shortly after this the leftmost lane peels off to Horace Street (useful if you want to head north along Lutwyche Road) and it can be difficult to safely move across to the middle, continuing lane. Unless you are confident at negotiating traffic and claiming the lane (in a spot where cars are typically doing 80 km/h and sometimes significantly more, and exiting cars will specifically need to be in the leftmost lane) it's easier to continue on the shoulder and cross at the designated bicycle crossing spot (complete with convenient lean bar).
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The shoulder approaching the Horace Street exit has been closed from February 2007 and is expected to remain that way until the end of 2008. See Eastbound shoulder closure (below) for more information. |
After this it's easy going until the Abbotsford Road exit. There's no designated bicycle crossing spot here. There's also not a great deal of distance before the exit lane descends and becomes physically separate from the continuing lanes, but doing the same maneouvre is still feasible. Fortunately it's flat and straight here, so not too difficult to merge out into the left lane for the duration of the exit, and then back onto the shoulder.
A few hundred metres later, just before the Breakfast Creek Hotel, the end of Sandgate Road merges in. This is on the descent to another short tunnel so, although the traffic is usually moving fairly fast (it's a 70 km/h zone) and the shoulder shrinks to just fit a bunch of drains, experienced road cyclists should be OK negotiating the merging traffic.
Out the other end of the tunnel, one of Breakfast Creek Road's lanes merges in from the left and the other continues on the left, so cyclists will need to move left across them. From here the road becomes Kingsford Smith Drive.
Access points
- Hale Street (start)
- Ithaca Street (Victoria Park Road)
- Gilchrist Avenue (exit only, to Herston Road)
- Horace Street (exit only, to Lutwyche Road)
- Abbotsford Road (exit only)
- Sandgate Road (entrance only)
- Kingsford Smith Drive (end)
Westbound
The road starts at the end of the three-lane Kingsford Smith Drive, with the left lane and an additional lane starting from the middle lane peeling off to Breakfast Creek Road on the left, and the right two lanes continuing on to the ICB. This is a fairly heavy traffic area so you will need to be in the centre lane well in advance. The Bypass starts with a dip into a short tunnel in which there is not much to speak of in the way of shoulders, and in fact there's a "no bikes" sign at the entrance that isn't readable until after you've committed to going through. On the climb out of the tunnel there's an exit to Sandgate Road, and then a shoulder with a very nasty looking longitudinal drain across the bridge over Breakfast Creek — quite avoidable, as long as you stay on the road.
After the bridge the shoulder becomes wide and the road is fairly uneventful from here westwards. After the Abbotsford Road entrance, cyclists (only) can enter and leave the Bypass at Mayne Road. Later, a lane from Horace St is added and the speed limit increases to 80km/h, but there is a designated bicycle crossing spot for those who are happy to stay on the shoulder, and reasonable visibility and a slight downwards angle to assist changing lanes for those who would prefer to keep going in more of a straight line.
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The shoulder immediately after the Mayne Road connection has been closed from May 2007 and is expected to remain that way until the end of 2008. See Westbound shoulder closure (below) for more information. |
At the end of the Inner City Bypass, the left lane of three exits to Kelvin Grove Road (via Ithaca Street), so to continue on to Hale Street you will need to move across to the middle lane. There is a sign requiring bicycles to exit at that point, but that is useless for anybody wanting to bypass the inner city (a common reason for wanting to use this road) and continue to the west, for example to the Bicentennial Bikeway [1]. However, the sign is not readable until after the point at which you will have moved to the middle lane and committed to continuing to Hale Street, so it's largely useless.
Access points
- Kingsford Smith Drive (start)
- Allison Street (to Sandgate Road and Abbotsford Road, exit only)
- Abbotsford Road (entrance only)
- Mayne Road (bicycles only)
- Horace Street (entrance only)
- Ithaca Street (exit only, to Kelvin Grove Road)
- Hale Street (end)
NSBT works
Construction of the North-South Bypass Tunnel is impacting severely on cyclists' ability to use the road, either safely or legally.
Eastbound shoulder closure
In February 2007 the lanes around the Horace Street exit were narrowed and the shoulder closed for about fifty metres to make space on the left for work on the North-South Bypass Tunnel. A few months later a similar, additional shoulder closure was put in place a few hundred metres further on. Although it was possible to stay on the road in early May 2007 the signs were changed to make it illegal, reportedly at the request of Council.
There's a signed exit for a bicycle detour immediately prior to the first closure, with connections to both O'Connell Terrace and Campbell Street, but it does not connect back onto the ICB. The marked detour is back along Campbell Street to Bowen Bridge Road, along the western side of that up to Federation Street, and then along the old bike path up to McDonald Road at Albion [2]. It's also possible to connect to Abbotsford Road via O'Connell Tce, Hamilton Place and Campbell Street.
Both sections of missing shoulder remained until the end of March 2008, and more works are expected until the end of 2008. The new shoulder does not include the bicycle facilities (hold rail, signage and ramp crossing) that previously existed, and the contractors have said they will not be restoring them.
Westbound shoulder closure
In May 2007 the problems caused by the eastbound shoulder closure were compounded by a similar closure of the westbound shoulder for about fifty metres immediately after Mayne Road. Cyclists are required to exit onto Mayne Road, but no detour is provided to get back onto the ICB. This closure is also expected to last until late 2008.
See also
- Images and other pages relating to the bypass
