Toowong - Sylvan Rd - Railway underpass

This is the inbound bikelane on Sylvan Road as it narrows and passes beneath the railway overpass. This section of road is designated as 'No Standing' but this is often ignored by motorists who park here and totally block the bikelane. (see the second picture) The problem is exacerbated by the poor signage provided by Council. One 'No Standing' is located on the river side of the rail overpass and the other one is located at the entrance to the parkland off the road reserve and does not even have an arrow pointing in the correct direction. This was brought to the attention of Council at the end of August 2006 pointing out that this was a problem on weekends and the deficiency of signage. There was no response for 2 months. A followup revealed that Council inspected the parking on a week day and found no problem, ignored the signage and took no action. Another escalated correspondence saw one faded sign replaced the very next day (27 Oct 06). The situation could be vastly improved by painting the yellow kerbline to indicate a 'No Standing' zone with little cost to Council. This has been requested.

A call from Council on Nov 22 revealed that there were previously other 'No Standing' signs on the footpath here but ironically they were just removed when the footpath was narrowed during construction of the bikelane and were never replaced. Council said they would reinstate the signs to alleviate the ambiguity that has allowed cars to park and totally block the bikelane. Unfortunately the reinstated signs do nothing but now make it legal to park in a 15m section of the bikelane because of the placement of the new 'No Standing' sign on 24 Nov 2006. (shown as the right hand sign in the photo on the left) A further request to Council to explain the reluctance to exclude the parking of cars in this narrow section is pending.

Another danger, this time a very misplaced sign, hard to tell where this uprooted sign came from, there were no obvious holes. It remained there presenting a risk to cyclists and pedestrians for several days despite being in clear view of Council buses all equipped with phones. The sign was removed within 2 hrs of reporting it and sending this picture.

Around mid December 2006 Council reported that the previous placements of the 'No Standing' signs were 'anomalies' and shortly after re-positoned the sign to close any parking gaps in the narrow bikelane. (see pic Left) Finally the signage seems to be fixed but no yellow lines were painted along the gutter. Perhaps now the bikelane will have a better chance of remaining clear of parked vehicles.