West End - Melbourne St - 60kph zone
Melbourne Street is one of the main connecting roads from the Victoria Bridge at the Brisbane CBD into the heart of West End. The street had a major reconfiguration back in the late 90's as part of the urban renewal of the West End precinct. The street now has both bus lanes and dedicated bike lanes squeezed in. The bike lane has a green paint treatment in some sections to increase visibility.
Speed limit
For a great many years the speed limit on this busy route was left at 60 kph as it was pre the urban renewal of the area. This speed limit seemed totally inappropriate and unnecessary for this street and did nothing to improve traffic flow and only presented additional risk for cyclists.
Finally in 2007 after complaints to Council and a cyclist fatality on Melbourne Street, the BCC reduced the speed limit to 50 kph for what would seem to be most of Melbourne St (note speed sign in photo on left). There is however still a 60 kph speed sign buried in the foliage of a tree near the Boundary Street roundabout end. This sign, if it were visible, would indicate that there was still a legal 60 kph zone approximately 150m long near the roundabout.
Council has been approached to find out if this speed sign is intentional or has been left there because nobody could see it to remove it. Certainly it has very little effect to encourage the higher speed but it would be better if it was at least replaced with a very visible 50 kph sign, although a further reduction in the speed limit on Melbourne St would be safer for all users.
Inbound
Further inbound heading toward the Victoria Bridge the green bike lane narrows and travels between the contra flow traffic with the two way bus lane on the riders left and the regular car traffic on the right. There are several traffic lights to get through and some criss-cross manoeuvres of buses as they enter and leave the Convention Centre bus station to contend with. There is however very little choice of making connections once on the bikeway at this point in the middle of Melbourne Street. There is no option to turn off into Grey Street to enter the Southbank complex, there is no option to join the bikeway at Southbank or the bus station at the Cultural Centre and the lane continues to get more narrow as it passes over the middle of the Victoria Bridge between the contra-flow traffic. On the other side of the Victoria Bridge, again there is no option to join the bikeway at North Quay which at this point is directly below the rider and waiting at this intersection with North Quay the rider should be very wary of buses turning right from North Quay onto the Victoria Bridge as they often sweep over the green bikelane at this point. There was once a sign post at this point which seems to have been shorn off by a turning bus.
Inbound no chance to exit for Southbank at Grey St
Inbound no chance to exit for bus station or bikeway
Inbound no chance to exit for bikeway at North Quay
Outbound
Additional problems for cyclists are to be found on the outbound side of Melbourne Street traveling away from the CBD. On this side of the street the bikeway starts off with BAZ markings near Grey Street The left turn lane just prior to the start of the bikelane has no treatment whatsoever to assist the passage of cyclists traveling straight ahead and there is a risk of being left hooked here. Council assumes that the cyclist will keep to the left and travel in this left turning lane and have even provided a small auxiliary sign exempting cyclists from having to turn left here. This however provides little notice to motorists using this lane and is not highly visible. A cyclist is far safer to remain in the straight ahead lane but can be squeezed if there are cars using both lanes. Once past Merivale Street there seems to start a dedicated bikelane with the white bike lane symbols painted on the left side of Melbourne Street. There is however no signs to indicate this start of lane as required in the MUTCD and road rules. This lane progresses nicely for a short distance and then it ends halfway along the block before the next intersection at Cordelia Street with a END symbol painted in the bike lane immediately before a bus stop. There is no other signage to confirm this and the END mark can easily be obscured by a bus entering the stop. The bike lane however seems to mysteriously start again just before the traffic light at Cordelia Street with another white bike symbol but again no signage to confirm this start (or re-start). Further along, outbound, things seem to improve and the bike lane turns green and more obvious.
Just a BAZ at this point but beware the left hook
Bikelane seems to start here with a white bike
Bikelane seems to end here with a END before bus stop
Bikelane seems to re-start after bus stop here with another white bike
