Henrietta Street Bike Lane Divider Trial

Background

Council is seeking to improve safety for pedestrians and bike riders and clarify the use of the bike lanes on Henrietta Street. Large groups of school students often walk along the narrow footpaths. Their safety is compromised when vehicles park in driveways or on the footpath. Bike riders have two-way access along Henrietta Street. Bike riders use the contra-flow bike lane when travelling in the opposite direction to vehicles and use the travel lane when travelling in the same direction.

Some motorists and bike riders misunderstand the purpose and use of the contra-flow bike lane, which leads to vehicles driving in the bike lane, which is illegal and unsafe.

The proposal

The proposal is for a minimum nine month trial using a cheap separation device. These lane dividers will be spaced 3 metres apart and exclude road intersections, driveways and alongside car parking spaces. The trial will periodically monitor the behaviour of road and path users and the condition of the lane dividers. At the end of the trial there will be an evaluation and a recommendation made as to whether to extend the trial or undertake further action to address the needs for clarity and safety.

Prior to the installation of the lane separators, it is proposed Henrietta Street will be re-sheeted and the road pavement markings and paint will be refreshed on the new bitumen.

Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback on the proposed trial.

What you told us

• You support interventions to improve safety for walking and cycling on Henrietta St
• You are concerned about the impact of dividers on access to driveways and the width of the road
• You are also concerned about the number of signs along the road.

What Council decided to do

In response to the feedback received, Council has decided to proceed with the trial with the following changes:

• Restrict the installation of dividers to Henrietta Street North
• Amend the placement of dividers to ensure they don’t obstruct driveways on either side of the Street
• Review the placement of signage along the length of Henrietta Street to reduce duplication and improve clarity for all road users.

Approvals

The community consultation results and revised project scope were reported to the Waverley Traffic Committing Meeting on 23 May 2019, which recommended that the trial be approved for Henrietta St North. The Traffic Committee recommendation was reported to the Waverley Council meeting on 18 June 2019 where it was approved.

In early October the road was resurfaced. The line marking and paint will be refreshed within a few weeks once the new asphalt has cured. The lane dividers will be installed once the line marking is complete.

As the project is a trial, data is being collected both before and during the trial to inform the final assessment. This data includes vehicle counts and speeds as well as an assessment of conflicts, as well as comments from community members and other issues.

Community will be offered the opportunity to provide feedback at a later stage in the trial. The survey process will be managed by Councils Strategic Transport team and the final assessment conducted by an independent assessor.