Pop up bike lanes: More than 100km of cycling paths, new minimum overtaking distance for motorists
Dozens of new ‘pop up’ bike lanes are to be built across Melbourne’s inner city as details of new laws which will force motorists to keep their distance are revealed.
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New ‘pop up’ bike lanes will be created in Melbourne’s inner city in a bid to ease crowding on public transport.
The lanes — part of a $13 million initiative — will be built at dozens of locations including Footscray, Northcote and St Kilda.
Victoria will also next year introduce laws making it mandatory for motorists to keep their distance when overtaking cyclists.
They will have to give them a clearance of at least 1m when overtaking on roads with speed limits of up to 60km/h.
It increases to 1.5m on roads with higher speed limits.
Roads Minister Ben Carroll said: “The coronavirus pandemic is changing the way we move around Melbourne.”
“We’re building over 100km of pop-up bike lanes, providing an alternative for shorter trips and making it easier and safer to get to and from the CBD,’’ Mr Carroll said.
“We also know that giving people cycling that little bit of extra space can help us all get home safely – so we’re introducing minimum passing distances, to keep cars and cyclists safety apart and save lives on our roads.”
The new bike lanes will be built in coming months with local councils and community representatives to be consulted on their development.
They will include signage, road markings and barriers.
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Originally published as Pop up bike lanes: More than 100km of cycling paths, new minimum overtaking distance for motorists