New Hobart CBD bike lane described as ‘ludicrous’ by one Alderman and ‘gold standard’ by another

A new bike lane in Hobart’s CBD has been slammed by one council Alderman and praised by another. Who is right? Take our poll inside >>

Campbell Street at the corner of Melville Street. A new bike lane installed in Campbell St has reduced the traffic lanes from three to two. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

A Hobart alderman says changing a busy city street to two lanes and including a bike lane is “choking” the CBD – a suggestion vehemently denied by a fellow councillor.

Marti Zucco says he is being inundated with complaints by residents and commuters about traffic delays and confusion about parking signs on Campbell St.

But Ryan Posselt says he’s only received praise for the introduction of the first protected bike lane with one cyclist emailing on Sunday saying she felt safer with parked cars protecting riders.

Mr Zucco said making part of Liverpool St one lane for traffic also discouraged people from coming into the city.

“I spent 27 minutes crawling through Campbell St from Bathurst St at nearly nine o’clock in the morning, and it was it was a crawl because of these two lanes,” he said.

“It’s actually mind-blowing for people driving down there and I’m getting complaints about the changes in Macquarie St too.

“It’s absolutely ludicrous.

“And how many people are actually using these bike lanes?

Parking sign at the bike lane on Campbell Street. Picture: Chris Kidd

“When you look at the signage in Campbell St, you need to have a university degree to understand what you can do, when you can do it and when you can’t do it.”

Mr Zucco said he supported bike lanes but not if they “smash the ability of people to drive”.

He said Hobart had the worst public transport system in the country.

“There’s no trams, there’s no trains and we’ve got a bus system that’s broken,” Mr Zucco said.

“We’re trying to shut people from coming into the city at a time when businesses are going broke.”

However, Mr Posselt, who chairs the Hobart City Council’s mobility committee, said it was important to encourage and support cyclists commuting to the city.

He said the Campbell St bike lane was “gold standard” because it protected cyclists from moving cars.

“We have a limited road network that we can’t expand anymore and cyclists want to feel safe,” he said.

“We want to see people shopping in the city but if they drive we want to see them use multistorey car parks which are more accessible and cheaper.

“We don’t want to see people doing blockies trying to find a park on the street.

“Council has identified routes that are high vehicle, high cycling and high pedestrian and the evidence is that Liverpool St is high pedestrian which is why it has one lane and no bike lanes and we widened the footpath.

“Campbell St is primarily used by people wanting to cycle from North Hobart, New Town, West Hobart and Lenah Valley.”

Mr Posselt said Barrack, Bathurst and Brisbane streets were identified as high-car-usage streets with “a good clean run”.

Originally published as New Hobart CBD bike lane described as ‘ludicrous’ by one Alderman and ‘gold standard’ by another