$30m Swan St Bridge upgrade fails to clear cycling hazard

RICHMOND’S Swan St Bridge is open and operating for traffic after a $30 million upgrade — but cyclists aren’t happy after a major hazard failed to be cleared.

THE $30 million upgrade to the Swan St Bridge has failed to clear a major hazard for the city’s cyclists.

The cycling path under the bridge remains a dangerous bottleneck for both riders and pedestrians.

SWAN ST BRIDGE RE-OPENS

BLOCKED BIKE LANES RISKING RIDERS’ LIVES

The bridge reopened to ­traffic on April 28 but the path under the bridge on the eastern side of the Yarra, part of the Main Yarra Trail, was largely untouched.

An estimated 1500 riders use the path, managed by the City of Melbourne, every day.

Alexander Miller at the opening to the Swan St Bridge underpass. Picture: Jay Town

Angry cyclists Kerriann Miranda, Tom Jennings and Alexander Miller. Picture: Jay Town

Work on the Swan Street Bridge upgrade took just over a year. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Bicycle Network Victoria chief executive Craig Richards said the trail under the Swan St Bridge had been made worse and more money was now needed to fix the hazard.

“This is one of Melbourne’s busiest paths. It’s the equivalent of closing Hoddle St for a year and reopening it with fewer traffic lanes,” he said.

A pontoon would increase the path width and improve safety for riders and walkers, Mr Richards said.

“It’s only a matter of time before there’s a head-on crash or a bike rider ends up in the Yarra — this needs to be fixed right now.”

The eastern path has been closed for short periods during the day for minor works on the underside the bridge.

After so much disruption, detours, extensions of time due to problems etc, the Swan St bridge project for vehicles failed to fix dangerous riding conditions on the trail underneath. Shows how much this city values active transport https://t.co/dqPyXHZP3j

— Jen Williams (@misguidedjenni) July 5, 2018

The dangerous bike path under the Swan St Bridge. Picture: Bicycle Network

The Swan St bridge opened with a fifth lane added by April. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

The path under the bridge on the western or Tan side of the Yarra remains closed, Major Road Projects Authority project director Damien ­Afxentis said.

“We’ve raised the level of the western path, re-asphalted the surface to provide a better experience for cyclists and pedestrians and we’ve done some flood mitigation works which will help manage tidal movements on the Yarra River.’’

A feasibility study into improving the path was conducted but no go-ahead for work was given.

The council identified the path as a priority “to ease congestion and investigate potential flooding’’.

But a City of Melbourne spokeswoman said the modified footpath under the bridge was controlled by VicRoads.

“(The council) is in active discussion with VicRoads about these (safety) concerns,” she said.

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@IanRoyall