Another gap in the St Kilda Road bike lane corridor will soon be connected as works starts on the city-bound section between Park and Dorcas streets in South Melbourne.
The separated lanes are being built by the Metro Tunnel Project, which will be constructing all the bikes lanes around the planned Anzac Station near Domain and Albert roads.
The project is expected to take about six weeks and the bike lanes will match those being built elsewhere along St Kilda Road.
During construction cars along St Kilda Road will be diverted to the newly built inner carriageway.
Bike riders heading north will take the service lane adjacent to the worksite, which will occupy the parking lane.
Limited traffic will share the service lane with bikes: local businesses between Park and Dorcas can enter with vehicles from Park Street but must exit at Dorcas Street. The total number of vehicles and traffic speeds are expected to be low.
To facilitate the lane switch, overnight works will be required to place concrete barriers over the carparks and for line marking the road.
During this time, St Kilda Road northbound will be closed between Toorak Road and Dorcas Street, the southbound lane will be closed between Dorcas Street and Toorak Road. The works will take place over two nights:
- 8pm Thursday 13 April to 5am Friday 14 April
- 8pm Friday 14 April to 5am Saturday 15 April (8pm Monday 17 April to 5am Tuesday 18 April is proposed as a wet weather contingency plan).
Following the switch, works will involve the excavation of the road surface and installation of concrete barriers.
When the bike lane is complete, works will begin on the final kerb and pedestrian crossing at the north-west corner of Park Street and St Kilda Road. Further details on these works will be provided in May.
When all works are complete, bike and traffic lanes will reopen and parking will be returned to both the outer and inner carriageway.