Clarence Street

At the Council meeting held on 3 July 2017 Council approved the staff recommendation to: 

• Provide consistent spacing of bus stops and align with pedestrian movement

• Provide discreet turning lanes, where possible, at intersections along Clarence St; 

• Rationalise the frequency and location of standouts and islands.

• To improve safety to cyclists at the lighted intersections, provide cycle standing lanes at the 4 lighted intersection in Clarence St

Option B, which was recommended by the Technical Working Group and Community Collaborative Reference Group to have defined space marked for travel lanes, carparking and cycle lanes was not presented to Council.

Consultation was carried out on the proposed options.

37% preferred option A (no changes to on-street car parking)

52% preferred option B (define lanes including cycling lanes)

10% didn't select a preference but made a comment

A petition signed by 574 people was tabled at Council’s Meeting held on Monday 17 October 2016 requesting: “We the undersigned, petition the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Clarence to authorise the General Manager to undertake a community consultation program based on Design Options 1 and 3 of the Clarence Street Safety Assessment Project, and, once the community consultation is complete, to convene a future Council Workshop on the results of the consultation program, with the workshop deliberations informing the officer’s report and recommendations to a future Council meeting”.

The Design Options referred to in the tabled petition are:

Option 1: safety improvements retaining existing parking conditions; and

Option 2: safety improvements with bike lanes on both sides and modified on street parking.

The petition is from a considerable number of members of the public, many of whom are Clarence residents, (and more specifically, Howrah and Bellerive residents). Twenty two petitioners are Metro bus drivers who apparently have serious concerns as to the safety of cyclists on Clarence Street, as they currently share the traffic lane with other vehicles, including buses. According to these bus drivers they are experiencing less stress when travelling along Sandy Bay Road as cyclists are not coming into conflict with buses and they are clearly visible to the bus driver due to being in a dedicated bike lane.

At the Council meeting to be held on 7 December 2015, Council will consider whether to undertake public consultation on options to improve safety for users of Clarence St, based on recommendations made by the Community Collaborative Reference Group and the Technical Working Group. There are two options being considered which can be viewed on the Council agenda. Option 1 is similar to what is in place on Clarence St now with a wide undefined space and Option 3 is for defined travel lanes, defined parking spaces and defined bike lanes.

A Technical Working Group, made up of representatives from Metro, RACT, Department of State Growth, Bicycle Network Tasmania, met to review design options based on recommendations made by the Clarence Community Collaborative Reference Group for improving Clarence St. These recommendations include:

• Clearly defined travel lanes

• Bus stops consistently placed where pedestrian movement is located

• Turning lanes at intersections

• Bike lanes

• Reduce speed limit to 50kph

• Investigate traffic lights at Scott St intersection

• Rationalise frequency and location of islands to reduce pinch points

• Develop consistent landscaping theme incorporating heritage values

A Clarence St reference group was formed to provide recommendations for improving the safety and amenity of Clarence St for all road users. The reference group is made up of local community members who live or work near Clarence St and includes representatives from schools, retailers and community groups. The group will meet to review a safety assessment which was prepared by engineering consultancy firm Sinclair Knight Mertz in 2011 and research solutions to improve Clarence Street for everyone.

A Clarence St reference group has been formed to provide recommendations for improving the safety and amenity of Clarence St for all road users. The reference group is made up of local community members who live or work near Clarence St and includes representatives from schools, retailers and community groups. The group will meet to review a safety assessment which was prepared by engineering consultancy firm Sinclair Knight Mertz in 2011 and research solutions to improve Clarence St for everyone.