Sandy Bay Road
This important cycling route from the southern side of Hobart provides a relatively flat and direct connection to the city from Sandy Bay and Taroona.
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​Incrementally, improvements have been made but the ultimate aim is for AAA (All Ages and Abilities) separated bike lanes, as identified in the Greater Hobart Cycling Strategy.
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History of Sandy Bay Road bicycle lanes
June 2007
November 2008
September 2009
July 2010
October 2010
February 2011
March 2011
September 2012
June 2013
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February 2014
October 2014
September 2015
Council called for Expressions of Interest to carry out stakeholder and community consultation in relation to options for improving cycling and pedestrian facilities from the City to the Southern Boundary.
Hobart City Council proposed improved walking and cycling facilities from Marieville Esplanade to the City’s southern boundary with Taroona along Sandy Bay Road. Community feedback was sought.
A detailed concept plan for the route was developed following the wide-ranging public consultation during 2008-2009 which found broad support for improved facilities for walking and cycling along the Sandy Bay Rd alignment. The proposal included a protected 2-way bike lane along the water side of Sandy Bay Rd with a separate footpath alongside for pedestrians.
Broader benefits of the design include:
- Improved access for drivers to Sandy Bay Rd from side streets through installation of roundabouts
- Improved traffic flow by providing designated turn lanes and roundabouts at intersections.
- No loss of traffic of capacity for motor vehicles
- Protected space for Sandy Bay residents to ride their bikes in comfort and safety
- Improved amenity for people walking on the footpath who won’t have to share with people cycling on footpath any more.
- improved crossing of Sandy Bay Rd for pedestrians through installation of pedestrian refuges and reduced crossing distance.
The design included separated footpaths from the cycleway (in most cases), better crossing points, upgrade of the "scenic esplanade" section from the Casino to Manning Ave and improvements to bus stops. Cycling South requested that the two shared zones shown outside Lipscombe Ave and Sandy Bay Infant School be changed to a delineated footpath and cycleway.
Changes likely to receive opposition from some residents
The proposed design would see some loss of parking along the water side of the road but the installation of roundabouts will provide turning opportunities for vehicles accessing available parking on the other side of the road. Two of the outbound bus stops will require buses to stop in the middle of the road to let passengers off (creating a delay of up to 10 seconds) but this will be offset by the installation of designated turning lanes which will reduce the incidence of drivers blocking the lane while waiting to turn right into side streets. Consultation was held between 23 July and 27 August 2010.
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Hobart City Council voted to review it's approach to carrying out community consultation on cycleways by inviting Harry Barber, CEO of Bicycle Victoria and Jonathan Daly from GHD to run a workshop on how to better introduce such changes.
Bicycle Tasmania's Family Fun Day on Sunday 6 Feb 2011 saw over 250 riders show their support for the proposed bike lanes by joining a group ride along Sandy Bay Rd.
Hobart City Council was presented with a petition of over 2000 signatures in support of the proposed cycle/walkway along Sandy Bay Rd in February at the meeting held on 15 February. Deputy Lord Mayor, Alderman Helen Burnet, who presented the petition at the Council meeting said the number of petitioners offering their support for the cycle way was a clear sign of overwhelming support, and in contrast to petitions tabled in September 2010 asking for retention of parking.
At the Hobart City Council meeting held on 16 April 2012, Council unanimously agreed to approve, in-principle, the Sandy Bay Cycleway project with design and engineering work to be undertaken for all sections of the Sandy Bay Cycleway to the shovel-ready stage and seek sources of funding for the project. The design phase will provide opportunity for concerns raised in the consultation on some sections of the concept plan to be addressed.
Consultation results
Approximately 1500 people and organisations provided direct input to the project through feedback forms, submissions or letters. Six petitions with a combined total of approximately 2900 signatures were also received by Council.
The statistics show there is clearly a high level of support for the project, except for some of those residents living along the route who provided feedback. A key issue will be how to alleviate the concerns of residents living along the route and elsewhere in Sandy Bay with regard to the perceived impacts on traffic management, parking, property access and the interaction between pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.
The concept plan was divided into 5 sections:
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Section 1 - Sandy Bay Rivulet to Casino (via Marieville Esplanade)
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Section 2 - Casino to Manning Ave
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Section 3 - Manning Ave to Long Point Rd (Lower Sandy Bay shops)
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Section 4 - Long Point Road to Wayne Ave
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Section 5 - Wayne Ave to Cartwright Reserve (Taroona boundary)
- Total level of support for the project was 71% (an average of 638 respondents) for all road sections.
- The road section with the greatest level of support is Section 5 (Lower Sandy Bay shops to Taroona boundary) at 74% (673 respondents)
- The section with the lowest level of support is Section 3a/3b (St Stephens Church and Sandy Bay Infant School) with 65% (563 respondents). This section recorded a higher 'unsure' vote, reflecting the concerns surrounding these zones raised through the consultation.
- For residents identified as living along the proposed route, opposition outweighs support with 66% opposed (60 respondents).
- For other residents of Sandy Bay, the level of support is marginally above that of opposition for all sections except for Section 3a/3b, again reflecting the concerns of those zones.
- For people living in other Hobart suburbs, the level of support far exceeds that of opposition with an average of 240 respondents registering support compared to only 14 in opposition per section.
- For people from other municipalities, interstate or no recorded address, the level of support is also very high with an average of 271 respondents in support comparted to 35 in opposition per section.
The consultation found the section with the most support was the Taroona boundary to Lower Sandy Bay so it would seem sensible that HCC tackle that section first and leave the more complex and controversial middle section for later.
At the Infrastructure Services meeting held on 27 August 2012 a report was adopted that provides amendments to the original concept plan for the section between Marieville Esplande and Long Point Rd in order to address community issues raised during the consultation period. The main issues were:
- loss of on street parking in front of properties on the water side of Sandy Bay Rd
- retention of car parking in front of St Stephens Church and Sandy Bay Infant School which created potential conflict between people getting out of parked cars and cycleway users going past the shared zones on the footpath.
The amended plan recommended the following changes:
- widening the footpath and painting a cycleway on it
- maintaining car parking along the entire length
The amended design has a number of flaws. It doesn't provide an adequate level of service to the majority of people currently riding Sandy Bay Road which will result in the majority not using the cycleway. The widened footpath design recreates all the limitations of footpath cycling (obstacles such as poles, conflict with people getting out of parked cars, pedestrians walking on the cycleway section as only a white line provides separation, poor sightlines at driveway crossovers) and reduces the remaining road space for riders using the roadway.
At the Infrastructure Services meeting held on 29 May 2013 the report examined two alternative proposals for Section 3 (widened footpath and on-road bicycle lanes) and recommended bike lanes as the preferred option, rather than a bi-directional cycleway.
At the council meeting on 11 June 2013 Alderman Burnet tabled a petition containing 785 signatures in relation to the proposed separated bike lanes along Sandy Bay Road, between Marieville Esplanade and Long Point Road, Sandy Bay, identifying a preference for a cycleway fully separated from motor vehicles that will cater for all sorts of people riding bicycles, including children. Despite the petition Council voted in favour of the recommendation from the previous Infrastructure Services meeting (10-2 votes) to proceed with detailed design for on-road bike lanes only in Section 3 (not a separated cycleway) and approval to progress the design of sections 4 & 5 further south to the Taroona boundary.
The linemarking was completed for the bike lanes between Derwent Water Avenue near the casino and Fisher Ave in Lower Sandy Bay. Prior to linemarking work was carried out to improve the road surface including filling gaps and potholes, replacing metal manhole covers with non-slip ones, and replacing drainage grates with cycle-friendly version.
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Footpath widening between the casino and Marieville Esplanade was completed. For riders not confident enough to continue their journey towards the city mixing with the traffic on Sandy Bay Road through the shops, the new shared path provides an alternative connection to/from Marieville Esplanade.
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At the Council meeting on 7 September the next stage of the Sandy Bay Road bike lanes from Lower Sandy Bay to the Taroona Boundary were approved. The design also includes improved amenity for pedestrians with dedicated crossing points on Sandy Bay Road. Council had to balance the parking needs of residents while improving traffic flow for motor vehicles and bicycles.
January 2017
The bike lanes between Lower Sandy Bay and Taroona were completed.