This afternoon I decided to detour on the ride home, to head south down to Clayton to check out the progress on the Skyrail viaduct, then ride home along the the bike path to get a better look at the newly opened – or is it nearly opened – bike path through Huntingdale now that the redevelopment there is nearly complete.
Almost at Huntingdale station the path runs between the car park and the feeder loop from North road around into Huntindale road. Here I find that the path is blocked and I’m directed back onto the road, then arrive I at Huntindale station and find that the brand new redevelopment has, amazingly, managed to make the bike path WORSE through the station precinct. In the past the bike path simply vanished, leaving you to ride through the car park, contending with parking – and reversing – motorists. Now the bike path leads you straight into the bus interchange and ends with a “Cyclists Dismount” sign!
Here’s the one that faces you when approaching from the west.
A sure sign of a poorly designed bike path, the “cyclists dismount” sign
Apparently if you do get off and walk along the path through the bus interchange it gets even worse, it’s so narrow between the glass back of the bus stops and the steel railings that two bikes can barely pass each other head-on. How people on trikes, towing kids trailers or anyone with a larger than average amount of luggages is meant to cope is anybody’s guess.
Perhaps the Huntingdale bus interchange debacle isn’t really LXRA’s doing, but it’s all part of the redevelopment of various sections of the Station Trail in order to comply with the oft-repeated statements of the “continuous bike path from Caulfield to Dandenong” that appear on every second piece of Level Crossing Project brochureware.
They had a three month closure, they had months to design it prior to that, they knew that the old bike path ended at either side of the car park and forced riders through it, that it was dangerous for commuters, dangerous for anyone riding with children. They knew there were hundreds of people on foot going into the station or between buses and the station. What level of incompetence or malice is involved in making a worse piece of cycling infrastructure that funnels the cyclists straight into the bus interchange, then tells them to get off and walk?
How does this debacle qualify as part of a “continuous bike path”, as is continually being touted as one of the features of the Skyrail redevelopment?
https://www.strava.com/activities/1431896024
Updates:
- : Oh look, its even made the local paper: Monash Leader – Huntingdale station bus interchange a worry for bike riders
A “CHOKE” point at the revamped Huntingdale train station has raised safety concerns.
While most of the $7.6 million upgrade of the carpark and new bus area has greatly improved the area, the new set-up will result in a flood of pedestrians merging on one point where the footpath is at its narrowest.
Compounding the issue, the bike path runs straight into the congestion point.
…
- : Not quite eighteen months on, a shared path is where the path should have been in the first place.
