Bike lane extension

We are working to install a two-way bike lane on the north side of O’Hea Street between Sussex Street and Derby Street. This will extend the existing two-way bike lane that is situated on the south side of O’Hea Street and stops at the intersection with Sussex Street.

As the existing and planned bike lanes are on opposite sides of the road, we are also working on a diagonal bike crossing and dedicated signals for bike riders at the O'Hea and Sussex Streets intersection. This will allow riders to easily and safely navigate through the intersection without affecting traffic.

Previous consultation

In April 2024, we asked our community to provide feedback on the proposed bike lane extension.

Following the community consultation, Council decided to proceed with the extension of the two-way bike lane.

Community feedback on this project was very positive, with 72 per cent of the 212 survey respondents responding in favour of the proposed bike lane extension.

Changes to the proposed design

Some changes will be made to our initial proposed design, based on community feedback.

The most common concern raised during the community engagement period was the safety of people walking and riding bikes crossing the side streets while travelling along O’Hea Street. As such, the design will be updated to improve safety at these crossings.

The design will also be updated to retain 10 well-established trees between Irvine Street and Hatter Street on the south side of O’Hea Street.

Keeping these trees requires changes to the initial design’s car parking impacts, as these trees will no longer be removed to create parking spaces. Instead, 6 new parking bays will be constructed further east on O’Hea Street without tree loss.

Streetscape changes

The installation of the existing O'Hea street bike lane created opportunities for landscaping, and allowed for additional tree planting, greatly improving the amenity of the streetscape.

This bike lane extension will provide these same opportunities for greening and tree planting to further improve the look and feel of the street.

Why we are we doing this

During our engagement on the Moving Around Merri-bek transport strategy, we heard frequently from our community about the struggles people face when walking and riding to travel east-west in Merri-bek.

We also heard from children of school age, their parents and schools that safety riding to and from school is a major concern.

Currently, the two-way lanes end abruptly, leaving riders without adequate infrastructure to continue to ride on. This proposed extension will address this gap, allowing riders of all confidence levels to continue their journeys safely.

This project is important as it helps open up east-west travel in Merri-bek for bike riders, offering a safe, relaxed alternate route to Bell Street, which is not suitable for riding bikes.

The lanes will also help students from Coburg North Primary School journey to and from school using active transport options.

What happens next

We will now commence the final, detailed designs for this project, including design for the proposed diagonal bike crossing with a dedicated signal. The crossing design is subject to detailed design and approval from the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP).

The designs and signal plan are expected to be finalised by the end of 2024, so that construction can commence in the first half of 2025.

We will be in touch with affected residents prior to any works.