Published: The Mercury 9th November 2024
Last week over 100 concerned business owners and residents of Hobart attended a public meeting on the bike lane proposal for Collins St. The event was organised by the Confederation of Greater Hobart Business.
The consensus was the current proposal for Collins St goes too far with dual bike lanes taking up both sides of the road. A common myth is that businesses are against bike lanes, they are not. No public meeting was called for the lanes in Campbell and Argyle St.
The supposed consultation period was more like a lecture tour with businesses being told we know what’s best for you. Yes, minor changes were made but only the bare minimum on areas that were blatantly problematic. These problems would have been picked up in early design by anyone that wasn’t already blinkered by the outcome.
Businesses want data and studies that are related to the financial implications to businesses in Hobart and the surrounding CBD. The council has admitted that these studies do not exist, and the two-year trial will be the study.
The council do point to the cities of Geelong, Bendigo and Dunedin as their source of justifications. These cities have much wider streets and integrated public transport systems that we can only dream of. This is Hobart, we need data on the potential impact to our city. The more other cities are quoted the more it reminds us how much our business data is lacking.
Two motions will be put to council on this coming Monday 11th Nov. One from the cycling lobby virtually insulting us by telling us to read a document we already have but more interestingly it is asking for a study on Centrepoint after hours, you would have thought this would have been done already.
The second is a result from our recent public meeting. We are asking that the current Collins Street cycleway project be deferred indefinitely, and the Hobart City Council immediately undertake an independent economic impact study on potential effects to surrounding businesses in Collins Street and the CBD.
Edwin Johnstone
Chair, Confederation of Greater Hobart Business
