The Hobart City Council will remove raised concrete separators from its Collins Street bike lane trial after a series of reported pedestrian trips and falls.
The council said the decision followed a review by its transport staff, prompted by 10 reported pedestrian incidents involving the barriers since they were installed.
The separators will be replaced with reflective flexible bollards.
The council said the works would start on Sunday, take about a day and cost around $25,000.
“However, around $10,000 of that cost will be offset through the reuse of the concrete separators as vehicle wheel stops in City of Hobart-operated off-street car parks,” the council said.
The change comes weeks after two councillors publicly called for the barriers to be replaced.
Councillor Louise Elliot told Pulse in early August she had received multiple reports of injuries, including an elderly woman who suffered serious lacerations and a man who needed his elbow pinned and plated after a fall.
Councillor Ryan Posselt, who chairs the Hobart Transport Committee, is a paramedic and heads the region’s peak cycling body, also raised concerns at that time.
He told Pulse the rigid concrete was “enough to throw you over the handlebars” and had already broken a cyclist’s arm.
Announcing the change, Posselt said the trial was working as intended.
“The purpose of the Collins Street trial has always been to test ideas, gather evidence and listen to the community before any long-term decisions are made,” he said.
“While the number of incidents represents a very small proportion of the millions of pedestrian movements recorded on Collins Street, safety will always be our priority.”
The council said the two-year trial was now past its halfway point, with data showing more than 2.48 million pedestrian movements along Collins Street.
That figure is up 4% and cycling movements up 15% compared with before the trial.
The council has made changes to the trial before.
Earlier this year it reversed a single-lane exit on Victoria Street, returning it to two lanes onto Collins Street after what it said were delays during the pre-Christmas peak.
Bicycle Network Tasmania public affairs manager Alison Hetherington welcomed the latest change.
“The Collins Street trial is a great first step towards providing more people with the option to ride a bicycle to improve their health, cut emissions and save money,” she said.
“We look forward to exploring the ultimate design that will make riding more comfortable as part of a permanent improvement to the street.”
The trial is due to come to an end in 2027, with the next council to decide which elements, if any, become permanent.
