Hobart Bypass

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An artist's impression of the Northside Freeway, proposed in 1965 Nthside fwy concept.jpg
An artist's impression of the Northside Freeway, proposed in 1965
Higher resolution image of Wilbur Smith & Associates 1965 plan Higher resolution image of Wilbur Smith & Associates 1965 plan..jpg
Higher resolution image of Wilbur Smith & Associates 1965 plan

The Hobart Bypass is a proposed concept to bypass the Central Business District of Hobart, Tasmania. Currently, through traffic travels from the Tasman/Brooker Highways down the one-way Davey/Macquarie couplet to the Southern Outlet. As well as traffic concerns, there is also a call to build the bypass on the grounds that the current traffic arrangement cuts the central business district off from Hobart's waterfront.

Contents

Current alignment

At present, traffic proceeding to/from the Southern Outlet must pass through the one-way couplet of Davey and Macquarie Streets for access to the Tasman and Brooker highways. This current alignment was implemented in 1987 to coincide with the completion of the Sheraton. It was originally intended that the couplet system would serve as a stop gap measure prior to the construction of a freeway in Hobart's Transportation study of 1965. [1] [2] Prior to this, all traffic in Hobart was 2-way.

Bypass proposals

Northside Freeway

The Northside Freeway was one of several traffic solutions proposed by US transportation and infrastructure consulting firm Wilbur Smith and Associates in their Hobart Area Transportation Study of 1965. [1] The proposed link was to extend from Grosvenor Street, Sandy Bay and the Southern Outlet at Davey Street and following the Hobart Rivulet and bypassing the CBD and crossing the Brooker Highway between Melville and Brisbane Streets, passing through the Queens Domain and connecting to the Tasman Highway. [1] [3] The freeway was designed to be a raised freeway to avoid the sharp topographical features associated with the Queens Domain. [1]

Cross-City Tunnels

There has since been several proposals for a tunnel [4] under the city:

Bypass on the eastern foothills of Knocklofty

This proposal was from Elboden St via a bridge over Hobart Rivulet into a tunnel to Knocklofty Terrace to Pottery Rd. Hobart transport economist Bob Cotgrove commented that this proposal was likely to be too peripheral to justify the expense.

Bypass on the western foothills of Knocklofty

In the past, a bypass of the CBD has been suggested from McRobies Gully, South Hobart via Knocklofty Park to Lenah Valley. [3] It has been pointed out that this proposal would be virtually useless to anyone wanting to access the CBD from the northern suburbs due to the significant detour required through Cascade Rd.

Bypass behind Mt Wellington

Several Councillors from the Huon Valley Council, the Derwent Valley Council and the Hobart City Council have advocated the upgrade of four-wheel drive tracks behind Mt Wellington (kunanyi) between the Huon Valley and the Derwent Valley, stating that it would decrease Hobart through-traffic. However it is 28km from the Huon Valley Council chambers to the Derwent Valley Council chambers via the proposed route, which makes it by far the furthest of any of the proposals. It is also certainly the most peripheral and would be the least used of any of the proposals. In May 2015, a report by consulting company Jacobs Australia stated that the proposed road provided only minor travel time savings, that accident rates would be higher and there would be a conflict between cars and trucks. [6]

Other options to reduce CBD traffic congestion

City-fringe car-parks

For example, a car-park near the Mcvilly underpass of the Tasman Hwy that was cross-subsidised from CBD car-parks would remove some of the traffic that comes into the CBD via the Tasman Hwy.

Ferry services

Hobart ferry builder Bob Clifford has suggested a network of 17 ferry terminals. The state government announced in 2017 that it was considering a single peak-hour ferry crossing from Kangaroo Bay to Sullivans Cove.

Utilise the rail corridor on the western shore of the Derwent River

Proposals include:

Prioritise pedestrians and encourage active transport

Hobart has built a network of bicycle tracks and recently commenced work on a pedestrian bridge across the Tasman Hwy just over a hundred metres from the existing underpass, with another planned for the Brooker Hwy a mere 50 metres or so from the existing pedestrian underpass. The Hobart City Council elected in 2014 appointed a five-member infrastructure committee made-up of four councillors who are aligned to the Tasmanian Greens. The Hobart City Council recently released a report advocating further measures to prioritise pedestrians and active transport. In 2010, Danish architect and urban designer Jan Gehl who was commissioned to write a report [7] which similarly advocated a prioritisation of pedestrians. Since that report, Liverpool St in Hobart has been converted to one lane, making it more difficult for cars to drive around the Elizabeth St Mall.

Improve the relative attractiveness of buses on the existing road network

Macquarie St Bus Lane

In early 2018 the Department of State Growth released a report [8] drafted together with Jacobs Consultants to widen the Southern Outlet by one lane through the Macquarie St and Davey St intersections and to add a lane to Macquarie St from Elboden St to Murray St. Under the proposal, Macquarie St would become one-way between Elboden St and Murray St, and the Southern Outlet and the new lane would be reserved for buses and left-turning traffic. The same report [8] also featured designs for a fifth lane (a reversible lane) for the Southern Outlet from Mt Nelson to Davey St.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasman Bridge</span> Highway bridge over the River Derwent in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

The Tasman Bridge is a bridge that carries the Tasman Highway over the River Derwent in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Including approaches, the bridge has a total length of 1,396 metres (4,580 ft) and it provides the main traffic route from the Hobart city centre to the eastern shore. The bridge has a separated pedestrian footway on each side. There is no dedicated lane for bicycles; however, steps to the pedestrian footway were replaced with ramps in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midland Highway (Tasmania)</span> Highway in Tasmania, Australia

The Midland Highway is one of Tasmania's major inter-city highways, running for 176 kilometres (109 mi) between Hobart and Launceston. It is part of the AusLink National Network and is a vital link for road freight to transport goods to and from the two cities. It represents a major north–south transportation corridor in Tasmania and has the route 1 designation as part of the National Highway. The highway consists of various traffic lane arrangements, the most common being two lanes – one in each direction, with overtaking options and at-grade intersections. At both the Launceston and Hobart sections of the highway there are small portions of grade-separated dual carriageway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooker Highway</span> Highway in Tasmania, Australia

The Brooker Highway is a highway in the Australian state of Tasmania. As one of Hobart's three major radials, the highway connects traffic from the city centre with the northern suburbs and is the major road connection to the cities and towns of northern Tasmania. With an annual average daily traffic of 48,000, the highway is one of the busiest in Tasmania. The Brooker Highway has recently been declared part of the National Highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasman Highway</span> Highway in Tasmania, Australia

The Tasman Highway is a highway in Tasmania, Australia. Like the Midland Highway, it connects the major cities of Hobart and Launceston – however it takes a different route, via the north-eastern and eastern coasts of the state. The Highway also acts as a major commuter road to Hobart residents living on the eastern side of the Derwent River. The designation "Tasman Highway" arises from its location facing the Tasman Sea – named, like the state itself, after Abel Tasman. The highway is one of the longest in Tasmania - 410 km (250 mi), with an average traveling time of 412 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davey Street, Hobart</span> Street in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Davey Street a major one way street passing through the outskirts of the Hobart City Centre in Tasmania, Australia. Davey street is named after Thomas Davey, the first Governor of Van Diemen's Land. The street forms a one-way couplet with nearby Macquarie Street connecting traffic from the Southern Outlet in the south with traffic from the Tasman Highway to the east and the Brooker Highway to the north of the city. With annual average daily traffic of 37,200, the road is one of the busier streets in Hobart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macquarie Street, Hobart</span> Street in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Macquarie Street a major one way street passing through the outskirts of the Hobart City Centre in Tasmania, Australia. Macquarie street is named after Lachlan Macquarie, who oversaw the planning of Hobart’s inner city grid layout. The street forms a One-way couplet with nearby Davey Street connecting traffic from the Southern Outlet in the south with traffic from the Tasman Highway to the east and the Brooker Highway to the north of the city. With annual average daily traffic of 28,500, the road is one of the busier streets in Hobart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M2 Hills Motorway</span> Motorway in Sydney, Australia

The M2 Hills Motorway is a 21.4-kilometre (13.3 mi) tollway in Sydney, New South Wales that is part of the Sydney Orbital Network and the National Highway west of Pennant Hills Road. Owned by toll road operator Transurban, it forms majority of Sydney's M2 route, with the Lane Cove Tunnel constituting the rest of the M2 route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingston Bypass</span>

The Kingston Bypass is a A$41 million, 2.8-kilometre-long (1.7 mi) highway bypassing the southern Hobart community of Kingston, Tasmania. The proposal of a bypass was originally published in the Hobart Area Transportation Study during 1965. The bypass was completed in 2011, after the need to such a road was realised several years earlier when the Channel Highway reached an 18,000 AADT. Construction of the Bypass was made possible by an A$15 million pledge for the project, made by the Australian Labor Party during the 2007 federal election campaign. During construction total cost of the bypass blew out from the original estimate of $30 million to over $41 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huon Highway</span> Highway in Tasmania, Australia

The Huon Highway is an 87-kilometre (54 mi) highway in southern Tasmania, Australia. The highway forms part of the A6 and connects Hobart with the southern parts of Tasmania. The original Huon Highway was a twisty two-lane road skirting around Mount Wellington, but that section of the highway was bypassed in stages when the Southern Outlet was completed in 1968. This provided a more direct, and higher traffic-capacity, route between Hobart and the Huon Valley. A few sections of the old highway remain, all within the Huon Valley, and have been upgraded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Arm Highway</span> Highway in Tasmania, Australia

The South Arm Highway is a highway serving the southern suburbs of Hobart, on the eastern shore of the River Derwent in Tasmania, Australia. The highway is a major trunk road that carries heavy commuter traffic south from the Eastern Outlet to Howrah and Rokeby. As one of the Tasman Highway's principle Feeders and one of the eastern shore's major transport corridors, The South Arm Highway facilitates the movement of traffic between the suburbs and satellite communities to the south with the city centre and ultimately, other major cross city highways. With annual average daily traffic (AADT) of 17,000, the highway is considered a major traffic corridor within Hobart. The designation "South Arm Highway" arises from its journey south to South Arm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Outlet, Hobart</span> Highway in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

The Southern Outlet is a major highway in the Tasmanian capital of Hobart and acts as one of the city's 3 major radial highways, connecting traffic from the Hobart city centre with commuters from the southern suburbs as well as intrastate traffic from the south of the state. It is one of the busier commuter highways in Hobart, handling in excess of 31,000 traffic movements each day.

The city of Hobart, Tasmania is served by a wide variety of transport. While the city's main form of transport is private transport on the road network, transport is also available by bus, ferry and aircraft. A suburban train service operated between Hobart and Brighton from the 1870s until 31 December 1974. There has been, however, talk in recent years of reinstating a train service in the northern suburbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Transport Investment Program</span> Transport plan in Tasmania, Australia

The Southern Transport Investment Program is a road and rail transport plan for the northern outskirts of Hobart instituted in 2007 by the Tasmanian state government. It outlines most prominently an extensive upgrade of the Midland Highway, including the Brighton Bypass, the Bagdad Bypass and the replacement of the Bridgewater Bridge. The plan also outlines the construction of the Brighton Transport Hub and various rail alignment improvements to the Main North/South Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trams in Hobart</span>

Trams no longer operate in Hobart, the capital of the Australian state of Tasmania, but the city once had an extensive and popular system that reached the majority of its suburbs. It was the first complete electric tram system in the Southern Hemisphere, and the only one in Australia to operate double-decker trams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hobart Area Transportation Study</span> Transportation study in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

The Hobart Area Transportation Study was a comprehensive transport plan released in 1965 for the purpose of examining the transport needs of the Australian Hobart metropolitan area over the proceeding 20 years. The study predicted the majority of the proposed traffic corridors would need to be operational by the 1985 target year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverline (Hobart)</span> Proposed light rail system in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Riverline, also known as the Northern Suburbs Railway, was a proposed light rail system that would have traversed the southernmost section of the South Railway Line, through the northern suburbs of Hobart, Tasmania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool Street, Hobart</span> Street in Hobart, Tasmania

Liverpool Street is a street in the Hobart City Centre, in the state of Tasmania.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hobart Area Transportation Study. Hobart, Tasmania: Wilbur Smith and Associates. 1965.
  2. "Kingston & Environs Transport Study" (PDF). Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 "Congestion in Greater Hobart - Response to issues" (PDF).
  4. "Hobart tunnel could be viable says economist". ABC News. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  5. "Hobart bypass concept revived as solution for 'car-dependent' city's future".
  6. "Proposed tourist road from Derwent to Huon valleys gets revived push from Hobart alderman". 21 July 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  7. "Hobart 2010 Public Spaces and Public Life A city with people in mind" (PDF).
  8. 1 2 "Southern_Outlet_-_Concept_Options_Report_Final.pdf" (PDF).