Austroads, the peak organization of Australasian road transport and traffic agencies, lead Australian guidance. The primary guidance is the Guide to Road Design Part 6A: Pedestrian and Cyclist Paths (Austroads 2017). This publication guides designers and other practitioners in designing safe and efficient walking and cycling paths. While many state and territory governments have adopted the standards published in the Austroads Guide to Road Design Part 6A, it shall be read in conjunction with the state and territory government supplements and manuals.
A bicycle path access bollard is a common method of restricting access to paths is to install a bollard in the centre of the path. To prevent bollards from creating an unacceptable risk to cyclists, bollard installation should also be conspicuous to cyclists and include line marking to direct cyclists away from the bollard.
Bicycle holding rails are U-shaped rails placed close to the edge of a path on approaching an intersection with a road or another path. Its purpose is to support cyclists to hold onto while they await an acceptable break in the conflicting traffic stream.
Holding rails must be placed within easy reach of cyclists on the left side of the path to ensure that they:
– enable cyclists to stop without dismounting or moving their feet off the pedals.
– encourage cyclists to stop when appropriate.
– assist the cyclists as they move off, reducing the time spent travelling through an intersection and aiding balance, thus improving safety.
– in addition to other clues, provide a useful warning of the existence of an intersection.
Notes:
- The length of the holding rails can be varied to suit the path. A minimum of 600mm and a maximum of 1500mm should be adopted. The detail shown above has used 1200mm.
- As shown, bollards and holding rails can be fixed to the path using either a bolt system or pipe sleeve and concrete. If a pipe sleeve is used, a metal wedge is to secure the holding rails in the sleeve.
- A ‘ target board ‘ shall be fitted where holding rails are mounted at right angles to a path. A target board is not used if the holding rails are mounted longitudinally along the path. See inset for ‘target board’ detail.
