How long before some of these millions of infrastructure dollars are spent on completely upgrading the approach and exit from the eastern shore side of the Tasman Bridge. You take your life in your hands every time you use this route and then you hit the pathway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would love to be able to use the western shore routes without having to first travell the bridge by car, carrying my bike to avoid this extremely dangerous area.

hey allan,

To find out whats going on I'd suggest you contact the DIER Engineers (Department Infrastructure, Energy and Resources) and see where they are at with it. A fair bit of money has been allocated to improvements!

Which dangerous bit are you referring to and what is the pathway? My girlfriend bikes the bridge 2-3 times a week and finds it ok now she's used to it.

I do agree that for anyone but a pretty experienced cyclist its a massive barrier to getting across the river!

cheers

Liam.C

The bridge is lousy all round, I hate it.
Apart from being too narrow the eastern end was the better of the two I thought. What do you find is worse about it?

In answer to channel cruiser and gyro, I find both the entry onto and the exit off of the bridge very problematic in terms of safety. In this day and age of OH&S it is outstandingly dangerous. If this were a work place it would be closed and the do gooders would be beating their breasts in anguish. So don't tell me how wonderful your girlfriend is at negotiating this very dangerous pathway. To gain access to the Tasman highway when heading East is an absolute dice with death, unless you go around through Lindisfarne or Montagu Bay.

Yep, the Tasman Hwy is totally unfriendly.
In 1996 I saw a plan the DIER had which fixed most of the problems heading East from the bridge, for bikes and cars. It has not been implemented.
Complain to DIER and local politician, the more the better. They don't respond to much that is reasonable, the squeaky wheel is it.

allan42 wrote:

So don't tell me how wonderful your girlfriend is at negotiating this very dangerous pathway.

allan42 I think cruiser was just suggesting that while it can be confronting that it is manageable, & hardly required that sort of comeback.

I ride the bridge virtually daily and while it's not great it is rideable.

What do you nominate as dangerous, rather than inconvenient?

I know I wouldn't want to be riding gyro's recumbent over the bridge but numerous people do ride the bridge in all weather conditions.

That being said there are improvements being planned.

Premier has announced $550,000 for improvements to the bridge and approaches. Also Cycling South is conducting survey on Tasman Bridge to Cambridge Route survey http://www.cyclingsouth.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=66&Itemid=0.

Tsk. tsk. Markpa a little touchy there. I'm sure many of our roads can be considered drivable, but we still yell and scream about how dangerous they are as we continue to kill ourselves with monotonous regularity.

I think you have been more touchy allan.

Are you saying it is not too bad but just like complaining about it?

Also I doubt that cyclists are the ones driving off the road...

Jeez Allan, don't burst a blood vessel. It's not our fault the bridge is a piece of design crap.

Write a letter to your local member, but I suggest you get someone to read it for you before you send it.

The second time I ever crossed the bridge on a bike I took the road cos my first time was quite windy and a bit confronting, especially with bar ends.
I'm not sure what the legalities of that are, but after that I havent bothered cos getting over the crest was a little dodgy. I find riding against the traffic which ever way I'm going helps, as you can brace yourself for the trucks and busses that create such a big wind eddy. When they are coming from behind you dont get much warning.

I just ride slow as its pretty cruisy if you keep under 20km an hour and slow to a stop at the gauntlett bits. for each km faster you go I think the risk of stacking it doubles.

Personally though, as an almost everyday rider down the channel in peak hour, I find the junction where the southern outlet joins to the huon hwy, kingston and the channel highway as being far more dangerous than the bridge. You've got to cross 3 lanes and then hug into the side line on a very narrow stretch of road with on coming traffic travelling at 80. In wind or rain its even intimidating to someone who's ridden it almost every day for quite a while. At least with the bridge you are protected from the traffic by the railing.

I heard from a bloke the other day who reckons a perspex tube above the traffic is the way to go! What a view!

Are you going down the outlet and then up to the McDonalds roundabout?
I can't see a 3 lane cross otherwise.

I struggle to get in the correct lane there even in the car.

So having to cope with the traffic and then someone who is doing a last minute "**** I'm in the wrong lane" manoeveur would be worse than any problem I've had on the bridge.

and allan42 do you want to nominate what the dangerous sections of the bridge are?

yes gyro, just past the firthside overpass, you have to cross the turning lane, the kingston lane and the huonville lane, and then sit in between the huonville lane and mcdonalds roundabout lane!

I'd go Taroona then through the Kingston shops. You don't have to go through the roundabout then.

Gyro wrote:

I'd go Taroona then through the Kingston shops. You don't have to go through the roundabout then.

+1

If you're committed to riding the Outlet (in which case you should probably be committed full-stop ), I'd be following the left-hand lane to the hotel intersection, then go right onto the channel highway. No point in persisting with maneuvers/locations that are plain dangerous IMO...