Signposting on the cycle path network, Melbourne

Bike path users in Melbourne can often find it difficult to find their way around on the many off-road paths around the city. Hence, a review of the adequacy of signposting was required.

The trouble was, VicRoads staff never got lost; they knew their way around. So Christchurch-based ViaStrada was called in. If a foreigner could find his way around, the signposting would be fine. Or maybe the theory was that if a Kiwi bloke could navigate the routes, then a normal Melburnian would have no problems.

So Andrew Macbeth spent a week, accompanied by a VicRoads graduate engineer and complete with GPS and camera, cycling the finest of Melbourne's cycle paths. Hard work, but someone had to do it.

And the result? On each route, they had difficulty following the route at several locations, typically getting lost once every few kilometres. They concluded that some attention to signs and markings would be beneficial. People can easily get frustrated if they have to retrace their steps or consult maps to get from A to B. We wouldn't tolerate the same lack of guidance on our roads.

VicRoads is now planning a remedial programme to work through the most serious of these signposting deficiencies to help make this great cycle network as functional as it is fun.

The project was undertaken by Andrew.