One of the CBD's busiest pedestrian thoroughfare's is getting expanded. Works to expand Spencer Street's eastern footpath will begin this week to allow pedestrians more space and to aid in physical distancing as more people return to the city.
Spencer Street will have 740 square metres of adjustable footpath extensions added to it between Lonsdale and Collins streets. The expansion is being constructed with adjustable materials to allow for changes before the expansion is made permanent, and a number of bicycle hoops (stands) will be added for cyclists. The space for the footpath widening will be created by reducing the number of southbound lanes on Spencer Street (between Little Bourke and Collins streets) from two to one.
While the majority of all journeys (89 per cent) made within the Hoddle Grid are done so on foot, only 26 per cent of street space is given to footpaths. As anyone who's ever done a mad dash to SoCro during peak hours can attest (during the morning, that's about 15,000 of us), wider footpaths are a godsend.