FAQs

This arrangement has vehicles using the 3m wide traffic lane effectively as a single lane road, not unlike previous conditions on the road before it was sealed, requiring obvious caution towards oncoming traffic. 

While a number of pull in bays have been provided, in order for two-way traffic to be maintained, occasional use of the on-road rail trail area will be necessary by vehicles heading uphill towards Beechworth. 

This is permitted but must be done cautiously when the rail trail is clear of bicycles and at the walking-pace speed necessary to do this safely within the narrow corridor. 

Similarly, it is expected that cyclists will need to temporarily use a portion of the road area when heading down hill away from Beechworth to provide some clearance between themselves and trail users coming uphill. 

Visual advice in the form of signage will be in place to convey this message as part of the trial. There are still some locations where two-way vehicle passing may not be possible, especially with larger vehicles, so sensible judgement by drivers needs to be maintained.

We have introduced a permanent 40km/hr speed limit on this section of Kibell Lane as an important and practical way to reduce the risk to vulnerable road users travelling in close proximity to vehicles. While this may feel like a significant reduction, we feel this is very similar to the comfortable driving speed when the road was previously unsealed causing little impact to travel times. 

However, sealing any road undoubtedly increases perceived comfortable driving speeds which may need to be addressed in the future through the introduction of treatments, at key locations with poor sight distances.

Kibell Lane is also used at times by local horse riders accessing the forest. While this proposal doesn’t provide any specific treatments for this user group, it is expected that they would use the road as normal and keep left. Other road users are required and expected to drive/ride with caution at all times.

This section will continue as an unsealed, on-road link, for shared use by vehicles and cyclists for the foreseeable future while we continue to seek solutions to an unresolved land tenure issue.

We appreciate that Kibell Lane is currently, and could possibly continue, operating as a conventional road, with vehicles and trail users simply keeping to the left. 

However, we believe that the establishment of a separated section of trail, even if only delineated by line marking, offers a meaningful safety improvement that will provide more guidance and reassurance to all road users and is worth consideration through this trial.