Prospect Canal Cycleway update

The RTA has brought out changes to road rule click here for more details

Encouraging bicycle riding is but one of a wide range of key public policy initiatives that are required to meet the growing global challenges of health, transport, climate change and urban liveability. The City of Sydney Council is to be applauded for the development of Sustainable Sydney 2030 in a way that builds on the NSW State Plan and the Metropolitan Strategy and brings focus to the work that needs to be done now – both on the ground and in our communities.

The recent run up in fuel prices serves only to add urgency to the need for action. Unsurprisingly major cities around the world, such as New York and London, are working fast to find and implement changes to physical infrastructure and to deliver social programs that encourage the use of sustainable active transport, such as walking and bicycle riding. By definition each city around the world is faced with its own set of unique circumstances and is finding the distinctive solutions that are the best fit to get the job done. Sydney – with its sandstone cliffs and limited road space - faces its own special challenges in balancing the needs of all citizens, whether they walk, ride a bike, catch a bus, a train or drive a car. Of course the truth is that Sydneysiders choose all the above transport options in a wide variety of ways reflecting the rich diversity of the city, and finding the right balance and moving forward is never easy, but move forward we must.

Delivery of the positive societal outcomes associated with increased bicycle riding requires a whole of government approach, since it touches so many areas of government involvement such as health, transport and the environment to name the most obvious. In recent months the growing support that Bicycle NSW is seeing for bicycle riding from a wide range of local, state and federal government agencies indicates that this message is getting through.

Parts of the Bourke St Bicycle Route are the NSW State Government delivering its commitment to bicycle infrastructure related to the cross city tunnel, but it is also a key early project in Sustainable Sydney 2030 and in the Cycle Strategy and Action plan, supporting initiatives already under way on the western side of the CBD in King Street.  The choice of Bourke Street is an obvious one. It’s a well recognised route for existing riders, it’s the RTA recognised bike route and it is a key north-south route that extends from the Harbour towards existing routes in the south linking through to Botany Bay.

At a more detailed level it is encouraging to see that the road treatments suggested vary to suit the differing circumstances along the 4.3km route. The proposed bi-directional separated path makes good use of the limited available road space, balancing the needs of bicycle riders with the needs of road users who may at that point in time be walking, driving, or parking. Nearly all the separated bicycle facilities in NSW are bi-directional, and the overwhelming majority of these (with the notable exception being the Sydney Harbour Bridge Cycleway) are facilities that are shared with pedestrians. The recently constructed Epping Road shared walking and cycling facility uses a similar approach, replacing a traffic lane with a bi-directional shared path that crosses many intersections and driveways along the 4km route beside Epping Road from North Ryde to Lane Cove. Clearly the unique community and traffic environment of Surry Hills presents some special challenges and the City of Sydney has the full support of Bicycle NSW in undertaking comprehensive community consultation to assist in producing the best possible outcomes. For the latest details click here

Bicycle NSW respects the views of members and where appropriate we publish comment in Push On. However the views of any individual member do not always represent the position of Bicycle NSW as we pursue our purpose of getting more people on bikes more often.

In the meantime, be warned, we have heard rumors that Channel 9’s “A Current Affair” show have been setting up speed cameras on some fast descents around the country in an effort to trap cyclists exceeding local speed limits!

We are outraged by the events at Mascot yesterday, and we are deeply concerned for the athletes who have been affected by this appalling incident. We strongly support the efforts of law enforcement agencies to pursue and prosecute the offenders to the fullest extent of the law and we passionately believe that the road is there to share. We are upholding this principle in our dealings with Government.

Our first call to action to you is to direct your messages of support for the athletes to us at ehole@bicyclensw.org.au and we will forward them on for you.

Our second call to action for you is to help us show government that the community wants safe places to ride, whether that be on the road or on shared user paths. We urge you to stand with us in our efforts to secure safer roads and other riding infrastructure. There are two current projects where you can immediately help us demonstrate to our politicians your support for our efforts:

- and if you want to have your say in the public arena about the events at Mascot the Daily Telegraph is running a poll at http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/