Bike heaven depends on Kevin

BY MICHAEL GORMLY
The City of Sydney wants a cool $295 million from the Federal Government’s Infrastructure Australia fund to build a safe cycle network connecting the city and 15 other inner Sydney council areas ‘ but its future is under a cloud.
The city’s target of 10 per cent of bums on bike seats would reduce traffic congestion, clean the air, save money for commuters, reduce future road-building costs and pay health dividends through greater physical fitness. It would also stimulate the economy, help Australia meet its greenhouse targets and provide quick wins for Labor which is on the nose locally.
But Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese recently said on 702 radio that cycle infrastructure is unlikely to receive support from Infrastructure Australia.
Labor councillor Meredith Burgmann disagrees: “It’s exactly the sort of thing the federal fund was set up for,” she said.
Bike action groups around the city are joining forces to lobby 12 politicians including those who hold nearby seats. High on the list are Mr Albanese himself and his wife Carmel Tebbutt, Deputy Premier of NSW.
Council surveys show that mingling with Sydney’s traffic is the top turnoff for potential cyclists, followed by dislike of “shoulder lanes” that put cyclists at risk from car doors being opened in their path. These fears are justified: hospital data from Austroads identifies dooring as the cause of 40.7 per cent of cyclist injuries in Sydney CBD and 17.6 per cent in the rest of the city.
The council submission proposes 245 kilometres of additional two-way travel lanes with 160 kilometres of it separated from traffic and parking vehicles.
The network would include the proposed Harbour Link route, extending the Harbour bridge bike path along the edge of Warringah Expressway to St Leonards Park and Falcon Street.
A similar concept could link Kings Cross with the city via a bike path attached to the Eastern Suburbs railway over Woolloomooloo. A consultant’s report commissioned by City of Sydney is expected to show the idea is feasible. Combined with existing RTA plans to build a proper cycleway across the Cahill Expressway, these routes could combine to form a bike “superhighway” with no traffic lights and easy grades all the way from Kings Cross to Neutral Bay, linking with various cross-routes along the way.
Councillor John McInerney believes these routes would be “effective and economically viable”.
The economics of cycleways are illustrated in council’s submission to Infrastructure Australia:
“The ANZAC Bridge was opened to traffic in 1995 at a cost of $80m (1995 dollars) connecting Victoria Road to the Sydney CBD. It now carries 12,100 vehicles city-bound between 7 and 9am and is growing by 2 per cent per year. By diverting 10 per cent of car occupants across this bridge to bicycles or approximately 730 cyclists per hour, the life of the current bridge configuration can be extended by approximately 8 years ‘ a saving of $46 m based on the $143m (2007 dollars) construction cost for the bridge.
“The above saving, based on postponing one bridge, when applied across the Inner Sydney Bicycle Road Network, can result in significant infrastructure cost savings and efficiency gains from existing infrastructure.”
Russ Webber from the North Shore Bicycle Group, which is behind the Harbour Link concept, urges anyone who cares to contact their local member.
“Let’s make sure we let our politicians know how strong the community support is for this bike network. Email them now,” he said.

Breakout
Motorists beware, cyclists be there
Critical Mass, a worldwide cyclist movement, will be holding its annual bridge ride this Friday. The group will meet at the Archibald Fountain in Hyde Park at 5.30pm and follow a route around the city, across the Cahill Expressway and the Harbour Bridge to the noodle markets in North Sydney. A police escort will be provided and vehicles can expect delays.