News & Discussion: Cycling

[jk1237]

anyone living near Goodwood Rd should not ride along Goodwood Rd. take the parallel residential streets until you hit the tramline and there is a dedicated bike track that follows the tramline all the way into King William Street. Southern K W street is good for cycling, northern K W is the most unsafe stretch in the city.

To Wayno at Torrens Park, from Cross Rd to the city, the City of Unley bike track is great. Its follows the streets parallel to Unley Rd (in between Unley Rd and Duthy St). While its not a dedicated track, every 2nd interesection is blocked off to cars, and only bikes and pedestrians can go through, so you meet hardly any cars. Its very safe.

O'Connell st is awful, I suggest cyclists use Morphett St and Jeffcott St

[psunter]

Hi guys,

some very interesting ideas in this thread.

With the current 30-Year Draft plan for Adelaide currently taking submissions, BISA (the Bicycle Institute of SA) will be making a submission outlining our plans for improving conditions for cyclists on a metropolitan scale. I've written a blog post about it over at the Adelaide Cyclists website http://www.adelaidecyclists.com/profile ... or-greater. Would be happy to receive comments and ideas.

cheers, Patrick.

[Wayno]

Hi Patrick, welcome to the S-A forum. Have you compiled a draft submission yet? I'm sure many members here would love to view and comment (i looked at your website but could not find anything of detail).

[psunter]

Thanks Wayno,

we don't have a draft submission together just yet, a few of us BISA members are going to sit down together in the next couple of weeks and collect our ideas (we have quite a few previous strategies/plans but want a new one specifically for this draft). So perhaps I should put it online after that, and post a link here - it'd be good to get more input then.

[jk1237]

thanks Patrick, will sign up

[rhino]

I went and had a look at the plans for this on Sunday. They're on display in the library at Woodside. It seems the "trail" actually ends about a kilometre out of Oakbank, and from there into the town the road shoulder will be sealed and the bikeway will use that. It will be good for kids from Woodside to have a safe cycle trip to school at Oakbank Area School at last.

Accoring to the information on display in the library, this will also be a horse trail. That will be interesting, as horse riders don't seem to believe that anybody should be anywhere near them when they're riding. Hopefully they won't be allowed on the sealed trail itself, and will have to stick to the other parts of the reserve.

[muzzamo]

Historically the marino-willunga rail trail through reynella was also used as a horse trail, it was never a real issue.

[psunter]

Hi guys,

as mentioned above about the BISA Submission to the 30 Year Plan for Greater Adelaide to improve conditions for cyclists, it's now attached to our Strategy & Projects page at http://bisa.asn.au/node/4.

We're considering this an interim policy plan, and are continuing to work on more ideas for improving cycling - and will be putting these into play in the lead-up to the state election next year.

[Nathan]

Having had a quick skim through, this is looking good.

I do think it would be better to include examples talked about within the document, rather than just referenced to a URL. Also, it could be much better typeset - Comic Sans (!), the long line lengths and crazy spacing, take away from the professionalism and make it harder to read. (Not to be nit picky - presenting it better does make an impact on how things are interpreted).

As for bike parking - I don't think Melbourne style cages go far enough. Why not encourage full parking areas, like they have at many stations in Tokyo?
They have a series of bike racks, with mounted locks. Usually free for a couple of hours, afterwards there's a small charge to unlock. Works fantastic.
http://www.nowall.com/utterly-opinionat ... _tokyo.jpg

[Wayno]

Bike Boost

I'm not sure what metro bike path projects they are talking about below. Probably regurgitating existing announcements. Personally, I'd like bike purchases made tax deductible (conditions apply). That'd encourage more people to ride and would not cost much either!

From ABC Online:

Infrastructure boost for bikes

Bicycle SA says a funding boost to cycling infrastructure in South Australia will encourage more people to ride.

The Federal and State Governments are jointly funding $5.7 million worth of infrastructure projects throughout metropolitan and regional areas.

Christian Haag from Bicycle SA says there has already been a 40 per cent increase in the number of people riding a bike this year. He says the funding boost will mean even more people will choose to cycle.

"Particularly of interest is the opportunity for kids to ride to school more, and as you'd well appreciate the situation with obesity, the kids can get most of their exercise just going to and from school, is of significant benefit to that community," he said.

Mr Haag says a cycling path between Nuriootpa and Angaston will also be a boost for tourism.

"That's going to be a significant driver for tourism as well, because the opportunity to have a riesling trail-style off-road pathway for residents and visitors to meander slowly between wineries is a great way to both see the region and spend some much needed dollars in those regional communities," he said.

[arnoo]

The Bicycle Institute of South Australia has been developing a concept called "Green Links", which makes use of the existing roads and boulevards which run parallel to train lines. These roads have low car traffic volumes and are well suited to cyclists. The problem though is that there are many dead ends along these roads, and they cross busy roads. If we can fill in these dead ends (eg by extending a bike path temporarily onto the railway reserve until it reaches the next section of road) and bridge busy roads, cyclists can travel alongside the railway lines at high speed and minimal inconvenience. Cycle commuting could become much more viable this way.

[rhino]

Work has started on this project. A lot of trees have been removed from the old track bed, and earthworks seem to be underway, with workers on site daily.

[Nathan]

Came across these on the Candy Cranks blog.
http://www.cyclehoop.com/

Seems like a good easy and cost effective solution to increase the number of bike parks, using existing street items (such as light posts, parking signs, etc.).
Something worth the various councils investigating, I think.

[AtD]

You see things like that on light poles all around the Sydney CBD, except they're not garishly orange.

But honestly, can't she just chain her bike directly to the pole? I don't get how it helps.

[monotonehell]

Bikes chained to poles can cause a lot of clutter on the footpaths. Something that we are trying hard to reduce with streets already strewn with poorly designed clumps of street furniture. The addition of these rings might help stop bikes being turned 90 degrees into the street by passing idiots, however. (That's their advantage to just chaining to a normal pole)