More Age: Danger in a roundabout way

Ahhh ... wait .. there's even more cycling stuff in todays Age. Nice
mention of DarebinBUG's work and even YarraBUG's efforts on the
Pigdon/Canning roundabout, see here;
http://www.yarrabug.org/YarraBUGPigd...sionJune06.pdf

Hmmm, think someones going have a bevvie of choice shouted rather soon
..

************

Danger in a roundabout way
http://tinyurl.com/hgll4

CYCLING THE CITY - AN AGE SERIES

Today, The Age launches its Cycling the City series, which will examine
the commuter routes into the CBD and highlight major black spots that
need fixing. The series starts with the route from the northern suburbs
of Thornbury and Northcote.

Many regard Melbourne as Australia's best city for cycling - a
reputation forged on shrewd planning and benign topography. It is a
reputation the city hopes to enhance by following in the bike tracks of
its European counterparts and adopting successful initiatives, such as
"the Copenhagen solution", a separated bike lane planned for Swanston
Street.

But driver and cyclist education must be part of the package too. Just
last Thursday, a cyclist died in St Albans after a collision with a
car. On Friday, three more cyclists were taken to hospital with serious
injuries.

Bicycle Victoria's Heidi Marfut says a significant portion of cycling
accidents are caused by people in parked cars opening their doors
without looking.

"I would love to see a co-ordinated campaign from VicRoads and local
councils on something simple like that."

It will be needed as commuter cycling is on the rise with environmental
issues and high petrol prices impacting on people's transport choices.

A glimpse of that future growth will come on Wednesday in Bicycle
Victoria's annual Ride to Work Day. The event started with 615 cyclists
in 1994; this year it may top 10,000.

To keep up with projected demand, state and local governments need to
invest more in bike infrastructure - off-road paths, on-road lanes and
parking spots. Planning for cyclists must be part of any city's
future.

IT IS all agapanthus, palm trees and peace for cyclists gliding down
the St Georges Road shared bike path from Preston, Thornbury and
Northcote towards the city.

A woman in a green polka dot skirt pedals at a leisurely pace, with an
upturned milk crate fastened to the back of her bike to double as a
basket. A more serious cyclist whizzes past, head down, luminous Lycra
clinging to his skin.

The bike path was first created in the mid-1990s. It runs on a
Melbourne Water reserve, parallel to tram tracks on a wide central
median strip. The final missing section, between Miller and Bell
streets in Preston, was completed last year. New traffic lights were
recently installed for cyclists at troublesome intersections such as
Dundas Street and Normanby Road.

On a single weekday morning, hundreds of northern suburbanites stream
down the route - a serene central reservation flanked on either side by
flora and fauna.

But the path ends abruptly at the St Georges Road-Merri Parade
roundabout at Northcote's southern tip, which provides a sharp reminder
that the city looms ahead. As cyclists leave the enclosed path, they
approach a screeching snarl of steel, rubber, petrol fumes and tram
tracks.

They have to be willing to fling themselves into the thick of it.

For an inexperienced cyclist, crossing the roundabout is hair-raising.
Its confusing configuration is compounded by the presence of trams.

For a less-than-confident two-wheeler, it is preferable to go the long
way round - cross at the lights and flout the law by taking the
footpath - rather than run the gauntlet of the No. 112 tram and hordes
of accelerator-happy motorists. Once across the intersection and safely
on the southern side of Merri Creek, cyclists then join the rest of the
city-bound traffic heading down St Georges Road until they can connect
with the Capital City Trail at Park Street in North Fitzroy.

Darebin Bicycle User Group member Robin Gallagher, who rides the route
every day, says the roundabout black spot is the biggest obstacle to
getting more people on the overall route from the city to the northern
suburbs.

"The roundabout is perceived as dangerous," Gallagher says. "It looks
scary and that is a problem because it is a key route to the city.

"Perception really puts people off - I speak to so many people who say
they would never ride through there."

When The Age observed the roundabout for half an hour during the
morning peak, there were three near misses - two between a bike and a
car, and another involving two cyclists.

VicRoads says five accidents involving cyclists at the roundabout have
been reported to police in five years. The number of unreported
collisions involving cyclists is not known.

But the fear factor outweighs the statistics. Several cycling experts
who spoke to The Age this week agreed that the biggest obstacle to
recruiting new riders is the perception of safety, rather than the
reality.

Darebin Council sustainable transport co-ordinator Kate Myers has a
specific brief - to encourage and educate people until they become
confident cyclists. "Understandably, you would have a certain level of
confidence if you have been cycling a long time but, if you haven't
tried it, you will be wary," Myers says. "That is why off-road paths
are so important, so people can gain experience away from cars and then
step up and try something more difficult."

Cyclists and Darebin Council have been lobbying VicRoads and the State
Government to change the Merri Parade roundabout for years. Several
sources told The Age that VicRoads had put it in the too-hard or
too-expensive basket.

"It is a waste of resources because so much money has been spent on the
northern (shared path), but it is not reaching its potential because the
roundabout puts people off," Gallagher says.

Darebin Council open-space planning manager Allan Wicks says that
VicRoads recently rejected a council plan for the intersection.
Potential solutions include installing traffic lights or re-configuring
the roundabout.

Transport Minister Peter Batchelor's spokeswoman, Louise Perry, says
some work has been done to fix the problem. "VicRoads has recently
installed electronic tram awareness signs at the site and is currently
developing proposals to improve the safety at the roundabout," she
says. Proposals will be submitted to the Government for funding
consideration, she says.

Wicks says one short-term solution is to widen the St Georges Road
footpath, on the south-western side of the roundabout, and convert it
to a shared bike-pedestrian path. Many cyclists already use that
footpath as a safer alternative to getting across the intersection. The
change would make their practice legal.

But despite the roundabout's nasty reputation, cyclist numbers on the
route are rising quickly - by 25 per cent in the past year. Some 392
people rode through the roundabout in a two-hour morning peak period in
2006, compared with 313 in 2005, according to council statistics.

Gallagher, 45, rides every day from his Thornbury home to his Defence
Department job at Fishermans Bend.

"It is the quickest way to get there, and it is healthy, efficient,
free and fun," he says of his mode of transport. "It's addictive. If
for some reason I don't get to ride, I quite resent it."

After the roundabout, Gallagher heads towards Brunswick on the Capital
City Trail. At Canning Street in North Carlton, he turns south. Many
cyclists say that Canning Street provides optimum on-road conditions
and VicRoads figures show that about 1600 cyclists use it every day.

Yarra Council figures show that 527 cyclists rode through the
Canning-Princes Street intersection in a two-hour morning peak period
in 2006, compared with 289 in an equivalent period last year, an 82 per
cent increase.

Last year, Yarra Council improved the bike lane, widening it and
installing special surfaces at conflict points, such as the
intersections with Curtain Street and Macpherson Street.

But even Canning Street has a black spot - the roundabout at the
junction with Pigdon Street. Gallagher says the alignment of buildings
in the immediate area creates poor sight lines, so motorists often
enter the roundabout and do not see cyclists.

The Yarra Bicycle Users Group has been lobbying for changes there. It
says there is conflict with cars that use Pigdon Street as an east-west
route between Lygon and Nicholson streets. According to the group, there
were four car-cyclist collisions in April and May this year that led to
the cyclist being taken to hospital.

Residents in the area have suggested alternatives, including replacing
the roundabout with a right-of-way or installing traffic lights or
speed humps.

Yarra Council says it has already changed the shape of the roundabout
to slow down drivers on their approach. It has more work planned for
this financial year.

But for Gallagher, even that roundabout cannot spoil his Canning Street
cruise.

"(Canning Street) is really well done - bikes have priority there,"
Gallagher says. "I love coming the other way at night as well, riding
(north), all you can see are the red blinking bike lights all the
way."

On his way to work, he then rides across the top of Carlton Gardens
before turning into Rathdowne Street, across Victoria Parade and into
the city.

More than 10,000 participants are expected to jump on their bikes for
Bicycle Victoria's annual Ride To Work Day this Wednesday. It is the
one day of the year when Robin Gallagher blends in. And he loves it.

"The day I get to work and no one ever comments about the fact that I
ride in - that is when riding to work will become normal," he says.
"And then I will be happy."

LINKS

http://www.darebinbug.org.au/

http://www.yarrabug.org/


--
cfsmtb

On Mon, 2 Oct 2006 02:02:39 +1000, cfsmtb wrote:

Many regard Melbourne as Australia's best city for cycling

I guess many haven't been to Adelaide, then - mostly dry, predictable
weather, pretty flat, wide roads, lots of bike lanes and paths, hills
nearby if you want a scenic workout, relatively light traffic.

And I have been to Melbourne a few times. The best I can say is that
it looks as though riding there would be less suicidal than in Sydney :-)

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

cfsmtb Wrote:
Ahhh ... wait .. there's even more cycling stuff in todays Age. Nice
mention of DarebinBUG's work and even YarraBUG's efforts on the
Pigdon/Canning roundabout, see here;
http://www.yarrabug.org/YarraBUGPigd...sionJune06.pdf

Hmmm, think someones going have a bevvie of choice shouted rather soon
..



cool. surefoot stout will do me. OR, even better, Soiler's brew


--
flyingdutch

Michael Warner wrote:
On Mon, 2 Oct 2006 02:02:39 +1000, cfsmtb wrote:

Many regard Melbourne as Australia's best city for cycling

I guess many haven't been to Adelaide, then - mostly dry, predictable

Likewise RE Canberra. Made for cycling. Who wrote this garbage! :-)

--
Bean

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