16 March, 2019

Slap Tomorrow group, planner join calls for a bike corridor to boost cyclist safety in C.B.D.

Cyclist safety needs to be boosted in Shepparton’s CBD if cycling-to-work takeup rates are to be improved, the Slap Tomorrow group believes.

Some believe a separated north-south bicycle corridor would be beneficial, creating a key safe cycling arterial along Wyndham St.

Meanwhile, Greater Shepparton City Council has new shared cycling paths planned for the first half of the year.

A ‘‘super Tuesday’’ count from March last year revealed just more than 500 people cycle to work in Greater Shepparton.

This falls short of the council’s target of getting 688 people cycling to work, according to a recent update of progress made in a council plan.

Slap Tomorrow chair John Pettigrew said cycling into and out of the Shepparton CBD was just as safe or dangerous as that of bigger cities and that more and better infrastructure was needed to properly encourage cycling. SLAP Tomorrow is a local group interested in future transport modes in the Goulburn Valley.

Mr Pettigrew believed the emphasis should be on encouraging people to cycle to work.

When the takeup rate of this was strong, he said ‘‘that’s when the big change will occur’’.

‘‘When we get into highly congested areas, the main arterials, we don’t think we have got the infrastructure there to really encourage (cycling).’’

He said: ‘‘We’re keen to make cycling more user-friendly in CBD in Shepparton. I think there’s arguments for segmented bike lanes in places, shared paths in other areas’’.

According to the council, shared paths have in recent years been created on Ford Rd, the Goulburn Valley Hwy and Impey St and on-road bicycle lanes installed on Corio St, Old Dookie Rd and Sobraon St and in Tatura and Kialla.

Council’s planning department has proposed to undertake a review to a current strategy, subject to budget approval for the next financial year. It also says by the end of June this year, shared paths will be created as a result of cycling risks identified by the council at Balaclava Rd-GV Hwy to the Gowrie St school crossing and Packham StBalaclava Rd to duplication.

Urban designer Bruce Echberg, who has helped design a number of projects in Greater Shepparton, believes Shepparton has a good network of recreational paths, including those along the river, but doesn’t have as strong a ‘‘commuting pattern’’.

For him, one of the keys is to create a safe, separated north-south cycling corridor along Wyndham St that would be ‘‘totally off-road and protected’’, connecting Emerald Bank in the south and the city’s sports precinct in the north.

‘‘I think getting a north-south route would be one of the first things to do . . . Fryers St, that could easily have a separated off-road bike path through it.’’
He agrees safety for cyclists could be improved in Greater Shepparton.

Mr Echberg said there was no reason city residents couldn’t cycle every day of year. ‘‘The key is getting people to feel safer riding bikes.’’
Mr Echberg said the only way to do that completely is with a fully separated network.

Story by Thomas Moir from The Shepparton News - "Slap Tomorrow group, planner join calls for a bike corridor to boost cyclist safety in C.B.D."

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