"A cycle path built through part of Sydney’s inner west will be ripped up on Tuesday, five months after it was completed, due to a council decision described by riders as a knee-jerk reaction to complaints from residents."
The comments in that article were quite the rollercoaster. My favorites were the people saying they never see anyone biking in their neighborhood and one guy saying that they should rip it out because there are more cars than bikes 🧠🧠
@ajsadauskas I am absolutely furious that Canada Bay council is going ahead with this act of environmental and infrastructure vandalism.
If you've ever asked why Australia doesn't have great quality cycling infrastructure or transport planning that reflects the realities of net zero by 2050, here's a big part of the reason.
It's car-brained local governments listening to NIMBYs.
"A cycle path built through part of Sydney’s inner west will be ripped up on Tuesday, five months after it was completed, due to a council decision described by riders as a knee-jerk reaction to complaints from residents.
"The separated bike path on Heath Street in the inner west suburb of Rodd Point is part of a planned $7 million cycleway designed to connect the Bay Run at Iron Cove on the banks of the Parramatta River to Concord."
UPDATE: I did some more digging into the local council in Canada Bay, and found this about the mayor:
"The Independent Commission Against Corruption is currently investigating allegations Canada Bay’s long-term mayor Angelo Tsirekas accepted perks from developers, including international flights and accommodation, in return for favourable decisions."
Design authority for cycling infrastructure needs to be taken away from councils.
No need for it to be politicised by grand-standing local demagogues running on a dog-whistle platform of "we hate cyclists getting in our way when we're driving our SUVS on roads we pay for and they don't"
I'm actually starting to think it WOULD be a good idea to get rid of local councils altogether. Nothing important would be lost.
Local councils are where we store mediocre politicians who are really trying to get a safe state or federal seat.
Among other things, they hired a car-focused traffic engineering firm to do an "independent" report.
After Jake and others pointed out the major errors in that report, Canada Bay City Council pulled it from their website, and updated their website from saying cycle lane removal to cycle lane "modification".
The council has requested feedback about the proposal:
"To submit your feedback online please fill in the form below. Alternatively, you can also provide feedback via email through council@canadabay.nsw.gov.au or by mail to Locked Bag 1470 Drummoyne NSW 1470."
I suggest we take them up on their request, and provide them with feedback.
To all whom this may concern at Canada Bay Council,
I just wanted to reach out about your council's shameful, disgraceful decision to remove the barrier-protected bike lanes along Heath Street, in favour of two additional on-street parking spots.
You have completely ignored the views of the community and local residents in this decision, as well as the broader community across Western Sydney.
Here are just some of the quotes from residents in that SMH article:
"They just decided they wanted to get rid of it. They’re just focusing on the people who don’t want it − it is a real NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) exercise where they got the council on to support them. They have used state money to do it, and now they want to rip it up."
"A lot of people don’t ride bikes because of speeding cars. Removing the cycleway and just replacing it with a few logos on the road is just going to discourage people who were looking for a safer option. It is a retrograde step."
This cynical dishonesty from Council would frankly not be necessary if this were a good decision that was supported widely by the community.
The decision to remove the protected lane in favour of restoring two parking spaces is disastrous for a number of reasons:
It shows an absolute and utter contempt to both local residents and taxpayers across the state, whose $7 million funded this protected bike lane.
Removing the protected bike lane substantially increases the risk of serious injury and death for cyclists commuting along this stretch. Council has blood on its hands for anyone killed or injured as a result of this reckless and stupid decision.
This decision will encourage more people to drive to work, rather than cycle, using the already congested streets of Sydney's inner west.
More people driving rather than cycling means more traffic congestion across the Inner West. This additional congestion doesn't just affect people in the Canada Bay LGA, but across the entirety of Western Sydney.
The solution to traffic problems across Inner Western Sydney is to provide alternatives to driving, which is an incredibly inefficient use of road space. That is achieved by rolling out more protected bike lanes, not bulldozing the ones you have.
"The Independent Commission Against Corruption is currently investigating allegations Canada Bay’s long-term mayor Angelo Tsirekas accepted perks from developers, including international flights and accommodation, in return for favourable decisions. He vowed to fight the allegations."
Given these already serious allegations, I suggest that it's not a great look for Mayor Tsirekas to engage in acts of car-centric infrastructure vandalism that ignore the will of the community in order to create two additional on-street parking spaces for nearby developments.
@jedsetter@ukuku@ajsadauskas@jakecoppinger@SydneyCyclewaysFan@cyclingnews@walk_sydney@sydneyurbanismnews Rather than dramatically increasing traffic across the inner west, with the additional pollution this will create across Western Sydney, and increasing the risks of deaths and injuries, the council should instead seriously reconsider whether the nearby developments really need the two additional on-street parking spaces.
I strongly urge you to do the right thing and actually listen to the community on this one, and retain the protected bike lane on Heath Street.
Well, it took until June, but someone from the council finally responded.
From Traffic_and_Transport AT canadabay.nsw.gov.au:
"Hi AJ,
"Thank you for providing your feedback in relation to the cycling infrastructure in Heath Street, Five Dock. I apologise for the delay in responding.
"Whilst it is noted that some community members may be disappointed with changes to the cycling infrastructure in Heath Street, Council remains committed to improving cycling infrastructure throughout the Council area and effectively engaging with the community as part of this process.
"Works to modify the cycling infrastructure have recently been completed and follow up monitoring is currently being undertaken.
"To keep you to date with the Regional Cycleway project and future community consultation, you can follow the project at collaborate.canadabay.nsw.gov.au/ewcycleway.
"Should you have any further enquiries regarding this project please do not hesitate to contact me on 9911 6448.
"Dear Shankar, Andrew, Brendan, and all whom this may concern,
"One more thing.
"Just a little heads up about something.
"Next time, before you send everyone who responded to an inquiry with the same pro-forma letter, you might want to check that it hasn't gone viral on social media.
"Because, when there's several Mastodon threads full of people who received the same pro forma letter, it comes across as a little insincere to say you are 'effectively engaging with the community as part of this process'.
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