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WHILE the High St showdown between Belmont’s business sector and cyclists drags on, the wider battle to share the roads has largely already been decided.
The Geelong council is principally committed to building a more bikefriendly city.
While there have been incremental improvements in recent years, for cyclists and the cycling lobby the rollout hasn’t been anywhere near quick enough.
Council’s 30-year Our Future vision — the blueprint for the city’s development — suggests a huge number of upgrades are on the agenda.
The blueprint envisions that by 2047 cycling would be a “credible and safe on-road commuter option”, due to a network covering the whole municipality.
Under this vision, the dedicated links would help see at least 50 per cent of all residents riding, walking or catching public transport to work.
A seismic shift that would unclog our roads from traffic jams and motorists might be an honourable aim.
But convincing a car-dominant culture — where more than half of Geelong’s households have at least two vehicles — to support alternative transport options isn’t as easy in reality.
“It’s a difficult sell sometimes, because we’ve been such a car-dependent community,” Mayor Bruce Harwood said.
“(But) we need to get a bit smarter with how we get around.
“We’re seeing congestion increase, and that will only increase further as our population grows and we see greater demand to come in, around and through the CBD.”
As part of that, the council is aiming to roll out new cycling links into the city from the south (Waurn Ponds) and west (Herne Hill).
The $4.7 million project has been funded by the TAC, which has chosen the southern route to roll down High St in Belmont.
And that is where the uproar emanates from.
The route was chosen before the public had a say in it, and now thousands have reacted angrily to having on-street carparks threatened.
A petition with more than 2700 signatures calls for the route to be moved.
Advocacy group Bike Safe Geelong has also suggested the shopping strip — with its mix of motorists and pedestrians — may not be the best road for safe and fast cycling.
But the TAC is sticking fast and the council is ploughing on.
Four potential options were released for debate this week, ranging from largely the status quo through to removing all on-street carparks to allow bike paths on either side of the street.
Despite being relatively flush with carparking, the criticism centres on the loss of up to 83 on-street spaces from Roslyn Rd to Mt Pleasant Rd.
Cr Harwood points out that there are about 1100 parks available in the shopping strip precinct.
Even during its busiest weekday periods, no more than 66 per cent of them were used, he said.
So are the concerns about the overall provision of parking, or the perception of shifting priorities?
The overall number compares favourably with central Geelong, which has a total of 10,100 spaces. Almost half of the 4700 off-street parks are in the Westfield and Market Square shopping centres, with the council controlling 3100 metered parks.