Bike paths break cycle of danger
CYCLIST SAYS MORE WOULD RIDE TO SHOP IN CBD AS ...
YOU’D BE MAD TO TRY AND RIDE ON ANY OF GEELONG’S BUSY ROADS, IT’S JUST OFFERING YOURSELF UP TO MOTORISTS WHO – PARDON MY FRENCH – GET REALLY PISSED OFF WITH CYCLISTS BECAUSE ‘THEY GET IN THE WAY’.
A GEELONG cyclist who has exclusively used her bike to get around town for 16 years has called on the public to better understand how cyclists travel through the city.
Hamlyn Heights resident Judy Mason, 76, said conversations sparked by the city’s call for feedback on a controversial major CBD bike lanes project had helped spread misconceptions around the type of people using bike lanes in the region.
Ms Mason said she was particularly annoyed by comments suggesting nobody did their shopping on a bike.
“Since I gave up my car 16 years ago I’ve done all my shopping by bike,” she said.
“I used to have a mountain bike with front and rear panniers, but now I’m using a trike with a big basket at the back.
“I regularly cycle from here in Hamlyn Heights, where I live, to the Woolies on Anakie Rd in Norlane. It takes me about an hour and a quarter round-trip – so I’m usually gone for 2½ hours, or something like that.”
Ms Mason said she and other cyclists would be more likely to head to the CBD if protected bike lanes were accessible.
“I wouldn’t cycle in the city, other than on the specifically designated bike routes designed for cyclists,” she said.
“I look for specific bike paths. You’d be mad to try and ride on any of Geelong’s busy roads, it’s just offering yourself up to motorists who – pardon my French – get really pissed off with cyclists because, ‘they get in the way’.”
“I’ve had a couple of friends killed on bikes over the years, from motorists not paying attention – so I’m very wary when I’m on the road.”
Ms Mason spoke to the Advertiser last week after the City of Greater Geelong launched community engagement on its Building Better Bike Connections project, seeking feedback on the completed and planned sections of the paths connecting the CBD to Waurn Ponds via Belmont, and to Herne Hill via Geelong West.
The paths, funded via a $6.3m Transport Accident Commission grant, were designed to improve cyclist safety between the city’s suburbs, shopping areas and employment precincts.
The consultation comes after councillors in March approved a tender process to deliver stage 2 of the Southern Link – building a protected bike path from the Barwon River to Waurn Ponds via High St, Belmont. It is the only section of the project yet to be completed.
The move last week prompted supporters and opponents of the bikes lanes to speak out.