Updated!
I wrote a little submission to TSC via the LINK, which may or may not be published so I will post it here as well….
Where do I start? I commute by bicycle as well as ride for pleasure or you might say leisure. Riding to the south, west or northerly directions on many streets and roads, both gravel and sealed, from the Tweed Coast area. Nowhere in the shire, where I do manage to ride my bike, is there evidence that bicycles are considered as more than a toy in the design of local bike paths, the dinky little signs at road crossings are amusing rather than any form of informative traffic signage for users.
Many other examples of to the irrelevance bike riding and it not being recognised as an alternative form of transport in the Shire are many…Beside the football fields of Bogangar the bike path becomes a clean and dry viewing area for whole groups of families to watch the little tackers play there games and thus an obstacle course during these occasions. What say you, get off and walk? Gee I’d like to see the shire say that drivers should get out and push their cars through certain streets!
Most Tweed Coast bike paths seem to be designed first as pedestrian paths that are widened where conditions make it easy. Many residents would say they are there so use them, Why when the trip from South Tweed to my home is 6 kilometres longer if I take the bike path and possibly more dangerous when pedestrians are included in the mix than the freeway! Now that’s scary to think!. That said the verges of many other roads are strewn with loose gravel and/or broken glass. Many of these same roads when they are resealed are left with 50mm plus ridges splitting in half the verge area safe to ride in such as the Coast Road through the new developments of the Tweed Coast.
During recent road works outside the Kingscliff Library the bike path has been cut. The bike path, used by lots of students daily, had no temporary location during the works and riders were forced to line up with the cars and trucks, unlike the Cudgen Creek Bridge, thankyou.
The foot/bike-path along Marine Parade in Kingscliff has misleading signs stating that riders should use the Dedicated Path. It is not dedicated but only designated! Pedestrians still have right of way car doors still open onto the path!
I could go on and on… but I will end with a question, Why not provide areas in residential locations, such as for example Casuarina, where cars should be the ones made to give way to both pedestrians and cyclists? This is shown to work. Warringah Shire in Sydney has areas around Narrabeen where this is implemented and working! There is then no need to provide and maintain pathways in these locations.
Most people that would read this might say what a whinger, and they are intitled to say it, that is their opinion. I have presented this because you encouraged comment.
I know it will fall on deaf ears and that decisions are made to appease the majority.
I will see if they let it through the moderation and update this post if they do….. OK today the Moderators have published the comment, the link above will take you to the TSC webpage to post your own comments if you so wish.
their site says ”
Have Your Say
Only constructive or appropriate comments will be placed on this page. Please note that the comments posted on this page are not necessarily supported by Tweed Shire Council or Council officers.”
rob says:
My comments to TSC
“Cyclists fare best when they are treated as vehicles and operate as vehicles on the roadway. (John Forrester Transport Engineer).
October 23, 2008, 9:36 amThe bicycle for personal mobility enhances the reach of public transport and I would encourage Tweed Shire Council to seek co-operation from all bus route operators in TSC to fit bus mounted Bike Racks to permit wider access to public transport. (See ACTion Buses in the ACT for a model, research and outcomes- and research by Alan Parker)
Bicycles are vehicles under the Motor Traffic Act and thus entitled to use the road and occupy a lane of traffic, in doing so bicycles are not regarded as an impediment under the law and other vehicles must slow or alter their speed accordingly to share the road (NSW Motor Traffic Act-Fed Uniform Road Rules).
Shared pathways are not designated Bicycleways and cyclists cannot be required to use them. Pedestrians have absolute right of way on shared pathways, and thus for utility cycling Shared pathways are both dangerous and unsafe for all users if Council expects shared pathways to cater for bicycle commuting traffic. As bicycles are traffic, they belong on the roadway, and thus TSC should accept its responsibility to ensure all roadways in the TSC are of an adequate width, with sight lines and surface design to cope with the presence of and safe passage for bicycles.
Dedicated on road bicycle lanes do not solve traffic issues for drivers or bicyclists, in fact they tend to compound them, especially by causing confusion when bicycle lanes end and intersect with road areas. ( eg: Roundabouts in Tweed Heads at Shell Station, lane dissappears into a fenced footpath, forcing riders over 12 into an illegal and dangerous manouvre…this is a serious flaw in TSC’s approach to designing safe and adequate facillities. If you are going to provide facillities to assist some riders , do it right, do not present a danger to all road users by bad design and flawed implementation and no follow up.
Dedicated bicycle paths are primarily for low impact recreation and training by younger riders and provide some opportunity for new riders to gain skills, but they do not deliver the primary purpose for riders which is to develop on road traffic skills to riders when engaging with traffic. Thus riders , as stated fare best when treated as traffic and act as traffic. Dedicated facillities for cyclists should consist of end of trip facillties, on-public-transport carriage racks for bicycles, proper road surfaces of adequate width and surface design and left lanes suitably wide enough to permit the safe passage of a bicycle and a passing motor vehicle able to keep at least 1 meter clear when passing carefully.
I urge TSC to provide best practice in its persuit of proper and adequate cycling design of all existing and new roads within the Tweed Shire. Cycleways are not the answer for utility cycling for the bulk of the Shire, they may have some limited application, in new estates , for recreational relaxation and coastal residential areas for slow passage in shared pathways, but these are totally inappropriate for utility cycling for commuters, shoppers and vehicular recreational touring and sporting activities and training.
Cycle Tourism is a feature of enhancing rural economies, and TSC can do much to enhance its Cycle Tourism attaction in approaching the provision of world’s best practice on road Cycle facillties by road design and width rather than attempting to create off road dedicated cyclewaus which will not enhance mobility for TSC residents or visitors seeking to use bicycles as a legitimate mode of transport at a pace greater than a walking shuffle.
The models exist, the rersearch exisits, you donm’t have to re-invent the wheel or spend a fortune to create nice looking but unsafe separated facillities. Separation is not the answer, as appears to be the intention from your model. I urge TSC to move away from separation and provide onroad design and structure that will deliver real benefits, to a grwoing demand for cycling on road across all of Australia, both for utiliity cycling, for health and fro simple economic necessities in most communities, rather than cost a fortune and deliver very little to anyone other than a few impatient speeding motorists.
Rob Eke
Wheels of Justice Cycling Safety Advocacy Group
http://www.woj.com.au”
***WP-Spamkit Tested comment
RobE says:
seems the TSC is censoring us all…the comments on the web site at TSC re: cycle path policy have been removed…(as of Jan 26-09)The TSC Road Safety Officer is on leave and may not be aware of this action by TSC, but it places TSC in denial of its obligations to deliver safe facillites to the bicycle rider within TSC’s boundaries.. paths as they have been constructed in TSC are seriously dangerous, on road bike lanes often end in fences and onto footpaths at round abouts, the width of most TSC roads are ridiculosuly narrow and do not offer safe use for all road users. I call on TSC to wake up to itself and stop stuffing us around with stupid dinosaur car centric road design… the day of the car as all supreme is over…(and it was a myth anyway) most fools live in paradise of denial…I guess the TSC apporach is quite tolerant of that as they will not face the reality that they cannot and will not accept that bicyles are a sensible on road alternative that they have to accommodate willingly, as if they dont the State and Federal Goverments will decide for them and deny funding due to TSC’s laches and acquiescence… Get on with it Tweed Shire… your time is up…
January 26, 2009, 9:51 pm***WP-Spamkit Tested comment
fingers says:
Strange RobE! but did it disappear on the 26th cause I haven’t looked since new year?, maybe they don’t have any from last year?, Still only 2 weeks ago the Kingscliff High School and Tafe shared pedestrian bike access path was still not replaced, still just a mush of loose road-base on the edge of the road, that is after last years road works which tore it up and removed it completely ( that is for about 500m or so down past the Library ) wasn’t he just on leave at the end of last year, gee he seems to get some holidays without any replacement!
January 27, 2009, 12:49 pm***WP-Spamkit Tested comment