Page 468 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
As we build safe infrastructure, it is important that it reflects best practice to support active travel. I am pleased to say that the ACT government is reviewing the design guidance for active travel infrastructure this year. This is a critical part of ensuring that, as we invest in improvements to our transport system, we encourage active travel by design in a way that makes it safer and more convenient.
The new design guide will challenge, or go beyond, Australian standards. New best practice standards will be developed to make Canberra streets and intersections safer for people who are not travelling by car and make streets more vibrant in key parts of the city. The design guide will also consider how “quick-build” protected cycling lanes could be designed in Canberra’s context and put into use.
The design guide will adapt Australasian and global best practice to improve safety for all road users at intersections and mid-blocks, provide priority for people walking and people cycling, and provide guidance on how existing road lanes in Canberra could be converted to protected cycle lanes in Canberra, based on changing needs such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This piece of work is exciting, and we look forward to engaging with interested stakeholders on how improved design can contribute to a city with living streets, safer for all road users, with less delay for people walking and cycling.
We are fortunate in Canberra that the NCDC built a large network of off-road shared paths prior to self-government. This is a good foundation on which to deliver a city-wide active travel plan, including the network plan. However, the NCDC often built shared path routes that were not intuitive, were often circuitous and were more suited to recreational walkers and cyclists. The network was not comprehensive and was often disconnected, with many missing links that make walking and cycling to some destinations difficult.
One prominent example is that there is no separated shared path directly down Adelaide Avenue, the major southern gateway to the city. Instead, a circuitous path, known as the C4 route on our network, winds from Woden through Yarralumla and the contours of Lake Burley Griffin. This sees many commuter cyclists riding unseparated on the street verge as an alternative, crossing dangerous exits, in order to take the most direct route into the parliamentary triangle and the city.
While the legacy of Canberra’s urban planning has developed an extensive off-road path network, that network is not always visible to people in their cars or does not reach the places they want to go. To fix the gaps in our current off-road path network and extend them to more locations, we have commenced a large number of projects this year which, of course, build on previous investments as well.
As we outlined in the budget, we are making a significant additional investment in active travel that exceeds $45 million over four years. That investment, along with previously committed funding, means that the current pipeline of active travel projects is approximately $77 million over this period. This year, it is exciting that many of these projects will reach construction stage, with others entering feasibility and design.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video