Page 1852 - Week 06 - Thursday, 9 May 2013
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maintenance, with broken glass a constant hazard for cycling commuters. Minister, what maintenance schedule does TAMS have to ensure cycling paths throughout Canberra are safe and debris free?
MR RATTENBURY: I thank Mr Doszpot for the question. You may be interested to know that there are 403 kilometres of on-road cyclepaths in the ACT and there is a whole lot of off-road cyclepaths as well—367 kilometres of them. They are swept as required and any maintenance, vandalism or cleanliness issues are addressed as they are found.
On the issue of broken glass, it is a source of great frustration for myself as well. I can only believe, given the amount of broken glass on the cycleways, that some people in our community must see fit to deliberately break bottles in the cycle lanes. The coincidence and occurrence of it is so common that I cannot imagine that that is not the case. Unfortunately, that is happening.
I will have to check on the actual street sweeping timetable. I just cannot remember it off the top of my head. Certainly there is also a mechanism through fix my street or Canberra Connect that if somebody rings up and indicates a particular area of broken glass, TAMS will send a crew out to get it done within a couple of days.
The other part of it is where there is a motor vehicle accident. As part of the process around a significant motor vehicle accident, if there is broken glass on the road, the road surface will also be cleaned by crews from Roads ACT. So there is a proactive approach on that side of the equation.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Doszpot.
MR DOSZPOT: Minister, is poor maintenance a reason why many cyclists fail to use the bike path on Alexandrina Drive or is it the fact that the path does not run parallel to the road for a significant section? Can you tell us what is being done both to improve the pathway and to look at increasing the length of the usable pathway for cyclists?
MR RATTENBURY: If I understand your question correctly, it is about the cycle path around Alexandrina Drive, the one by the lake. It is one of the more meandering paths in Canberra. I think it is one that is an incredibly popular recreational path and it is the sort of path that is perhaps described as being one that is frequently used by Sunday cyclists. It is very popular for running and as a family route. It is one that probably, from a commuter point of view, people do find a little meandering.
There is, of course, the alternative option for many people who might use that path and who wish to take a more direct route. Adelaide Avenue, with its quite substantial on-road cycle lane, would provide an alternative. So I think in that part of town we do see a number of issues.
There are some parts of that path that, in recent rains, have had gravel washed across them and that is something, as someone who uses the path, I have noticed. I actually put in a request to TAMS to have it cleaned up. Of course, those issues unfortunately
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