In response to the Petition to the Mayor Council prepared a report for the meeting, Item 15, which has some useful information on current and future projects.
Neil Tonkin spoke in the allotted 3 minutes per person at the start of the meeting, again urging a greater effort on Active Transport.
Unfortunately the meeting was cancelled shortly after due to demonstrators occupying the chambers. shades of a previous meeting, abandoned due to a fire alarm!
Stage 1 of the Masterplan for Bays West area (White Bay, Power Station, Rozelle Railyards) was on exhibition in May 2022. The underground Metro West line will have a station entrance to the east of the Power Station, and there will probably be a large apartment block between the Metro station and the Anzac Bridge approach. The grain silos are to be retained.
Open space with a promenade is to be a feature along the harbour edge in White Bay infront of the silos, although the Cruise Terminal will remain.
The Metro Station and Power Station precinct will be a major node for a number of cycling routes, from the City via (it is hoped, not yet announced) the old Glebe Island Bridge, from Balmain via Robert St, from Victoria Rd, from Annandale and from the west via Lilyfield Rd and the new Railyard Park.
Note the 2040 vision shows a link under the Anzac Bridge approach to James Craig Rd and even a bridge across Rozelle Bay to Glebe!
We put in a submission on the importance of these bicycle links, and how some innovative thinking could lead to world class bicycle access to and through this area.
See post on latest developments at the White Bay Power Station. Placemaking NSW is responsible for the Power Station and public domain works and has received $17m funding for improved AT links in the precinct, including a path direct to the Power Station from the Anzac Bridge cycleway and the new Victoria Rd pedestrian underpass, something Bike Leichhardt has been calling for for years.
Elections coming around again. IWBC will be again asking candidates for their policies on cycling and Active Transport. We hope you will too, it’s important to let them know your wishes for safer cycling in the Inner West.
Bicycle NSW has a ready to sign pledge for prospective Councillors if they are reading this.
See the Page on the 2021 elections.
See the Manifesto we sent all candidates for the 2024 election. A comprehensive list of what councillors and Council can do to make cycling safer and more attractive.
What did they promise last time? see the ALP and Greens bike and Active Transport policies.
See Comments on this post for candidate responses (may not be comprehensive- best ask candidates yourself).
Also see candidate responses to the Bicycle NSW Pledge for Active Transport campaign. Both Greens and Labor have made the pledge
Sunday 8 Sept. News just in: Labor has released an Active Transport Policy.
IWBC Advocacy Coordinator Neil Tonkin had the following to say in a recent letter to members.
As you know the Inner West Council election of councillors will take place on Sat 14 September 2024.
It is important that all councillors realise the importance of building a comprehensive cycleway network in the Inner West. We have only to look at the City of Sydney to see how a network of bike routes allows many people to get about safely, sustainably and at low cost. It also makes our suburbs much more liveable if there are fewer cars about, with reduced traffic danger, noise, pollution and congestion.
The key to making this happen is getting Councillors to direct council to implement the IWC Cycling Strategy and Action Plan. This means coming up with cycling infrastructure projects, getting them adopted by the community, funded and built. So far the current Council has not seen this as a priority and the traffic engineers have put minimal resources towards making this happen. Funding is available through Transport NSW Get Active grants. Funding is now also available for Active Transport from the federal Infrastructure Australia department. No funding was received by IWC in the current year.
Inner West Bicycle Coalition and its member groups have tried their best to change this impasse, but the Labor majority council have not seen this as a priority.
The Coalition isdeveloping a new election campaign and will be developing new material to assist in this process. I attach for your information our Building healthy & happy communities Policy Recommendations December 2021, developed for the 2021 IWC elections.
Since 2021 we now have a good IWC cycling strategy (fine words), but a very weak action plan (actual approved routes), glacial progress on design and implementation of major cycling infrastructure projects, good support from The Greens and Independents, but only weak support from Labor councillors and consequently indifferent support from senior staff within council. State government has imposed on Inner West WestConnex, the Sydney Metro and Western Metro, with some bad and some potentially good outcomes for cycling.
Transport NSW has also added new policies for promoting Active Transport such as prioritising walking and cycling in their Road User Space Allocation (RUSA) policy, and new speed limits policy allowing 30 K to be used, but they have not been effectively adopted across TNSW as can be seen in the final outcomes of projects like the Rozelle Interchange and no increase in Active Transport funding in the recent 2024/5 state budget.
Please read our policy document on Building Better Streets from 2021 and offer any suggestions you have for its improvement. We will be upgrading it in the coming weeks in preparation for meeting the new councillor candidates.
Council put out a Newsletter in July detailing community spending. There were three items relating to works for bicycles, two of which were old projects or ongoing projects funded by Westconnex or the State and Federal Government. Livingstone Rd expenditure on the recently completed cyclepath was basically remediation works to correct some poor construction, after many cyclists made complaints. At least Council did respond.
No new projects appear to be ready for 24/25. IWBC will be asking the Managing Director Ryann Midei for a more detailed budget breakdown for the next four years, to see if any plans hidden away.
Inner West Council and the State Government have come up with a plan to make the default speed limit on most roads 40 KM/hr . They say some 30 K zones will be considered. The State Roads and Classified Roads that are now 50 or 60 K are proposed to remain at 50 or 60, despite many not being up to standard with regard to cycling infrastructure, and a trend to changing 60 to 50 on State roads over the past ten years. Most serious injuries occur on these higher speed roads.
Worldwide the move is to 30 K urban default speed limit, following a UN Special Declaration in 2020 after the Stockholm World Road Safety Conference, which Australian Ministers or delegates signed. Many cities in Europe have adopted 30 as the default speed limit, including London, Paris, Brussels, Barcelona, Amsterdam. Wales has adopted 30 throughout. There are exceptions for main highways and certain other major roads with good cycling facilities, but most roads, including residential and shopping, are 30.
IWBC made a submission, criticising the proposal on a number of grounds.
Council did not make any substantial changes to the proposal and it was adopted at a tecent Council meeting. We are disappointed that several key bike routes will remain 50 or 60 K, and the 30 K option is to be only considered on a limited number of roads.
Further information on the benefits of 30 K speed limits can be found on Bicycle NSW, betterstreets.org.au, and 30please.org.
U tube Video from Not Just Bikes on speed limits.
https://betterstreets.cmail20.com/t/t-l-eikhydt-jtiithmg-t/
New NSW guidelines on 30 K
https://standards.transport.nsw.gov.au/search-standard-specific/?id=TBA%20-%200004459:2022#overhead
Compiled by our Advocacy Coordinator, Neil Tonkin. A list of our Advocacy efforts. (Google Files).
With growing dissatisfaction at the lack of action on new cycleways IWBC members have started a Petition to the Mayor on getting on with design and construction.
https://www.change.org/p/safe-cycling-in-the-inner-west
The petition was delivered to Council in May and Councillor Dylan Griffiths (Greens) proposed a Notion of Motion supporting the action items in the petition. A fire alarm emptied the Council meeting in May before it could be considered, and it was rescheduled for the Extra meeting on June 4, at the Council chambers in Ashfield.
Result: Council passed the motion unanimously. Thanks to Clr Griffiths fir proposing the motion and to Clr Stephens (Labor) for his support.
There was an IWBC bike ride to the May Council meeting and several riders spoke in support of the motion, before the fire alarm!
Another ride was planned for June 4, to keep up the pressure on Councillors, but unfortunately no speakers allowed this time- we had our chance first time around apparently. Ride met at Leichhardt Town Hall at 530 pm. See past event on meetup.com/bike-leichhardt.
Council’s Response was given in item 15 in the 13 August Council Meeting. contains useful information on current projects.
Here are the 3 minute talks to Inner WestCouncil in support of IWBC Petition, May 2024:
IWBC Petition: Safe Cycling in the Inner West. By Neil Tonkin, IWBC.
“As we are all aware Inner West Bicycle Coalition has long been advocating for Council to change our street environments to allow our community to safely get about by bicycle and reduce motor traffic congestion.The community could benefit from separated cycleways, cycle orientated road treatments and lower speed environments. Pedestrians and public transport users could also benefit. The health, environmental, public amenity and social equity benefits are well documented.
Our member groups over the years have been patiently working with our local councils and the merged Inner West Council urging these improvements.
Although Inner West Council promotes active transport over private car use we have seen minimal on-ground improvement of cycling conditions. In fact, I have stated on at least two occasions at this lectern that recent Council progress on building new cycle facilities has been glacial.
Our member groups and followers are in touch with people who cycle and the message we constantly receive is: What is Council doing about making cycling safer and better? Climate change is upon us, we are surrounded by road congestion, the road toll is on the increase and society is becoming increasingly unhealthy due to lack of daily physical exercise. It is no surprise that in just over eight weeks Bike Marrickville’s petition had gathered over 1,000 signatures.
Council knows Transport NSW offers capital funding for design and building of bicycle infrastructure under it’s Get Active program. Only recently the Federal Government has also made similar funding available under its Active Transport Fund.We have met with council officers at a senior level and have been assured that Council has the capability to initiate and manage cycle infrastructure projects, yet no new ones have been started in this term of Council.Why is this so?Extra state funding was also made available during Covid to encourage physical activity by building pop-up cycleways, but this council failed to avail itself of this opportunity, unlike the progressive City of Sydney.
Is it no wonder that our members are rightly asking:What is Council doing about making cycling safer and better? We urge Council to seriously consider the challenge that this petition presents, pass the motion and get moving on starting new cycleway projects.”
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By Fiona Campbell, Bike Marrickville and City of Sydney Cycleway Manager-
“It was 24 years ago when I first spoke at a Marrickville Council meeting – to talk about the community benefits of more people riding and to urge council to keep, not axe, its tiny bike budget, and do more for cycling.
I thought about reading you my speech from 2000, but these days, you all know about the benefits of more people riding, and you know that a very healthy majority of the population agree. And, in recent years, the Inner West Council has done some really fantastic work – the GreenWay is becoming a reality, the Carrington Road cycleway upgrade is so great, Regional Route 7 – the cycleway along the rail line between almost Summer Hill and Newtown – is almost all very good, and more.
Inner West has so much potential. Did you know that in the 2011 census when the City of Sydney only just started building cycleways, it was Marrickville and Leichhardt leading the way, with higher proportions of work trips by bike than the City of Sydney? (MV 4.39%, L 3.81% & CoS 3.64%). Inner West could re-take that lead with the safe connected bike network that its community wants.
We know each project is hard. There are many hurdles. There are always some people who object, and that takes some fortitude, but the community as a whole is behind you. But you CAN do this, and the community, almost all of them, will thank you for it. Everyone will benefit from better health, safer streets, safer climate, and even – for those who still drive, it will be easier to park and drive in the long run, overall. You can do this.”
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After opening to much fanfare in December 2023 the Parklands have been unfortunately closed much of the time since January due to the discovery of bonded asbestos in the mulch in the garden and landscape beds.
The much if briefly appreciated through links for cyclists to the Anzac Bridge and to Annandale are currently still closed.
What was obvious before the asbestos debacle was that there has been little to no work done on the connections to the Park, such as Whites Ck path, Lilyfield Rd, Gordon St, Robert St, Victoria Rd, and Johnston St. Many of these necessary Active Transport links were identified in the Westconnex EIS (Appendix N) and in the Rozelle Interchange UDLP, (Ch 11 on Active Transport), but were left to ”others” to do, presumably Council and TfNSW. After 6 years the ”others” have failed to act.
IWBC has put in a submission on these missing links and on some defects of the Rozelle Parklands cycling infrastucture as constructed.
See a photo compilation by Bike Leichhardt, identifying defects or missing connections.
We also suggest that surrounding streets be declared 30 K zones or Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, in order to promote walking and cycling to the new Parklands. This would be consistent with Councils new policy on lowering speed limits, where 30 K is now an option on selected streets. 30 K is much safer than 40 K, and is used extensively in other countries.
The State Government has released a plan for a foreshore bike and walking path from Parramatta to the Opera House. Total length is 91 km, so not meant as a direct route, but a path you could use bits of to explore the foreshores or complete the whole route over time. They have started with 12 projects that they say are feasible now and are also useful as part of other routes. One is a path next to Massey Park Golf Course in Concord. Another is upgrading Foreshore Rd in Callan Park to remove car parking, although this has already been announced as part of a Bay Run upgrade.
Future progress will depend on a steady roll out of funding, which could be problematic. Any business case might well decide that other more transport-oriented bike routes might be better value. However, more foreshore paths would be great for Bike Leichhardt recreational rides.
Minister for Active Transport Rob Stokes Press Release.
(Includes a link to a download of an animated loop of the route)
IWBC put together a presentation for Councillors and other interested people on the benefits of cycling and provision of better facilities.
The majority Labor Councilors on Inner West Council announced their Policy Platform at the Council meeting on February 8, 2022, in a Notice of Motion.
The Active Transport section has some promising aims. (slightly edited)
ACTIVE TRANSPORT
Active transport reduces congestion on our roads, improves public health, reduces carbon emissions and provides a cost effective and COVID-safe way for people to travel. …. Cycling infrastructure projects have been shown to create on average 11 jobs per $1 million spent, higher than the 8 jobs for similar road projects.
For our community to capture all the benefits of active transport, we need to invest in infrastructure for people who ride or walk that is safe and connected. We know a key barrier to increasing cycling participation rates, particularly for women and families, is safety. …. Our bike paths and networks must also connect and reflect the routes on which people travel, ensuring more people in the community see cycling as a safe and efficient way to move around our community. We also need to work to ensure cycling is safe and accessible to people of all ages.
We’ll work in partnership with Inner West bicycle groups to advocate for the Network. [fantastic]
To ensure Inner West residents are able to maximise the opportunities around cycling and walking projects, Labor councillors will:
● Continue our strong support for the completion of the GreenWay and champion efforts to build cycling infrastructure where it is supported by local communities; [last bit a cop out, need to convince people to support!]
● Audit shovel-ready projects currently in development by Inner West Council to ensure there is an active pipeline of projects available for State and Federal Government funding rounds;[very important]
● Run a communications campaign and support bicycle groups to host events to encourage greater cycling participation across our communities; [Could we run a Ciclovia?]
● Increase maintenance budgets to ensure our roads, cycleways and footpaths are safe;
● Support walking bus programs and introduce wayfinding programs at schools across the inner west local government area to make roads around our schools safer for kids and give families options to walk or ride to school.
-from Council Meeting 8 February 2022
https://innerwest.infocouncil.biz/Open/2022/02/C_08022022_AGN_3904_AT.PDF
