On Ride2Work Day, many people signed letters to their local councillors asking them to vote in favour of a grid of protected bike lanes in the CBD. They weren’t just inner-city folk; people from all over Brisbane are keen to see our city centre become bicycle friendly. Belinda took a day out to explore the eastern suburbs and visit each of the ward offices to deliver the letters from riders living in Morningside, The Gabba, Coorparoo, Holland Park, Chandler, Wynnum Manly and Doboy Wards.

Visiting by bike, one thing stood out: none of the ward offices in the eastern suburbs have bicycle parking! The single exception is The Gabba where Cr Jonathan Sri and a number of his office staff are regular riders, and have been lobbying for a bike rack since Cr Sri was elected in March.

And it’s not just bicycle parking at issue; a number of these ward offices are in locations that just seem to assume visitors will only arrive by car. The Holland Park and Doboy Ward offices are prime examples; sitting surrounded by car parks with quite poor pedestrian access from the street or nearest bus stop. At least the Coorparoo Ward Office has a bus stop out the front, but located where it is on Logan Road, it’s not at all easy to visit by bicycle.

The Gabba Ward office is the only one on the east side with a bike rack!

The Morningside Ward office on Oxford St, Bulimba is at least somewhat accessible by bicycle.

The Coorparoo Ward office on Logan Rd is not easy to access by active transport, and there’s really nowhere to lock a bike

Holland Park Ward office at least has this railing, but riding through the carpark to get there is quite a trip

At the Chandler Ward office you can lock a bike against the railing, but it doesn’t feel very welcoming

At the Wynnum Manly Ward office parking against the railing seems to intrude on the neighbouring business

The Doboy Ward office sits in a sea of car parking, with nowhere to lock a bike

Certainly, there might not yet be a demand for lots of bicycle parking in front of council ward offices, but surely at least a single parking hoop would help send the message that people who travel by bicycle are as welcome as those who arrive by car?