‘Creating’ space for bikeways is expensive*, especially where it involves building out over the river, building structures in the air, purchasing extra land, and moving existing infrastructure such as power poles, drains, and stormwater management. But in many places, there’s a much cheaper way of making cycling safer along the routes people want to ride—simply prioritising space on the existing carriageway so that people can travel efficiently by bike.

Elijah has started a petition to the Queensland Government to remove car parking from bike lanes. This simple rule change (which already applies in a number of other Australian states) would immediately make a big difference in the amount of “cycle network” that’s actually safe to cycle on.

If you’re in Queensland, please add your support to the petition before it closes on 3rd September 2026:
https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-the-Assembly/Petitions/petition-details/4457-26

In the meantime, how would you feel about riding in these bike lanes:

* When we say new bikeways are expensive, it’s important to remember they are still much cheaper than expanding roads, and bikeways have a fantastic return on investment, whereas expanding roads just encourages more traffic and adds to ever-increasing maintenance costs.