January 2, 2022eastbug

2 Jan 2022

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Do your 2022 goals include keeping your family healthy and active; taking care of your mental health; saving money; taking action to reduce your environmental footprint; being a better friend/neighbour/partner/parent; or spending holidays exploring local destinations while overseas travel is difficult/expensive? Did you know that a bicycle can help you on your way to any and all of those goals?
Maybe an electric bike or a cargo bike is the tool you need to overcome the obstacles? Or perhaps it’s just a matter of dusting off and pumping up the bike that has been gathering dust under the house.

If balance or confidence prevents you from taking to 2 wheels, have you considered 3? Did you know you can get tricycles – either manual or electric-assisted – in a variety of configurations, from upright to recumbent and with all sorts of cargo-carrying options. They certainly aren’t just for kids.

More people on bikes (and trikes) translates to less congestion, and safer, friendlier streets and suburbs. If you’re already part of it, that’s great – perhaps you can help your help your friends, family members, colleagues and neighbours pedal into 2022.

Viola Place connection

Brenda Bones and Digby Graves couldn’t be together to see in the New Year of 2022, but they’re optimistic this will be the year they are finally united. Brisbane City Council have said that in 2022 they will complete the cycle connection from Viola Place at Brisbane Airport through to Schneider Road at Trade Coast. This long awaited link will allow cycling from the Airport (and the Kedron Brook and Jim Soorley Bikeways) to the Gateway Bridge without having to mix with trucks along Sugarmill Rd or Nudgee Rd. It will fill a critical missing link between the Airport precinct and nearby Lores Bonney Riverwalk.

Brisbane City Council have claimed to be planning this connection since 2014, so hopefully it will be delivered quickly once the access arrangements have been finalised. After all, other projects have resumed land and built major pieces of infrastructure in only a fraction of the time this seemingly straight-forward connection has taken so far.

Port of Brisbane

Did you make a New Year’s resolution? We received an enquiry from someone about to start a new job at the Port of Brisbane who is keen to cycle to work. He was surprised and disappointed to learn that cycling or walking to workplaces at the Port of Brisbane is prohibited. Effectively, anyone without a drivers licence and access to a motor vehicle is denied employment there.

Although there is a cycleway along the latest section of the Port of Brisbane Motorway, it only takes you as far as the “end of trip facilities” at the Caltex truck stop – which consist of an outdoor bike rack and toilets/showers at the truck stop. (We’re not aware if there are lockers). Port workers would then need to get a lift in a motor vehicle onto the port facilities at Fisherman Islands.

The Port Cycleway also doesn’t connect well at the other end to Lytton Rd or Pritchard St – despite these being nominally on the Principal Cycle Network Plan and part of the “Moreton Bay Cycleway”.

Our protagonist has previously cycled to work at jobs in the same industry in NSW and WA, and is disappointed to discover how unfriendly Brisbane is for utility cycling. We agree; it’s a shameful abrogation of responsibility by the Queensland Government who are ultimately responsible for the Port of Brisbane even though it has been leased to a private corporation.

Our posts on social media about this issue sparked much commentary and speculation about the basis for the ban on walking and cycling. Representatives from Airport BUG and East BUG who were there at the time can attest the cycling ban commenced in April 2009 and was meant to be temporary until road construction was completed – after which a separated cycle path and end of trip facility was to be built on the port.

A brochure produced by the port at the time (before it was privatised in 2010) outlines future road projects as well as the cycle connections. Those road upgrades have now all been completed, but none of the cycleway connections. Nor do the Port have any plans to build the cycle connections.

That’s despite claims in their Sustainability Report that:

“We remain committed to prioritising workforce equality, making our workplace more diverse and inclusive, reducing our environmental footprint, and creating stronger and mutually beneficial relationships with our local community”.

Port of Brisbane Sustainability Report

We know that there are port workers who are keen to cycle to work, but who are prevented from doing so. We believe this is a failure of corporate and social responsibility by the Port and a failure of governance by the Queensland Government.

In the CBD, it’s good to see these new stencils on the CityLink Cycleway letting people using personal mobility devices (e-scooters, etc) know that they are welcome in separated bike lanes. CBD footpaths are generally unsuitable for travelling any faster than walking speed, and pedestrian traffic moves quite differently to people on two wheels. Reclaiming some space back for personal mobility rather than for parked or moving cars is great news for the life and lungs of the city.

Just a reminder though that the current cycleways on Elizabeth St, Edwards St, William St, and Victoria Bridge are only a trial until March 2022. We need as many people as possible to let Brisbane City Council know of their support for maintaining and expanding the cycleway network. (Our suggestion: next up should be George St, Herschel St, and Ann St through the CBD and into The Valley).

Don’t forget to complete the survey and write to the Lord Mayor (Lord.Mayor@brisbane.qld.gov.au) with a copy to your local councillor.

There are also pop-up information/feedback sessions coming up in February:

  • Thursday 17 February 2022, 7:30-9:30am in Queen Street Mall, near Cotton On
  • Saturday 19 February 2022, 9-11am in the City Botanic Gardens, on the Entrance Lawn

As quoted in this article, we welcome sensible use of e-scooters on bikeways, and it would be great to see stencils like those on the CityLink Cycleway added to other routes like the Gabba Bikeway and North Brisbane Bikeway.

“The rapid take up of personal mobility devices, such as e-scooters, has shown there’s a big market for people who want a more efficient way to get around town than owning and driving a car.”

Space4cyclingBNE

Most importantly though, this makes the roll-out of bikeways and protected bike lanes that can be used by both e-devices and bicycles a top priority for Brisbane. Council and the State Government need to ramp up their active transport investments accordingly.

North Brisbane Bikeway

In the northern suburbs, it’s good to see that not all Clayfield residents along Keith, Sydney and Jackson Streets are opposed to the North Brisbane Bikeway connecting through to Toombul and the Jim Soorley and Gateway North cycleways. Some people are really keen for the benefits of good active transport connections, and have hosted signs in support of the North Brisbane Bikeway route through Eagle Junction. Far from thinking their neighbourhood needs “saving” from the scourge of people travelling by bicycle, many residents support climate action, safer streets, and healthier communities.

Coxy’s 2021 bikeway highlights

From the west (but getting around all over the city), Chris whipped up a little review of bikeway achievements in 2021 and hopes for 2022. Can’t believe he forgot to mention the Moggill Road business case outcomes being funded as one of those hopes!