Alan Davies - Bicycle freeways

Later this year the Victoria Government will open the $18 million 1.7-kilometre “missing link” in the bike network between the Darebin Creek and Yarra trails. There is good but is there room for improvement. Just because it is to do with active transport have we really maximised the benefits for as many users as possible. Alan Davies is a prolific writer on urban transport issues and can be found in Crikey media as “The Urbanist” He joins us on the line now. Is it for bikes or is it a shared path with pedestrians. A fast track for bikes often means a long travel distance. This is designed like an old style freeway Focus on fitness – means speed and effort Not a direct route Cycling fundamentalists Weakest link But the bigger problem is it requires pedestrians and cyclists to use the four-lane bridge over Darebin Creek on Heidelberg Rd. Elevated veloway the government plans to build over Footscray Road from the Maribyrnong River to Moonee Ponds Creek. It will hang underneath the elevated Western Distributor and give cyclists a dedicated facility separate from vehicles and pedestrians Call me cynical, but I suspect a key motivation for this project is to mitigate criticism of the Western Distributor.