Bike lanes the way of the future

Plans to further integrate and expand bike lanes in Waverley have been forwarded for community consultation.

Waverley Councillor Leon Goltsman said the new initiative will investigate several options including shared paths, separated cycleways, dedicated bike lines and on-road mixed traffic lanes.

“We want to make sure bike networks and facilities are safe and connected,” he said.

“This plan outlines an implementation for priority routes and secondary routes.”

Mr Goltsman predicts the bike lane expansion project will cost Council $4.7 million.

The announcement of the plans coincided with the ‘Celebrating Cycling in Waverley’ event last Sunday, and NSW Bike Week from September 14-22.

Mark Worthington, President of the BIKEast Group, welcomed the decision by Council to move towards further integration of bike lanes at the eastern and western ends of Bondi.

“In Bondi Junction we’re keen to see a separated cycle way in Spring St,” he said.

“There’s issues at either end of Bondi Junction. We believe it would be safer with bike lanes and encourage linking it up with Centennial Park.

“It is a challenging problem with traffic, pedestrians and cyclists.”

Mr Worthington praised Council’s work over the last couple of years.

“We’ve seen a lot of progress for cyclists and facililites, and Bondi Junction is very well signposted,” he said.

While the O’Farrell Government came under criticism last week on talkback radio with its plans for an entire network of bike lanes in the CBD, Mr Worthington said the discourse around people who use bikes was changing.

“Growing the network is important,” he said. “These facilities are for people who aren’t confident enough to ride on the roads. It can only make our city better and I think we see that in the continued growth in cyclist numbers.”