Cycling in Brisbane Australia
PREFERRED ROUTES: ASPLEY to the CITY
Hi,
I have just started commuting to work from ASPLEY (just near the Hypermarket) to the City.
I am looking for tips on a direct(ish), safe route. I have given up on finding a flattish route and have acknowledged there is no way around the north side hills. Also I have found several good lateral bikeways (East-West) but note there is a definite lack of good bike paths (North-South) that are connected going into the city.
Finally - can anyone tell me the best way to get from Roma Street (Parklands exit) to the Bicentennial Bikeway to get me down to QUT. It seems a nightmare to make that small distance in a safe manner.
Any advice is welcome.
cheers,
Brook.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Terry Burn on -
Hi Brook.
Welcome to the abysmal northside for cyclists wanting to get into the CBD. I am hopeful there may be something in the wings with the northern busway, but can't help thinking I'll be infirm by then.
There are ways, I have studied Nearmap for hours, I dont have time to put up a map atm, but will tonight. Gympie rd to my mind is suicide to ride on. From the Hypermarket, i use backroads to connect with a bike path off Webster rd, towards Chermside, cross Gympie Rd then on the back road on eastern side of shopping centre, past Kedron wavell RSL and Library. Cross Hamilton rd via backroads to cross Rode rd, backroads thru Kedron to come out at Stafford Rd/Gympie Rd interesection. Then onto Kedron Brook cyclepath westbound, off onto Days Rd, left into Kelvin Grove rd, thru playing fields across creek onto Herston Rd then biketrack to Roma St parklands and city etc. Its not super hilly except approaching Herston rd.
Easier to see on a map, thats the way I go-but am open to any other routes that people know as well. Something like the Western Freeway bikeway or the Bicentennial Bikeway would be great on the Northside.
I'll try and put up a map tonight.
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Permalink Reply by Terry Burn on
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this is a letter i sent to BCC on a similar vein!
http://www.brisbanecyclist.com/forum/topics/non-guerilla-infrastruc...
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Permalink Reply by Terry Burn on
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Re Roma St to Bicentennial Bikeway route I suggest Paul Martin can help you out there-he know this area very well!
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Permalink Reply by Terry Burn on
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This is the route I have tried;
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Permalink Reply by Brook Hastie on -
Thanks for the info above and the map. I will give that a go. I have been trying various routes on the western side of Maundrell Terrace. All away from traffic, but not that direct and very hilly. I had not considered crossing over Gympie Road and going through that way.
From Kedron Brook into the city is the way I have been going. Thanks again.
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Permalink Reply by Raymond on -
Roma St to the Bicentennial Bikeway is still unfortunately likely to be easiest via Herschel St (it is however all downhill), with a right turn onto a (not smooth) driveway ramp and then a bit of footpathing up to the pedestrian crossing.
Paul Martin made an excellent video and the route looks exactly like this.
Returning from the Bicentennial Bikeway, getting away from the Herschel St (approaching George St) intersection over to the footpath side nearest all the construction scaffolding (new Brisbane Supreme Court) and then getting to the other side of Roma St again at the lights might be a safer bet. Heading from Herschel St to Roma St is narrow, uphill and car drivers often ignore the arrow markings on the road (as covered a couple of times in Coxy's Daily Rant).
I think there was also talk of the Ann St ramp and also Tank St or Turbot St (bike lane) but you're right, current "options" to link the Roma St Parklands and Bicentennial Bikeway are unideal.
Edit: Returning from QUT, I'd probably give the Ann St ramp a try as it's a bit nicer to use (particularly when going up). But then I'd be doing a lot of footpathing and driveway watching for the scuttle back to Roma St.
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Permalink Reply by Brook Hastie on
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Thanks for that. The video is a good viewing. I have been getting on and off the riverside on different exits. Have not gone that far up as the one in the video. It seems you have to do a bit of footpath hopping and jigging and jagging no matter which way you go.
Cheers.
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Permalink Reply by Straughan Briggs on -
Have a look at www.nearmap.com, they have done a reasonable job of marking cycle & pedestrian paths if you tick "street map" under PhotoMap.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Martin on -
That 'reasonable job' is actually the work of crowd-sourcing using the Open Street Map database (the 'wikipedia of maps') to which I contribute.
Nearmap is changing their database soon to allow address searching. They are going to be using Navtek data (which is no better than Google). As a result, expect all those nicely edited bikeways & shortcuts to disappear.... :(
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Permalink Reply by Shaun Moran on -
Damn - didnt know that
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Permalink Reply by Paul Martin on
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You can still use the OpenStreetMap data elsewhere though (eg. maps.cloudmade.com) and Ride the City. It's just the overlays on the Nearmap aerial photography that is going to change.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Graham on
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Back to the original question. Yes you're quite correct in that;
there is a definite lack of good bike paths (North-South) that are connected going into the city.
It seems to me the northside is a poor cousin when it comes to cycling infrastructure.
My suggestion is to ask your local councillor and your local state MP how they would cycle from Aspley to the city. You might want to remind them that the local council and state elections are only a couple of months away. Now is the perfect time to send them a message!
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